Note: MCP-Server in DevonThink

Feature
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I am a heavy user of DevonThink as an external memory.
The latest release dramatically improves the ability to explore the data.

VERSION 4.3 HERSCHEL

DEVONthink 4.3 Herschel introduces our MCP server: A safe, private bridge that lets Claude, Cowork, Codex, and other AI clients work directly with your databases. No scripting or third-party tools required. On macOS Tahoe, we now support Apple Intelligence for light tasks and Apple’s faster SpeechAnalyzer for transcription. Other AI improvements include a leaner search assistant, a dedicated tagging model, and web search via ollama.com.

DevonThink offers a built-in option to mask private data.

Details about built.in AI

  • Pro — DEVONthink gets its own MCP server that provides a bridge between your databases and supporting AI applications, e.g., Claude. Comprising a suite of almost 60 commands, it is built with data privacy and security in mind, controlling local or remote access, redacting private information from being transmitted, honoring all exclusions from AI set on items (or databases), and limiting access to the internals of your database in the filesystem. In addition, when the server is running, a menu bar icon appears with commands for controlling the server, accessing the settings, or copying the URL you need. Requires macOS Sequoia or later.

  • Pro — Use the new [Settings > AI > MCP](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/preferences-ai.html#mcp) settings to set up and install the DEVONthink MCP server. The options include settings for privacy and making safe connections to other devices, on and off your network.

  • Pro — The option Exclude from Chat & MCP in the [Database Properties](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/windows-properties.html) panel lets you easily exclude entire databases from AI access. This is enabled by default for encrypted and revision-proof databases.

  • Pro — DEVONthink supports Apple Intelligence’s Foundation model in the [AI > Chat](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/preferences-ai.html#chat) settings and AppleScript commands on macOS Tahoe and later. At this time, its use is limited to simple tasks like renaming, tagging, etc. as the context window is very small and vision is not supported.

  • Pro — Choose the AI model for automatic tagging functions with the new Chat Suggestions popup in the *[Files > Tags](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/preferences-files.html#tags)*settings. DEVONthink uses this, e.g., when importing files, using the [Data > Tags](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/menus-data.html#pro) commands, or smart rules and batch processing actions.

  • Pro — Added support for LM Studio’s reasoning effort (0.4.8 or later).

  • Pro — You can now use an ollama.com account for web searches in the [AI > Search](file:///Applications/DEVONthink.app/Contents/Resources/DEVONthink.help/Contents/Resources/pgs/preferences-ai.html#search) settings.

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Forget it..
The MCP server requires a local installation of, for example, Hemes Agent on the relevant machine. I celebrated too soon…

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Or perhaps there is a way after all.

What do you think @Stll0

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There are a number of interesting use cases:

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I don’t know it, I’ll take a look.

I think that your Hermes agent should be already able to access this MCP if you publish the port :thinking: Try with an ssh tunnel!

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Today I set up my Hermes integration.
The Hermes Agent is connected to the DEVONthink MCP server on the Mac (192.168.3.155) via the SSH tunnel (127.0.0.1:8421). This allows direct access to all DEVONthink databases, documents and AI features directly from within the Agent.

This was necessary because Devonthink only supports local connections. When using an SSH tunnel, the connection appears as a local one.

The 59 MCP tools cover seven functional areas:

===== 2.1 Databases & Navigation (6 tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘get_databases’’ Retrieve all open DEVONthink databases (uuid, name, configuration)
‘‘get_record_children’’ List children of a group folder (with pagination for large groups)
‘‘get_group_tree’’ Retrieve the complete sub-tree structure of a group as JSON — one call instead of N repetitions
‘‘get_record_parents’’ Determine parent groups of a record (navigation Up)
‘‘get_record_properties’’ Retrieve all metadata of a record (uuid/single or uuids/batch, max 500)
‘‘is_running’’ Check whether DEVONthink is running on the Mac

===== 2.2 Search & Lookup (9 Tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘search_records’’ Full-text search using DEVONthink’s own query syntax (Boolean operators, field filters)
‘‘lookup_records’’ Lookup via ‘‘name’’, ‘‘URL’’, ‘‘path’’, ‘‘filename’’ or ‘‘comment’’
‘‘get_record_duplicates’’ Find duplicates based on the content hash
‘‘find_similar_records’’ Find records similar to a reference document or text (DEVONthink AI)
‘‘get_current_record’’ Retrieve the record currently open in the DEVONthink Viewer
‘‘get_selected_records’’ Retrieve the records currently selected in DEVONthink
‘‘get_record_links’’ List incoming/outgoing links between records
‘‘get_record_external_references’’ Extract external links (URLs) from documents, grouped by schema
‘‘get_record_unlinked_wiki_links’’ Find wiki link names that do not refer to any existing record

===== 2.3 Creating & editing records (6 tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘create_record’’ Create a new record in DEVONthink (text, PDF, HTML, image, etc.)
‘‘update_record’’ Change properties: Name, Comment, URL, Rating, Label, Flag, Lock, Unread, Date
‘‘update_record_content’’ Update text content (modes: append, insert, replace)
‘‘create_group_path’’ Create folder hierarchy like ‘‘mkdir -p’’ — all intermediate groups are created
‘‘merge_records’’ Merge multiple records into a single document (PDF, images → PDF, RTF)
‘‘set_record_annotation’’ Create or update an annotation (note) on a record

===== 2.4 Move, copy & delete (7 tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘move_record’’ Move records to another group (including across databases)
‘‘duplicate_record’’ Duplicate records into a target group
‘‘replicate_record’’ Replicate records within the same database
‘‘trash_record’’ Move records to the Trash
‘‘export_record’’ Export records to the file system
‘‘import_file’’ Import or index files/folders into DEVONthink
‘‘get_imported_record_path’’ Retrieve the on-disk path of imported records

===== 2.5 Reading & Extracting Content (6 Tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘get_record_text’’ Retrieve the raw text of a text-based record
‘‘extract_record_content’’ Extract text optimised for AI consumption (optionally with a metadata preamble)
‘‘extract_record_visuals’’ Extract visual content as images for vision models (photos, diagrams, screenshots)
‘‘extract_record_highlights’’ All annotations of a dataset as a Markdown summary
‘‘extract_record_mentions’’ Find mentions of a dataset in OTHER documents
‘‘get_record_thumbnails’’ Retrieve thumbnails as base64 JPEGs

===== 2.6 Editing & converting content (5 tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘convert_record’’ Convert records to a different format (PDF → DOCX, HTML → PDF, etc.)
‘‘ocr_record’’ Perform OCR on images or scanned PDFs (creates a searchable PDF)
‘‘transcribe_record’’ Transcribe audio/video records using DEVONthink AI
‘‘summarize_record_highlights’’ Summarise a document’s annotations as a new record
‘‘summarize_record_mentions’’ Summarise mentions of a record in other documents

===== 2.7 Tags & Metadaten (11 Tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘get_record_tags’’ Retrieve tags of a record
‘‘set_record_tags’’ Set/replace/add/remove tags (mode: replace, add, remove)
‘‘list_database_tags’’ List all tags defined in a database
‘‘get_record_custom_metadata’’ Retrieve custom metadata fields
‘‘set_record_custom_metadata’’ Set custom metadata fields
‘‘list_custom_metadata_fields’’ List all user-defined custom metadata fields
‘‘get_record_annotation’’ Retrieve UUID of a record’s annotation
‘‘get_record_reminder’’ Retrieve a record’s reminder
‘‘set_record_reminder’’ Set a reminder
‘‘clear_record_reminder’’ Remove a reminder
‘‘get_record_versions’’ Retrieve the version history of a record

===== 2.8 AI Features (3 Tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘classify_record’’ AI-assisted categorisation — DEVONthink suggests the best group
‘‘research_topic’’ Topic research via DEVONthink AI: databases + web + Wikipedia + arXiv + PubMed
‘‘chat_response’’ One-off prompt to DEVONthink’s configured AI (engine follows user settings)

===== 2.9 Web & external sources (5 tools) =====

Tool Description
‘‘capture_web_page’’ Save a web page to DEVONthink as HTML, Web Archive, Markdown or PDF
‘‘download_pdf_from_doi’’ Resolve a DOI and download an open-access PDF via CrossRef + Unpaywall
‘‘resolve_doi_metadata’’ Resolve DOI to bibliographic metadata (title, authors, journal, year)
‘‘search_crossref’’ Search the CrossRef database for journal articles, books and conference papers
‘‘resolve_book_metadata’’ Retrieve book metadata via Google Books and Open Library

===== 2.10 Miscellaneous (1 tool) =====

Tool Description
‘‘open_record’’ Open record in DEVONthink (launches DEVONthink if necessary)
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