Install Glyphs MCP v2

Source is preparing 2.2.0/build 66. It is unpublished; use the published stable download below until the new distribution is qualified.

The 2.1.0 desktop application, build 63, is Developer ID-signed, Apple-notarized and stapled. Download its disk image and read the release notes.

Managed Beztrace setup, introduced in build 58, is available on Apple silicon with macOS 26.6.2 or later. The desktop app still supports macOS 14+; managed Beztrace stays unavailable on unqualified systems. See qualification and limits for the full 2.1.0 checks and retained earlier core/Beztrace evidence.

Install Glyphs and Python first

The v2 desktop requires macOS 14+ and Glyphs 4. Install official Glyphs 4 before the MCP components, then launch it with your license or Continue Trial. Glyphs has a separate scripting runtime from the companion's private server runtime:

1. Open Window → Plugin Manager → Modules in Glyphs and install Python.
2. Restart Glyphs. The official module works as the default; no saved framework preference is required. If you use another Python, choose it under Glyphs → Settings → Addons → Python version.
3. Save current work and quit Glyphs normally before installing MCP components.

Setup shows the detected application and Python. If several Glyphs 4 copies are detected, choose the copy you use; the selector is hidden when only one is found. Detection reads that application's identity and preference domain before resolving its Python.

Use Open Python in Plugin Manager and Check again when scripting is unavailable. A readiness failure also offers Install anyway with a warning. It bypasses the readiness check for component installation, but an absent or broken Python still prevents scripting until fixed in Glyphs. The companion does not install an alternative Python framework. FontTools and HarfBuzz used for export verification are supplied by the separate private server runtime.

Install from Setup

1. Save your work and quit Glyphs normally so its save prompts can protect open documents.
2. Open the disk image, drag Glyphs MCP.app to Applications, and launch the installed copy.
3. On Setup, choose your Glyphs 4 copy if a selector appears and check its detected Python. Choose Install All. The three Glyphs components are installed in one transaction, then Codex, Claude Code, Claude Desktop and Cursor are configured sequentially.
4. Watch each card move through Queued, Installing and Installed. A connector failure remains on that card and offers Retry while the queue continues.
5. Reopen Glyphs and reload or restart each configured agent when its card requests it.

Component	Included
Glyphs MCP	The native bridge, external MCP server and private runtime.
Curve Inspector	The independent curvature reporter.
Reference Inspector	The independent reference reporter and external font reader.

Every card also works independently. Missing items offer Install. Installed items offer Update and Remove. Removal requires confirmation. Updating a component reinstalls only that bundled component; removing one preserves the others and keeps existing preferences. When Glyphs is open, the inline Quit Glyphs action uses the application's normal save prompts before replacement.

Setup includes all four connectors by default even when a host is not detected. Codex and Claude Code receive the MCP entry and managed skills; Claude Desktop receives the MCP entry; Cursor receives the complete local plugin bundle at ~/.cursor/plugins/local/glyphs-mcp. Configuration changes make backups, preserve unrelated settings and modify only Glyphs MCP. Modified or unowned Cursor content is reported as a conflict rather than replaced or removed.

Requirements

The Glyphs 4 payload includes private Python, locked sidecar packages and architecture-matched glyphs-cli 0.6.1 for Apple silicon and Intel. End users do not need to configure shell Python paths or install sidecar packages.

The server's private runtime does not replace the official Python module inside Glyphs. See the prerequisite steps above. Physical Intel testing is deferred; earlier core evidence covers macOS 14.6.1 on arm64, and signed 2.0.4 installation/export/live checks cover macOS 26.6.2 on arm64. Exact macOS 14.0 has not been qualified.

System Git is required only for Local Git and Public GitHub references. Last Saved and Font File do not need it.

After installation

The local v2 introduction appears on first interactive launch. Replay it through File → Welcome & Support or the sidebar; use Skip to setup or Start setup to reach Setup. Once completed, normal dashboard launches open Setup; optional desktop login opens the menu-bar interface quietly. Start or stop the server, inspect component and connection status, update individual cards, open Glyphs and refresh detection there. Project manages local folders and templates. The menu-bar popover shares Setup's activity and service controls.

Open Edit → Glyphs MCP Server… in Glyphs for native server status and the configured MCP port. The visible endpoint is normally http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/; the private bridge uses port 9681 internally. Use get_status to compare sidecar and bridge identities with the installation receipt; version and identity explains the product and protocol fields.

Updates, logs and recovery

Use Check for Updates… to check the configured channel. V2 betas use the feed on lit/v2-beta; verify the release and checksum rather than trusting a configured URL alone. Component replacement stages and verifies selected files before an atomic rename. Failure restores affected components, launch-agent configuration and installation records together. Ports, startup preferences, authentication and welcome preferences are preserved.

If the existing service's bridge-token file is missing, component installation checks again that Glyphs and font workers are closed and that stored jobs have no unfinished or unresolved work. It then unloads the stale managed service and continues installation automatically. Job history is preserved; the token is created normally when the new server starts. Unfinished tasks or unreadable job records block this recovery, and busy-service or authentication refusals are never treated as a missing-token error.

The log icon in Setup opens Glyphs MCP Logs with installer, server and sidecar sources plus a redacted diagnostic-report action. Resolve active jobs before replacing or restarting the server; stop is refused during an active native write.

The v2 payload does not embed Glyphs 3 or v1 skills. For Glyphs 3, use the separate v1.11.0 release and its v1 installation guide.