Connect SmartNotes to Cradle

Send captured notes into Cradle's shared Inbox over MCP, where triage agents classify issues and route them to the right project.

SmartNotes is designed to work with Cradle as a capture layer. It does not replace Cradle's risk and triage system — it feeds clean, structured issues into it.

How the integration works

SmartNotes acts as an MCP client to Cradle. When connected, it can call two tools:

cradle_summarize_notes — cleans and summarizes a batch of notes, returns issue cards.
cradle_submit_issue — creates a ticket in Cradle's shared Inbox for operator review.

The flow is intentionally human-in-the-loop:

You capture notes in SmartNotes.
You select notes and click Summarize. SmartNotes calls cradle_summarize_notes and shows issue cards.
You review the issue cards and submit the ones you want. SmartNotes calls cradle_submit_issue.
Cradle creates a ticket, runs triage across all projects, and routes the issue to the winning agent's project.
A human operator approves, edits, or rejects the ticket before any auto-reply is sent.

There is no auto-send from SmartNotes. Every submitted issue lands in operator review.

Configure the connection

In SmartNotes Settings → Cradle:

Enable the Cradle MCP client.
Enter the Cradle server URL, for example http://127.0.0.1:31416/mcp for a local server.
Enter a Cradle API key with at least agents:execute and messages:write scopes. An admin:* key also works.
Click Ping to verify the connection.

If the connection is active, the main Cradle UI shows a SmartNotes Inbox tab and can import notes automatically.

Required Cradle server setup

On the Cradle side, the MCP server must be enabled:

In Cradle desktop: Integrations → MCP Server.
Choose a bind host and port. The default is 127.0.0.1:31417 for Cradle's MCP server.
Save and start.

SmartNotes then connects to that endpoint. Both apps can run on the same machine or on the same trusted LAN.

Security

Cradle API keys are stored in smartnotes-secrets.json, encrypted via Electron safeStorage.
Communication happens over HTTP or HTTPS, depending on how Cradle is exposed.
SmartNotes never pushes screenshots or transcripts anywhere except the configured Cradle server.
Cradle's normal scope checks apply: the key must have agents:execute for summarization and messages:write for submitting issues.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
"Connection failed"	Wrong URL or Cradle MCP server not running	Check host/port and that the MCP server is enabled in Cradle.
"Unauthorized"	Invalid or revoked key	Create a fresh key in Cradle Integrations → API Keys.
Summarize returns no issues	Notes are empty or model failed	Capture at least one note with clear speech and verify the Whisper model is downloaded.
Submitted issues do not appear	Project mismatch or wrong scopes	Use an `admin:*` key for testing, then switch to a scoped key bound to the right project.