Connect an AI application

Install the Glyphs components after completing the Glyphs/Python prerequisites, then configure your AI client from Setup. Individual connection cards and Install All support all four clients below, including configuration when the client is not detected. Install the client itself separately; configuring a connection does not install that application.

Client	Setup connection	After configuration
Codex	Local HTTP MCP connection and twelve managed skills	Reload the configured Codex host and check the Glyphs MCP tools.
Claude Code	Local HTTP MCP connection and twelve managed skills	Start a new/reloaded client session so it reads the updated configuration.
Claude Desktop	Local stdio proxy to the HTTP server	Quit and reopen Claude Desktop to load the local connection.
Cursor	Installer-owned local plugin with connection metadata and skills	Reload/enable the local Glyphs MCP plugin and refresh its tools.

Configuration backs up existing settings and preserves unrelated entries. Modified or unowned Cursor plugin content is reported as a conflict; use the card's guidance rather than deleting it blindly. After a failure, retry the affected card. A configured card does not establish a live server or ready Glyphs bridge.

HTTP connection

1. Start the server through Edit → Glyphs MCP Server….
2. Copy its MCP URL. The default is http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/.
3. Add that URL to a local client that supports Streamable HTTP MCP, or use the installer's supported connection option.
4. Refresh the client's tools and call get_status, then list_documents.

The 2.2.0 catalog exposes twenty-one data/action tools: get_status, list_tasks, list_documents, create_document, duplicate_document, open_document, import_document, activate_document, open_edit_tab, close_document, read_entities, start_job, compare_fonts, get_job, apply_job, accept_job, discard_job, save_document, start_edit_workflow, get_edit_workflow, and respond_edit_workflow. The additional read-only show_edit_workflow opens an optional card. Verify the specific server's catalog. The optional comparison runtime has its own capability; the tool's presence does not mean that runtime is installed.

The bridge port 9681 is internal and is not an MCP endpoint. The loopback URL refers to this Mac: a remote cloud client cannot reach it directly. This guide does not configure a public tunnel.

Optional agent plugin

The matching 2.2.0 agent package adds workflow skills and connection metadata. It does not install the Glyphs components. Use the matching 2.2.0 package; an older marketplace package may describe another interface. See Skills and optional plugins.

Ordinary conversation tools return text and structured results. The optional show_edit_workflow opens one standard MCP App. Claude Desktop can use its existing local stdio connection; its proxy forwards resources and UI metadata. Cursor documents standard MCP Apps support. Codex must be checked against its actual host build; installing ChatGPT alone does not configure this local connection or prove card support. CLI clients and hosts without interactive support use the same actions in text. Optional native choice controls can present these choices; separate client-specific cards are not required. See conversation edits. Installed-version qualification is recorded separately from documented support.

The scoped Sonoma VM qualification used Claude Desktop. Cursor was excluded from that VM run at the maintainer's request; configuration/source checks and local Mac evidence do not qualify every client version. Use actual host capability negotiation and a small first session to verify your connection, with text replies if the interactive card is unavailable.

After a change

If you change the MCP port, update the client's connection. After installing new native bundles, restart Glyphs. After changing an agent package, refresh the client according to its own settings. Keep one intended server per MCP port and avoid duplicate connections to the same server.

The current stable release and matching agent package are 2.2.0. get_status.agentPackage gives the expected version and skills digest; compare it with the installed package's glyphs-mcp-agent.json. Refresh a configured local Codex plugin with codex plugin add glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp, then reload the desktop client and check its tool catalog. Matching files do not prove an existing chat reloaded them.