--- title: "Minutes MCP: Search Your Meeting Transcripts from Claude" url: "https://mcpshelf.co/servers/minutes" description: "Minutes records and transcribes meetings and voice memos on your own device and lets an assistant search them over MCP. Install, demo data and privacy." updated: "2026-10-27" site: "MCP Shelf" --- # Minutes > Records and transcribes meetings on your device, then lets an assistant search them. Source: https://mcpshelf.co/servers/minutes Markdown: https://mcpshelf.co/servers/minutes.md Generated: 2026-10-27T13:26:22.661Z ## Facts - **Name:** Minutes - **Tagline:** Records and transcribes meetings on your device, then lets an assistant search them. - **Description:** Minutes is a free, open source app by Mat Silverstein that records and transcribes meetings on your own device and lets an assistant search them over MCP. - **Repository:** https://github.com/silverstein/minutes - **Package:** minutes-mcp 0.31.0 (npm) - **Install:** `claude mcp add minutes -- npx -y minutes-mcp` - **Transport:** stdio (local) - **Auth:** No required keys or settings listed - **Tools exposed:** 34: `start_recording`, `stop_recording`, `get_status`, `list_processing_jobs`, `list_meetings`, `search_meetings`, `activity_summary`, `search_context`, `get_moment`, `get_screen_context`, `consistency_report`, `get_person_profile`, `research_topic`, `get_meeting`, `process_audio`, `add_note`, `track_commitments`, `relationship_map`, `start_dictation`, `stop_dictation`, `list_voices`, `confirm_speaker`, `add_agent_annotation`, `get_agent_annotations`, `get_meeting_insights`, `start_copilot`, `stop_copilot`, `copilot_status`, `read_copilot_nudges`, `start_live_transcript`, `read_live_transcript`, `ingest_meeting`, `resummarize_meeting`, `knowledge_status` - **Category:** Knowledge and work apps (https://mcpshelf.co/categories/knowledge-and-work) - **Stats:** 1.6K GitHub stars, 1.6K downloads a week, last commit 27 Oct 2026, 0 upvotes on MCP Shelf - **Install check:** Started in our test - **Listed:** 2026-10-27 - **Page updated:** 2026-10-27 ## Full description ### What is Minutes? **Minutes is a free, open source app by Mat Silverstein that records and transcribes meetings on your own device and lets an assistant search them over MCP.** Minutes, by Mat Silverstein, records and transcribes meetings, calls, voice memos and dictation on your own computer, and saves each one as a Markdown file with structured YAML for decisions and action items in ~/meetings. Its MCP server lets an assistant search those files, pull up decisions and open action items, prepare for a meeting with a person and start or stop a recording. Transcription runs locally with Whisper or Parakeet, so audio stays on your machine. Text only leaves when the assistant you connect reads it. You can try it without a microphone: a demo command adds five sample meetings to ask about. | | | | --- | --- | | Made by | Mat Silverstein (silverstein) and contributors | | GitHub | https://github.com/silverstein/minutes | | Licence | MIT | | npm package | [minutes-mcp](https://www.npmjs.com/package/minutes-mcp) 0.31.0 (27 Oct 2026) | | GitHub stars | 1.6K | | Downloads | 1.6K a week | | Last commit | 27 Oct 2026 | | Tools | 34 | | Runs on | Your computer | | Install check | Started in our test | | Category | [Knowledge and work apps](https://mcpshelf.co/categories/knowledge-and-work) | | Setup checked | 27 Oct 2026 | | Page updated | 27 Oct 2026 | **Our check:** We ran this exact config on 27 Oct 2026: it started and answered with 34 tools. #### MCP Shelf take > We started Minutes on our own test machine on 27 Oct 2026 and it answered with 34 tools. 20 of the 34 only read; the other 14 can change things. Every tool comes with a useful description, all of them say whether they change things, and the tool list costs about 3,200 tokens of context before you ask a thing. It sits 15th of 16 in its category on our shelf by GitHub stars (1.6K, with 1.6K downloads a week). — MCP Shelf tests (numbers from our own runs), tested on 27 Oct 2026 ### What tools does Minutes have? We listed 34 tools on 27 Oct 2026. 20 only read; the rest can change things or run commands. | Tool | Kind | What it is for | | --- | --- | --- | | `start_recording` | changes | Starts recording, checking first whether a call app is open. | | `stop_recording` | changes | Stops recording and transcribes, labels speakers and summarises it. | | `get_status` | reads | Tells you whether a recording is running. | | `list_processing_jobs` | reads | Shows recordings waiting to be processed, done or failed. | | `list_meetings` | reads | Lists recent meetings and voice memos. | | `search_meetings` | reads | Searches transcripts and voice memos. | | `activity_summary` | reads | Summarises the desktop activity recorded around one meeting. | | `search_context` | reads | Searches the desktop activity recorded around one meeting. | | `get_moment` | reads | Shows the local rewind around a point in one meeting. | | `get_screen_context` | reads | Returns up to three screenshots captured during one meeting. | | `consistency_report` | reads | Flags decisions that conflict and commitments that went stale across meetings. | | `get_person_profile` | reads | Builds a profile of someone from the meetings you had with them. | | `research_topic` | reads | Pulls together what was said about a topic across meetings. | | `get_meeting` | reads | Returns a full transcript with speakers. | | `process_audio` | runs | Transcribes an existing WAV file from your inbox or Downloads. | | `add_note` | changes | Adds a timestamped note to the recording in progress. | | `track_commitments` | reads | Lists open and overdue action items, optionally for one person. | | `relationship_map` | reads | Shows who you meet, how often, and who you are losing touch with. | | `start_dictation` | changes | Starts dictation mode. | | `stop_dictation` | changes | Stops dictation and writes out the text. | | `list_voices` | reads | Lists the voices enrolled for speaker identification. | | `confirm_speaker` | changes | Kept for compatibility. Speaker confirmation has to be done in the app or CLI. | | `add_agent_annotation` | changes | Adds an attributed comment from an agent without editing the meeting file. | | `get_agent_annotations` | reads | Kept for compatibility. Not available over MCP. | | `get_meeting_insights` | reads | Returns the decisions, commitments and questions found in meetings, with confidence levels. | | `start_copilot` | changes | Starts the real-time meeting copilot for a goal. | | `stop_copilot` | changes | Stops the copilot without stopping the recording. | | `copilot_status` | reads | Shows whether the copilot is running. | | `read_copilot_nudges` | reads | Reads the suggestions the copilot has made. | | `start_live_transcript` | changes | Starts transcribing in real time. | | `read_live_transcript` | reads | Reads new lines of the live transcript. | | `ingest_meeting` | changes | Adds facts from a meeting to your knowledge base, if one is set up. | | `resummarize_meeting` | changes | Re-runs the summary of an edited meeting, as a preview unless you confirm. | | `knowledge_status` | changes | Shows and tidies the state of the knowledge base. | #### How clearly it describes its tools 34 of 34 tools have a description and 34 of 34 say whether they change things. The tool list takes at least ~3,200 tokens of context. Every tool says whether it only reads or can change things, so a client can ask before the risky ones. ### How do I install Minutes? #### What you need first - Node.js, for npx - The Minutes CLI or desktop app; on a Mac the MCP server can install the CLI for you - On Linux, glibc 2.39 or newer (Ubuntu 24.04) with the ALSA and PipeWire libraries #### Claude Code Where: Your terminal, in the project folder ```bash claude mcp add minutes -- npx -y minutes-mcp ``` Install the Minutes desktop app or CLI first. Then run minutes demo --full to load five sample meetings and ask Claude about them before you record anything real. #### Cursor Where: ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project ```json { "mcpServers": { "minutes": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "minutes-mcp" ] } } } ``` #### Claude Desktop Where: claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) ```json { "mcpServers": { "minutes": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "minutes-mcp" ] } } } ``` #### VS Code Where: .vscode/mcp.json in your project ```json { "servers": { "minutes": { "type": "stdio", "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "minutes-mcp" ] } } } ``` #### Windsurf Where: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json ```json { "mcpServers": { "minutes": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "minutes-mcp" ] } } } ``` #### ChatGPT Where: Not supported ChatGPT only connects to remote servers by URL. This one runs on your computer, so use Claude, Cursor or VS Code. Install the desktop app with "brew install --cask silverstein/tap/minutes" or the CLI with "cargo install minutes-cli", then run "minutes demo --full" to load sample meetings. Run "minutes setup --model small" before your first real recording. Checked against the project's own install docs on 27 Oct 2026: https://github.com/silverstein/minutes#readme, https://github.com/silverstein/minutes/blob/main/docs/integration/clients.md, https://github.com/silverstein/minutes/blob/main/docs/install.md ### How do I configure Minutes? | Setting | Kind | Required | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `MEETINGS_DIR` | env | no | Which folder of meetings the search and recall tools use. The default is ~/meetings. Example: `/Users/you/meetings` | | `MINUTES_MCP_AUTO_SETUP` | env | no | Set to 0 to skip speech-model checks and downloads, for a client that only reads existing transcripts. Example: `0` | | `config.toml` | config | no | Minutes' own settings: the transcription model, the summariser, the knowledge base and recording options. | ### What can Minutes read and change? **It can read** - Meeting transcripts, summaries and voice memos in your meetings folder - Desktop context and screenshots captured around meetings, if you turned that on **It can change** - New recordings and transcripts, when it records or processes audio - Summaries and the knowledge base, when asked to re-summarise or ingest **Safer setup:** Mark sensitive meetings as restricted, which keeps them out of agent tools, and set MINUTES_MCP_AUTO_SETUP=0 for a client that should only read. ### Good for - Asking what was decided in past meetings, and whether it changed later - Getting a list of open action items across meetings - Recording and transcribing a call without a cloud notetaker ### Minutes not working? Common fixes **No speech detected** The usual cause is microphone permission. Allow your terminal or Minutes.app in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. **Recording from inside tmux captures silence** tmux does not inherit your terminal's microphone permission. Record from a normal terminal window or the desktop app. **The Linux binary will not start** The prebuilt release needs glibc 2.39 (Ubuntu 24.04) and the ALSA and PipeWire libraries. Build from source on older systems such as Debian 12. **Compressed audio does not import** Install ffmpeg (or set MINUTES_FFMPEG to its path on Windows). WAV works without it. ### What are the alternatives to Minutes? | Server | What it does | Tools | Runs on | Licence | Stars | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Minutes](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/minutes) | Records and transcribes meetings on your device, then lets an assistant search them. | 34 | Your computer | MIT | 1.6K | | [Garmin Connect MCP](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/garmin) | Ask an assistant about your Garmin activities, sleep, recovery and training. | 20 | Your computer | MIT | 1.4K | | [Notion](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/notion) | Notion's own server: search, read and update pages and databases. | 24 | Hosted or your computer | MIT | 4.7K | | [MCP Atlassian (Jira and Confluence)](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/atlassian) | Jira issues and Confluence pages, Cloud or self-hosted. | 98 | Your computer | MIT | 6.1K | | [Basic Memory](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/basic-memory) | Long-term memory as plain Markdown files you own. | 27 | Your computer | AGPL-3.0-or-later | 4.4K | | [LinkedIn MCP Server](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/linkedin) | Read LinkedIn profiles, companies and job posts with your own login. | 20 | Your computer | Apache-2.0 | 4K | ### Minutes FAQ #### How do I add Minutes to Claude Code? Install the app with brew install --cask silverstein/tap/minutes, or the CLI with cargo install minutes-cli, then run claude mcp add minutes -- npx -y minutes-mcp. Load sample meetings with minutes demo --full to try it. #### Does Minutes work with Claude Desktop and Cursor? Yes. Any MCP client can start the server with npx -y minutes-mcp, and the project has setup notes for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenCode. #### Does my audio leave my computer? No. Recording, transcription and storage happen locally, with Whisper or Parakeet. Text only goes out when a cloud assistant or summariser you chose reads it. #### Can I try Minutes without recording a meeting? Yes. minutes demo --full adds five sample meetings with no microphone needed, and minutes demo --clean removes them again. #### Is Minutes free? Yes. It is MIT licensed, and the author says nothing in the repository will move to a paid tier. #### Is Minutes a Granola or Otter alternative? It covers the same job of meeting notes, but stores everything as local Markdown files in ~/meetings instead of a hosted workspace. You can also import archives from Granola. #### Can I keep some meetings away from the assistant? Yes. Mark a meeting as restricted and the agent tools leave it out. Setting MINUTES_MCP_AUTO_SETUP to 0 stops the server installing the CLI on its own. #### Why does Minutes record silence? Usually the microphone permission is missing. Allow your terminal or Minutes.app under Privacy and Security, and avoid recording from inside tmux, which does not pass that permission on. Full docs on GitHub: https://github.com/silverstein/minutes ## Notes for agents Fetch these instead of parsing the HTML page: - llms.txt: https://mcpshelf.co/llms.txt - llms-full.txt: https://mcpshelf.co/llms-full.txt - ai.txt: https://mcpshelf.co/ai.txt - Full catalog (.md): https://mcpshelf.co/catalog.md - API spec: https://mcpshelf.co/openapi.json - MCP server: https://mcpshelf.co/mcp - MCP manifest: https://mcpshelf.co/.well-known/mcp.json - Developer docs: https://mcpshelf.co/developers MCP endpoint (Streamable HTTP, no key): https://mcpshelf.co/mcp. REST API: https://mcpshelf.co/api/v1.