Claude Desktop Integration

Use LocalLens with Claude Desktop to search your local files from the Claude chat interface.

Setup

1. Install LocalLens with MCP support:

pip install "locallens[mcp]"

2. Index your files:

locallens index ~/Documents

3. Add to your Claude Desktop config:

macOS

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "locallens": {
      "command": "locallens",
      "args": ["serve", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windows

Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "locallens": {
      "command": "locallens",
      "args": ["serve", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop.

Verify the connection

After restarting Claude Desktop:

1. Open a new conversation
2. Look for the tools icon (hammer) in the input area
3. You should see LocalLens tools listed: locallens_search, locallens_ask, locallens_index, locallens_status, locallens_files

Example conversation

You: "Search my documents for anything about the Q3 budget"

Claude: Uses locallens_search to find relevant documents, then summarizes the results.

You: "What were the key takeaways from that budget meeting?"

Claude: Uses locallens_ask to generate an answer with source citations.

Troubleshooting

• Tools not showing up? Make sure the config JSON is valid and locallens is on your PATH. Try running locallens serve --mcp in a terminal to verify it starts.
• "Ollama not available" errors? The ask tool requires Ollama. Search, index, and status work without it.
• Empty results? Make sure you've indexed your files first: locallens index ~/Documents