Almanac MCP — Connect Claude to your notebooks
A notebook MCP server that lets AI agents work with your Almanac account: create notebooks, add YouTube and text sources, generate study notes, and chat with your sources — straight from Claude.
What your agent can do
Create notebooks
Spin up a new notebook for any topic without leaving your terminal or chat.
Add YouTube & text sources
Drop in lecture links or pasted text and Almanac ingests them as sources.
Generate study notes
Turn sources into structured summaries, outlines, and flashcards on demand.
Chat with your sources
Ask questions and get answers grounded in what's actually in your notebooks.
If you've been looking for a NotebookLM MCP alternative — a way to connect Claude to notes that live in a real notebook app — this is it. Everything the agent creates shows up instantly in the Almanac web and iOS apps, ready for spaced-repetition review.
Quick start
Claude.ai (Connectors)
No install, no API key to paste — this runs over OAuth. In Claude.ai, go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector and enter:
https://meganotes-api.fly.dev/mcpClaude opens a sign-in prompt for your Almanac account and asks you to approve access — the same account you use in the web and iOS apps.
Claude Code
One command adds the Almanac MCP server to Claude Code:
claude mcp add almanac -e ALMANAC_API_KEY=ak_... -- npx -y almanac-notebook-mcpOther MCP clients
For Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other clients, add this to your MCP configuration file:
{
"mcpServers": {
"almanac": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "almanac-notebook-mcp"],
"env": { "ALMANAC_API_KEY": "ak_..." }
}
}
}Get your API key
- 1
Open the Almanac web app
Sign in (or create a free account) at the web app.
- 2
Go to Settings → API keys
Click the gear icon in the top bar to open the API keys page.
- 3
Create a key and copy it
The key (starting with ak_) is shown exactly once — paste it into your MCP config as ALMANAC_API_KEY.
Tool reference
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| list_notebooks | List all notebooks in your account with titles and source counts. |
| get_notebook | Fetch a notebook's details, sources, and generated notes. |
| create_notebook | Create a new notebook with a title and emoji. |
| add_source | Add a YouTube video or raw text as a source to a notebook. |
| generate_note | Generate a structured study note (summary, outline, flashcards) from a notebook's sources. |
| chat_with_sources | Ask questions and get answers grounded in a notebook's sources. |
| get_transcript | Retrieve the full transcript of a YouTube source. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the Almanac MCP server?
It's a notebook MCP server that connects AI agents like Claude to your Almanac notebooks via the Model Context Protocol. Once connected, the agent can create notebooks, add YouTube videos or text as sources, generate study notes, and chat with your sources — all from your chat window or terminal.
How is this different from NotebookLM?
Think of Almanac MCP as a NotebookLM MCP alternative: instead of being locked into one app's chat, your notebooks become tools any MCP-compatible agent can use. You can ask Claude to summarize a lecture into a notebook, pull a transcript, or quiz you on your sources, and everything stays synced with the Almanac web and iOS apps.
Are my API keys secure?
Yes. Keys are shown to you exactly once at creation and are stored only as SHA-256 hashes at rest — we can never read them back. You can revoke any key instantly from the API keys page in the web app, and revoked keys stop working immediately.
Which MCP clients are supported?
Any client that speaks the Model Context Protocol. Claude.ai connects directly over OAuth — no install. Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and others connect via npx locally using an API key from Settings → API keys.
Give Claude a notebook
Grab an API key, add the MCP server, and let your agent build study notes while you focus on learning.
Get your API key →