MCP Server

The GoodLinks MCP server lets AI assistants read and update your GoodLinks library. It uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so clients such as Claude Code and Codex can call GoodLinks tools directly. GoodLinks needs to be running with API access turned on in Settings > API.

MCP Server Command

The MCP server is bundled inside the GoodLinks app. Use this command when configuring your MCP client:

/Applications/GoodLinks.app/Contents/MacOS/CLI/goodlinks mcp-server

If GoodLinks is installed somewhere else, replace /Applications/GoodLinks.app with the actual app path.

Claude Code

Claude Code can add local stdio MCP servers with claude mcp add. Add GoodLinks with:

claude mcp add goodlinks -- "/Applications/GoodLinks.app/Contents/MacOS/CLI/goodlinks" mcp-server

Then verify the server:

claude mcp list
claude mcp get goodlinks

If you prefer a project-shared configuration, add a .mcp.json file to your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "goodlinks": {
      "command": "/Applications/GoodLinks.app/Contents/MacOS/CLI/goodlinks",
      "args": ["mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Codex

Codex can add stdio MCP servers with codex mcp add:

codex mcp add goodlinks -- "/Applications/GoodLinks.app/Contents/MacOS/CLI/goodlinks" mcp-server

Then verify the server:

codex mcp list
codex mcp get goodlinks

You can also edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

[mcp_servers.goodlinks]
command = "/Applications/GoodLinks.app/Contents/MacOS/CLI/goodlinks"
args = ["mcp-server"]

Restart Codex after changing ~/.codex/config.toml so it can load the new server.

Example Use Cases

Once the MCP server is connected, ask your AI assistant to work with your GoodLinks library directly. For example:

• “Find unread articles about Swift concurrency and summarize the top five.”
• “Save https://example.com/article to GoodLinks with the tags research and reading.”
• “Show me recently added starred links about design systems.”
• “Find links tagged ai that I have not read yet, then suggest which ones to read first.”
• “Get the article content for the currently selected GoodLinks item and draft a short summary.”
• “Search my highlights for mentions of privacy and group the results by article.”
• “Find articles with highlights and export the highlights from the most recent one.”

Troubleshooting

If the MCP server does not appear in your client, check these items:

• GoodLinks for macOS is installed and running.
• API access is turned on in Settings > API.
• The configured command path points to the GoodLinks app on your Mac.
• Your MCP client was restarted after changing its configuration.

For client-specific MCP details, see the Claude Code MCP documentation and the Codex configuration documentation.