list_brainsLABSCO SUMMARY
Content management works; visual styling is documented as not working.
The README says it plainly: thought colours, link colours and link thickness are accepted by the API and then don't appear in TheBrain, with emoji and descriptive names offered as the workaround. Three other limits it names up front — keep notes under 10,000 characters, use absolute file paths, and set the active brain before anything else.
What it is
A Node server over TheBrain's API: create and connect thoughts, write markdown notes, attach files and URLs, and search across a brain — 25+ tools in all.
What you get
- Thoughts —
create_thought,get_thought,update_thought,delete_thought,search_thoughts, andget_thought_graphfor a thought with all its connections - Links between thoughts —
create_link,update_link,get_link,delete_link - Markdown notes —
get_notein markdown, HTML or text,create_or_update_note,append_to_note - Attachments —
add_file_attachmentfor images, PDFs and documents,add_url_attachmentwith automatic title extraction, plusget_attachment_content,list_attachments,delete_attachment - Several brains —
list_brains,get_brain,set_active_brain,get_brain_stats - Vocabulary and history —
get_types,get_tags,get_modifications
Requirements
Node with npm install, and THEBRAIN_API_KEY in the environment; THEBRAIN_DEFAULT_BRAIN_ID is optional. Point your client at an absolute path to index.js, and use absolute paths for file attachments as well — relative ones fail.
Setup effort
Build from source — git clone https://github.com/redmorestudio/thebrain-mcp.git
USE CASES
01
Setting up a project structure by describing it
Create the central thought and its phases, connected, without clicking each one into place.
02
Attaching the source material to the right idea
Add the PDFs, images and web links to the thought they belong to, with URLs titled automatically.
03
Finding everything you have on a topic
Search across thoughts, notes and attachments, then pull one thought with all its connections.
04
Adding to a running note
Append to an existing note instead of rewriting it, keeping the earlier content intact.
26 tools
Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.
get_brainset_active_brainget_brain_statscreate_thoughtget_thoughtupdate_thoughtdelete_thoughtsearch_thoughtsget_thought_graphget_typesget_tagscreate_linkupdate_linkget_linkdelete_linkadd_file_attachmentadd_url_attachmentget_attachmentget_attachment_contentdelete_attachmentlist_attachmentsget_notecreate_or_update_noteappend_to_noteget_modificationsBEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
26 tools named in the project's documentation.
Requires
THEBRAIN_API_KEY in your environment
Where it runs
The documented client runs the server on your machine.
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
You clone this one yourself.
Server setup
TERMINAL
git clone https://github.com/redmorestudio/thebrain-mcp.git
cd thebrain-mcp
npm installMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"thebrain": {
"command": "node",
"args": [
"<YOUR_PATH_TO_THEBRAIN_MCP>/index.js"
],
"env": {
"THEBRAIN_API_KEY": "<YOUR_THEBRAIN_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}
