Let your AI agents track their work next to yours
Mindthreads is a Mac app for keeping track of the work you've started and haven't finished. It also runs an MCP server on your Mac, so Claude Code, Cursor and other agents can see what you're juggling, open threads for work they start, and complete them when they finish. Their changes show up on your canvas as they happen.
Why connect agents to it
If you run several agents at once, each one is another thread you have to hold in your head: which session was fixing the migration, which one is waiting for your answer, which one you forgot about an hour ago. When agents record their work as threads, it sits on the same board as yours, ages the same way, and a finished job leaves the board when the agent completes it.
An agent can also read your threads, so it can ask "what am I in the middle of?" before picking up a new task, or attach its work as a child of the thread you're on.
Setup
Install and open Mindthreads. The server listens on http://127.0.0.1:47821/mcp using
streamable HTTP. It only accepts connections from your own Mac.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http mindthreads http://127.0.0.1:47821/mcpCursor
Add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mindthreads": { "url": "http://127.0.0.1:47821/mcp" }
}
}VS Code
Add this to .vscode/mcp.json in a workspace, or to your user MCP configuration:
{
"servers": {
"mindthreads": { "type": "http", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:47821/mcp" }
}
}Clients that only launch commands
Some clients can only start a server over stdio. For those, Mindthreads includes a small command that speaks stdio and forwards to the running server, starting it if needed. Settings → AI agents in the app shows the exact command and a ready-to-paste configuration for your install.
Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
list_threads | Lists threads as an indented outline with ages. Open threads by default; can include completed ones or narrow to one subtree. |
get_thread | Gets one thread with its direct children. |
create_thread | Starts tracking a new thread, optionally as a child of an existing one. |
update_thread | Changes a thread's text, or moves it under a different parent. |
touch_thread | Records that the thread is being worked on right now, which cools its color. |
complete_thread | Marks a thread done, optionally with all of its open descendants. |
reopen_thread | Marks a completed thread open again. |
delete_thread | Deletes a thread permanently. Marked destructive, so clients ask before calling it. |
list_threads returns an outline because models read hierarchy most reliably that way. A result looks
like this (ids shortened):
- [ ] Ship the billing webhooks refactor (id 0b7e…; age 3h 05m; touched 12m ago)
- [ ] Retry failed Stripe events (id 9f21…; age 40m; touched just now)
- [ ] Check the staging logs (id 4c88…; age 2h 10m; touched 1h 02m ago)
- [ ] Reply to the design review (id d3a0…; age 1d 4h; touched 5h 30m ago)Telling your agent when to use it
The server sends instructions with its tool list, but agents follow a standing rule more consistently. For Claude
Code, a few lines in CLAUDE.md are enough:
## Mindthreads
When you start a task that takes more than a few steps, create a Mindthreads thread
for it in a few plain words, as a child of my current thread if one matches.
Touch it when you resume it. Complete it when the work is done.Where the data lives
Everything goes through the local server, which is the only process that writes to the database. That's a SQLite file on your Mac by default, or a Postgres database you choose. With Postgres, several Macs can share one set of threads, and an agent on one Mac shows up on the canvas of another. No thread is sent to us.
It's for you first
The MCP server is a building block, not the point. Mindthreads is designed for a person keeping up with everything they're doing: two-second capture with ⌃⌥N, child threads for tangents, and colors that warm when work is left untouched. See how it works, or read about getting back on track after an interruption.
Put your agents' work on the same board as yours.
Download for Mac