Symbol

Do I Need This?

Most users don't need Symbol Desktop. The standard Symbol MCP handles everything: saving capsules, loading context, searching, and more.

You need Symbol Desktop if you want either of these:

Local file attachments — attach files stored on your computer to a capsule (logs, screenshots, config files, etc.)
End-to-end encrypted capsules — read and decrypt encrypted capsules locally, so plaintext never leaves your machine

If you're saving text-based context and don't use encryption, skip this page.

What is Symbol Desktop?

Symbol Desktop is a small companion tool that runs locally on your computer. It runs alongside the main Symbol MCP; you keep both connected at the same time.

It adds the following tools to your AI assistant:

File attachments:

Create a capsule with attachments: save a capsule and attach files from your computer in one step
Update a capsule with attachments: add files to an existing capsule

End-to-end encryption (E2EE):

Read and decrypt encrypted capsules locally using your encryption keys
Plaintext is never sent to Symbol's servers or your AI provider

Symbol Desktop is in private preview. The install steps below are not yet active — the underlying package is not published, so the npx config will fail if you try it today. We're shipping it as a Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb); the public release will replace this section. If you need early access, reach out via the contact link in the footer.

Make sure the main Symbol MCP is already connected

Symbol Desktop is a companion, not a replacement. Follow Connect to Claude or Other AI Tools first if you haven't already.

Get your API key

Sign in to symbol.chat
Go to Settings → API Keys
Click Create API key and copy it

Add Symbol Desktop to your Claude Desktop config (preview — not active yet)

Open your Claude Desktop config file and add a second entry alongside your existing Symbol connection:

Mac: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "symbol": {
      "url": "https://mcp.symbol.chat/mcp"
    },
    "symbol-desktop": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@symbol/mcp-desktop"],
      "env": {
        "SYMBOL_API_KEY": "sym_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace sym_your_key_here with your actual API key. Note: @symbol/mcp-desktop is not yet published — these steps are previewing the planned install path.

Restart Claude Desktop

Quit and reopen the app. Once @symbol/mcp-desktop is published, you'll see both symbol and symbol-desktop tools available; until then this is a preview of the planned flow and the second entry won't connect. For early access today, follow the contact link in the footer.

Using File Attachments

Once connected, you can ask your AI:

"Save this as a Solution and attach the file at /Users/me/logs/error.log"

The AI will use Symbol Desktop to read the file from your computer and attach it to the new capsule.

Symbol Desktop can only access files on your local machine. Files must exist on the computer where your AI client is running.

Troubleshooting

"Command not found: npx"

You need Node.js installed. Download it from nodejs.org. The LTS version is recommended.

The tool appears but can't read my files

Check that the file path you gave is correct and that the file exists. On Mac, you can right-click a file and choose Copy as Pathname to get the exact path.

I only see the symbol-desktop tools, not the main Symbol tools

Make sure both entries are in your config file. Symbol Desktop doesn't include the full set of Symbol tools. It only adds file attachment capabilities.

File Attachments