Control Crabwise from Shortcuts, the command line, and AI tools

Updated: October 30, 2026

On this page

Use Shortcuts
Use the command line
Use AI tools

Search your library and add items from Shortcuts actions, Terminal commands, or AI tools that support MCP. This helps when you add things the same way every time.

Each method works during the trial or after you buy Crabwise, while Crabwise is running. After the trial ends, read-only actions such as search and open fail, just like adding does.

Use Shortcuts

Create a shortcut in the Shortcuts app and look for Crabwise in the action list. These actions are available:

Action	What it does
Open Crabwise, Open Item, Open Collection, Open Tag	Shows an item, collection, or tag in Crabwise.
Search Crabwise	Searches the library.
Add Files to Library, Add Web Link, Create Note	Adds items.
Add Tag to Items	Adds a tag to items.
Add Items to Collection	Puts items in a collection.
Set Item Rating	Sets the star rating of items.
Move Items to Trash	Moves items to the Trash. You can restore them from Trash in Crabwise.

Use the command line

Choose Crabwise > Settings… and open AI Integration.
Under Command Line Tool, click Copy CLI Path.
In Terminal, enter the copied path followed by a command. For example, library list shows your libraries.

If you installed Crabwise from the Mac App Store, the command line tool is here.

Terminal

/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise library list

The commands fall into four groups, library, item, collection, and tag, plus doctor, which checks that everything works. Add --json to get results as JSON. Keep Crabwise running while you use the command line tool.

Use AI tools

An AI tool that supports MCP can search your library and add items using Crabwise’s command line tool. In the AI tool, you register a setting that starts Crabwise’s command line tool as an MCP server.

Choose Crabwise > Settings… and open AI Integration.
Turn on Enable MCP. It is off by default.
When Status shows Listening, AI tools can connect.
Click Copy Stdio Configuration.

If you installed Crabwise in the default Mac App Store location, the copied configuration looks like this.

JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crabwise": {
      "command": "/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Here is how to register it in each tool. The paths assume the default Mac App Store location. If you installed Crabwise somewhere else, replace the path with the one that Copy CLI Path copies.

Run this command in Terminal.

Terminal

claude mcp add --transport stdio crabwise -- /Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise mcp serve

A server added this way is available only in the current project. To use it in every project, add --scope user. To check the connection, run claude mcp list, or enter /mcp inside Claude Code.

Write the copied configuration in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. You can also open this file from Developer in Claude’s settings by clicking Edit Config.

JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crabwise": {
      "command": "/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

If the file already has other servers, add crabwise inside mcpServers. After you save, quit Claude completely and open it again.

Create a configuration file and write the copied configuration in it. Use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use the server in every project, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project to use it only there.

JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crabwise": {
      "command": "/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

In Cursor’s Customize, you can turn the server on or off.

Open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P), run MCP: Add Server, and choose Command (stdio). Enter the following as the command, enter crabwise as the server ID, and choose where to save it.

/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise mcp serve

To write the file yourself, use .vscode/mcp.json in the workspace (the user configuration file that MCP: Open User Configuration opens uses the same format). VS Code’s format uses servers, not mcpServers, and requires type.

JSON

{
  "servers": {
    "crabwise": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Run this command in Terminal.

Terminal

codex mcp add crabwise -- /Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise mcp serve

You can also register it by writing this in ~/.codex/config.toml.

TOML

[mcp_servers.crabwise]
command = "/Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise"
args = ["mcp", "serve"]

To check the connection, run codex mcp list, or enter /mcp inside Codex.

Run this command in Terminal.

Terminal

gemini mcp add crabwise /Applications/Crabwise.app/Contents/Helpers/crabwise mcp serve

A server added this way is available only in the current project. To use it in every project, add --scope user. To write the file yourself, put the same format as the copied configuration in ~/.gemini/settings.json (or .gemini/settings.json for one project). To check the connection, run gemini mcp list, or enter /mcp inside Gemini CLI.

If it doesn’t connect, check that Crabwise is running, that Enable MCP is on, and that Status shows Listening.

Control Crabwise from Shortcuts, the command line, and AI tools

Use Shortcuts

Use the command line

Use AI tools

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Use Shortcuts

Use the command line

Use AI tools

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