Connect Claude Desktop to Dimmy (MCP bridge)

Dimmy ships a tiny standalone binary called dimmy-mcp. It speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard Anthropic uses to let Claude talk to local apps. Once connected, Claude Desktop can list your recent meetings, read a transcript, fetch Dimmy's recap template, and save a finished recap back into the meeting folder. The bridge is local-only and runs on demand: no extra account, no extra API key. It works on both Windows and macOS.

What Claude Desktop can do once connected

• List your recent meetings (title, duration, timestamp).
• Pull the full transcript of a specific meeting.
• Fetch Dimmy's house recap template (so the output uses the format you customised in Settings).
• Save a generated recap as recap.md inside the meeting folder. Dimmy's UI picks it up automatically.

Prerequisites

• Dimmy 0.6.51 or newer (the bridge first shipped in stable 0.6.51).
• Claude Desktop installed and signed in (Pro, Team, Max, or Enterprise).
• Both apps installed on the same machine.

Setup: the Connect wizard

1. 1Open Dimmy and go to Settings → Integrations (same tab name on Windows and macOS).
2. 2Find the Claude Desktop (MCP) card. If it doesn't show a green check, click Connect Claude Desktop.
3. 3Step 1 checks that Claude Desktop is installed. Step 2 registers Dimmy: it copies dimmy-mcp into Claude's extensions folder and writes the manifest. Step 3 asks you to restart Claude Desktop, then waits for the first heartbeat.
4. 4Fully quit Claude Desktop, because it only spawns MCP servers at startup. Cmd+Q on macOS; on Windows use the system-tray icon → Quit. Closing the window is not enough. Then reopen it.
5. 5Open a new chat. Type "List my last 2 Dimmy meetings." If Claude calls the tool and answers, you're connected.

Where the bridge lives

Claude Desktop has two install layouts. New installs use the Microsoft Store (MSIX) build with a containerised data folder; older installs use the classic layout. Dimmy installs into whichever it detects.

Inside the dimmy folder you'll find manifest.json, icon.png, and the dimmy-mcp binary. A small enable flag (dimmy.json) lives next to it in a sibling Claude Extensions Settings folder, not inside the dimmy folder. Disconnecting removes the dimmy folder; reconnecting recreates it.

One-click recap from a meeting

After a meeting transcription completes, open the Done view. The Recap with Claude Desktop button (the small Claude icon, visible only once the bridge is connected) opens a fresh Claude chat with a prefilled prompt. The prompt tells Claude to fetch the template, read the transcript, write a recap, and save it back. Claude follows the steps and Dimmy's sidebar updates with the saved recap.

text
Recap Dimmy meeting `<ID>`.

1. Call `dimmy_get_recap_template` to fetch Dimmy's house format.
2. Call `dimmy_get_meeting` with id `<ID>` to read the transcript.
3. Produce a recap that follows the template's rules exactly (first line is a Markdown H1 title in the transcript's language).
4. Call `dimmy_save_recap` with id `<ID>` and your recap markdown to persist it back into Dimmy.
5. Confirm to me once saved.

Useful prompts to try

text
List my last 5 Dimmy meetings with title and duration.

Summarise the meeting from <date> in three bullet points.

Using the Dimmy recap template, write a recap for meeting <id> and save it back.

What decisions did I make in last week's meetings?

Draft an email to the team based on the transcript of <meeting-title>.

Privacy

• The bridge only runs while Claude Desktop is open and has spawned it. It exits when Claude exits.
• All meeting data stays on your disk. Claude Desktop receives only what you explicitly ask about in a prompt.
• Disconnecting (Settings → Integrations → Disconnect) deletes the dimmy folder from Claude Extensions. On macOS, restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

Troubleshooting

• Claude doesn't see the tools: fully quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window) and reopen. MCP servers are loaded once at startup.
• Wizard fails at "binary not found": reinstall Dimmy. The dimmy-mcp binary ships next to the app; an interrupted install can miss it.
• Connected but no heartbeat: the most common cause is a corporate antivirus that blocks an unsigned binary. Allowlist dimmy-mcp.
• Claude calls the tool but returns empty: you have no meetings yet. Record one, then retry.