The session ends.
Your work stays.

Your account. Your device.

Each person uses their own sketchbook account and connection key. Follow the steps yourself or hand each step to your agent.

1. 1

   Prepare your environment

   Do it yourself

   Install Node.js 24 or newer and the apps you want to use. The automatic installer supports macOS and configures Codex, Claude Code, and Claude Desktop when installed.

   Download Node.js ↗

   Ask your agent

   Copy prompt

   Prepare this Mac for abbsbook MCP. Check the OS, node --version, and node -p "process.execPath". Confirm Node.js is version 24 or newer. Locate the Codex, Claude Code, and Claude Desktop apps I use and their configuration files. Do not change MCP settings yet. Report readiness and any required setup. Never print credential contents or secret values from existing settings.

2. 2

   Sign in and create your own key

   Do it yourself

   Sign in to the sketchbook and finish signup and onboarding. Read and accept any required terms yourself. Under Settings → Privacy → Claude / Codex connections, create a key with a name such as “My MacBook” and save abbsbook-credentials.json to Downloads.

   Sign in and create a key ↗

   The credential file is available immediately after issuance. If you lose it, revoke the connection and create a new key. Give the agent only its file path; never paste its contents or token into chat.

   Ask your agent

   Copy prompt

   Guide me through preparing authentication for abbsbook MCP. Direct me to https://abigbigsketchbook.com/settings/privacy#settings-integrations and wait while I personally sign in, accept required terms, and issue a connection key. After I say I am done, check only the existence and format of the abbsbook-credentials.json file I specify, locally. Do not sign in, accept terms, or issue a key on my behalf. Never print the token or credential contents to chat or logs.

3. 3

   Download and register the server

   Do it yourself

   Run the following commands in macOS Terminal. If your credential file has a different name or location, update its path on the last line.

   Copy command

   mkdir -p "$HOME/Downloads/abbsbook-mcp" &&
   cd "$HOME/Downloads/abbsbook-mcp" &&
   curl --fail --location --output abbsbook-mcp.zip https://abigbigsketchbook.com/downloads/abbsbook-mcp.zip &&
   unzip -o abbsbook-mcp.zip &&
   shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt &&
   node install.mjs ./abbsbook.mjs "$HOME/Downloads/abbsbook-credentials.json"

   Download the installer (.zip) ↓

   The installer backs up existing app settings before adding abbsbook. After installation, you may delete the credential copy in Downloads. Reopen your app or start a new CLI session.

   Ask your agent

   Copy prompt

   Install abbsbook MCP on this Mac. Verify Node.js 24+ and the path of the credential file I issued and downloaded. Download https://abigbigsketchbook.com/downloads/abbsbook-mcp.zip into a dedicated temporary folder and extract it. Run shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt. Only if it passes, run node install.mjs ./abbsbook.mjs "absolute path to my credential file". Preserve existing app settings and backups. Never print credential contents. Report which apps were configured, configuration paths, and how to restart. This is a stdio connection; do not register a remote URL or attempt OAuth login.

[mcp_servers.abbsbook]
command = "/absolute/path/to/node"
args = ["/absolute/path/abbsbook.mjs", "codex", "/absolute/path/abbsbook-credentials.json"]
startup_timeout_sec = 20
tool_timeout_sec = 180

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abbsbook": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/abbsbook.mjs",
        "claude",
        "/absolute/path/abbsbook-credentials.json"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Check the app you use

Reopen the app or start a new session after installation. Verify both the available tools and your own sketchbook list.

codex mcp get abbsbook

Verify my abbsbook MCP connection. Check that list_sketchbooks, create_sketchbook, get_sketchbook, and save_session are available, then actually call list_sketchbooks. Report my sketchbook names and whether they are writable. Do not create any events or sketchbooks yet. A successful empty list still means authentication worked. If tools are missing or authentication fails, report the actual error code and the step to fix instead of claiming success.

Save your first entry

The agent in your current conversation writes the summary. abbsbook saves the supplied title, body, date, and attachments as an event.

In your agent conversation, choose a sketchbook, project, and session, then request a summary. Include absolute paths to the files and the links you want to attach. Open the returned sketchbook link to check the result.

Summarize the work completed in this project during this session and save it to abbsbook.

1. Call list_sketchbooks. If I have not chosen a destination, ask me which sketchbook to use first.
2. Use the project name and current session ID. If the session ID is unavailable, choose a stable unique ID for reuse and tell me what it is.
3. Summarize completed work, decisions, and next steps in the title and body.
4. Use save_session to save it with the screenshots, files, and links I specified.
5. Check complete and failures, then return the event ID and sketchbook link. Report any failed attachments and retry with the same project and session IDs.

An account per person. A connection per device.

If connection gets stuck

Diagnose my abbsbook MCP connection failure. Check the actual error code, Node.js version, command and args paths in app settings, and whether the credential file exists. Do not print tokens or credential contents. Guide me to personally accept terms or reissue a key if needed. After fixing the problem, actually call list_sketchbooks and do not claim completion until it returns successfully.

Supported connections and current MCP standards

The current distribution uses an SDK compatible with MCP 2025-11-25. The latest 2026-07-28 specification still distinguishes stdio from Streamable HTTP. HTTP authorization is based on OAuth 2.1 and covers protected resource metadata, PKCE, and target-resource validation. CIMD is recommended for new client registration; DCR remains for backward compatibility.

Do not mix remote-server OAuth commands into this local setup. The instructions will be updated when supported connection methods change.