Register softfig-mcp with Claude

Claude can read a garden with no setup, since it’s just files. To let it write through soft-fig’s conventions, register softfig-mcp once per machine. Without it, writes fall to you, in your editor through the mount or in softfig-tui.

What the server is

softfig-mcp is a stateless stdio bridge: it speaks MCP to Claude and IPC to the running softfig-keeperd, which does the writing. Vault operations are never exposed to the model. The verb catalog is Reference → MCP verbs.

Register it

onboard-device.sh offers to register it. To do it yourself, use user scope so it’s available when you open Claude from your garden:

claude mcp add --scope user softfig-mcp ~/.local/bin/softfig-mcp

Adjust the path if you installed elsewhere.

Scope matters

Without --scope, claude mcp add defaults to local scope: the server is registered for the current directory’s project only, so a registration made from the source checkout won’t apply in your garden. If the verbs are missing when you open Claude from the garden root, re-run the command above.

Verify the verbs appear

Open Claude Code from the garden root:

cd ~/soft-fig_garden && claude

Then run /mcp inside the session (or claude mcp list outside it) to confirm the server connected. If the verbs don’t show up, the usual causes are a wrong binary path, the wrong scope, or a locked or stopped daemon: calls fail until softfig-keeperd is running and unlocked (softfig daemon status).

Restart Claude Code after upgrading the MCP binary

An already-open Claude Code session stays bound to the old softfig-mcp binary, and its verbs will misbehave. After reinstalling the binary or cycling the daemon, restart Claude Code.

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Next: Working with Claude for the practice, the Starter Prompts cookbook for ready-to-paste requests, and Reference → MCP verbs for the full write surface.