Scrivener MCP

A read-only MCP server that connects Claude Desktop to your Scrivener writing projects.

Work in Scrivener, ask Claude for help. Claude can see your entire project - structure, content, notes, synopses - but all writing happens in Scrivener where it belongs.

What can it do?

Point Claude at your novel and ask:

"Scan the project and give me an overview"
"Find inconsistencies in my character descriptions"
"What plot threads are unresolved?"
"Where do I mention the lighthouse?"
"What's my word count by chapter?"
"Read Chapter 3"

Supported Platforms

| Platform | Client | Status | |----------|--------|--------| | macOS | Claude Desktop | Supported | | Windows | Claude Desktop | Supported |

Requirements

Python 3.10+
Scrivener 3 project (.scriv folder)
Claude Desktop

Installation

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/zaphodsdad/scrivener-mcp.git
cd scrivener-mcp

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install
pip install -e .

Setup with Claude Desktop

Add to your config file:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scrivener": {
      "command": "/path/to/scrivener-mcp/.venv/bin/scrivener-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. That's it.

Available Tools (10)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | find_projects | Scan common locations for Scrivener projects | | open_project | Open a Scrivener project by path | | scan_project | Get bird's eye view: chapter titles, word counts, synopses, opening lines | | list_binder | Show the binder structure (folders and documents) | | read_document | Read a single document by title, path, or UUID | | read_chapter | Read a full chapter with all its scenes | | search_project | Full-text search across all documents | | get_word_counts | Word count statistics by chapter/folder | | get_synopsis | Read the synopsis (index card text) for a document | | get_notes | Read the inspector notes for a document |

Recommended Workflow

Open project: "Open my Scrivener project Neon Syn"
Scan for overview: "Scan the project" - gives chapter summaries without loading everything
Dive deeper: "Read Chapter 3" - read specific chapters as needed
Search: "Search for mentions of the red door" - searches all documents
If you edit in Scrivener: "Re-open the project" to refresh

Example Prompts

"Find my Scrivener projects"
"Open [project name]"
"Scan the project and summarize each chapter"
"Read Chapter 1"
"Search for mentions of 'lighthouse'"
"What's my word count by chapter?"
"Show me the synopsis for Chapter 3"
"Find plot holes based on the chapter summaries"

How It Works

Scrivener projects are folders containing:

A .scrivx XML file (the binder structure)
RTF files for each document (Files/Data/{UUID}/content.rtf)

This server parses the XML to understand your project structure, then reads and converts the RTF files to plain text for Claude to analyze.

Why Read-Only?

Scrivener is excellent software. Write in Scrivener. Use this MCP to give Claude context about your work so it can help you think through problems, find inconsistencies, and answer questions about your manuscript.

All writing stays in Scrivener where it belongs.

Limitations

Scrivener 3 format only (Scrivener 1/2 not tested)
Some RTF formatting may not convert perfectly
Read-only by design
Re-open project to see changes made in Scrivener

Related Projects

prose-pipeline - AI-powered prose generation

License

MIT

MCP Servers