Free download

varligcli

The small program that lets MCP clients such as Claude Desktop, and Terminal and launchers, reach the notes in Varlig on your Mac. Varlig from the Mac App Store can’t include it, so it’s a download of its own.

Download varligcli 0.0.1

A zip file, signed and notarized by Apple. Needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Install it

Open the zip in your Downloads folder. It opens into a folder named varligcli-0.0.1.

In Terminal, copy varligcli from there into /usr/local/bin. macOS asks for your password.

cd ~/Downloads/varligcli-0.0.1
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo cp varligcli /usr/local/bin/varligcli

Check that it runs:
```
varligcli --help
```

Connect an MCP client

In Varlig, open Settings › Advanced › Desktop connector and turn on Allow local MCP connections. Allow changes to notes is a separate choice.
Click Copy MCP Configuration. Once varligcli is in /usr/local/bin, the configuration names it.
Paste it into your client’s MCP settings, then quit and reopen the client.

The configuration looks like this, with your home folder in place of /Users/you:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "varlig": {
      "args": [
        "mcp-server"
      ],
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/varligcli",
      "env": {
        "VARLIG_BRIDGE_DIR": "/Users/you/Library/Group Containers/group.app.varlig.notes/Automation",
        "VARLIG_EXCLUDE_TAGS": "",
        "VARLIG_ONLY_TAGS": ""
      }
    }
  }
}

Your client may ask once to access data from other apps: Varlig from the Mac App Store keeps its connector in its app group folder. Keep Varlig open, with the connector on, while the client works with your notes.

You choose which notes an assistant sees and whether it may change them: see Desktop connector in the Guide.

Terminal and launchers

varligcli works on its own too, while Varlig is open with the connector on:

varligcli request search '{"query":"#work","limit":20}'
varligcli help all

Remove it

In Terminal:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/varligcli