mdbase connect lets you use the applications you choose with the Markdown data you control. An application gets access to one collection only after you approve the exact actions it can perform, and you can pause or revoke that access at any time.

Your collection can stay in a folder on your computer or be hosted by mdbase with an optional local Markdown mirror. Either way, it remains a standard mdbase collection rather than being moved into an application-specific database.

What you can do

• Connect websites and native applications to a local or hosted collection.
• Review concrete permissions such as reading, querying, creating, or updating records before granting access.
• Keep local collection folders private and make remote access available without opening an inbound port on your computer.
• Work directly on the same computer when possible, with automatic fallback to an encrypted relay when needed.
• Pause an application or immediately disable its Connect credentials; hosted revocation remains visibly pending until the data authority confirms it.
• Use your collections from MCP clients such as Claude and ChatGPT.
• Mirror a hosted collection to a local folder for Markdown-based tools and backups.
• Use the native mdbase CLI directly with an explicitly authorized hosted collection without creating a filesystem mirror.

How it works

Collections on your computer

The mdbase connect desktop app registers your collection and runs a small background connector. Applications use a direct local connection when they are on the same computer. From elsewhere, requests travel through the managed relay, while the connector on your computer remains the final authority for every operation.

Your collection path is not sent to the cloud service, and you do not need to expose your computer to incoming internet connections.

Hosted collections

Hosted collections keep their authoritative Markdown with mdbase. You can optionally mirror a hosted collection to a folder on your computer and continue using file-based tools alongside connected applications.

Applications use the same approval model for local and hosted collections, so moving where a collection lives does not give an application broader access.

The CLI follows that boundary too. Account login can list and administer hosted collections, while record operations require a separate collection grant:

mdbase connect hosted authorize <collection-id> --read-only
mdbase --collection <collection-id> query --types task

Omit --read-only to request the full canonical operation set, or pass an exact comma-separated set with --operations. The approval opens in the browser and can be revoked with mdbase connect hosted disconnect <collection-id>.

Getting started during the beta

There is no public signup for the managed cloud service while it is in invite-only beta.

If you have beta access:

1. Follow your invitation to create or access your mdbase connect account.
2. Install the desktop build provided for your platform.
3. Open the desktop app and pair your computer.
4. Add an existing mdbase collection or create a hosted collection.
5. In a compatible application, choose Connect collection and review the requested access before approving it.

The editor's Connect workspace is the main web place to manage collections, connected applications, computers, and account sessions. The desktop app owns local-folder and mirror administration. The Connect portal is intentionally limited to sign-in, pairing, recovery, and authorization transactions.

Connect an MCP client

The managed MCP endpoint is:

https://mcp.mdbase.dev/mcp

Add it as a remote or custom MCP connector in an OAuth-capable client. The first connection asks you to choose a collection and approve its access. Additional collections receive independent grants, so connecting one does not expose the others.

See the MCP gateway guide for supported tools and the gateway's trust boundary.

Release notes

See the changelog for breaking SDK/contract changes, durable mutation guarantees, upgrade requirements, recovery guidance, and platform preview limitations.

Build an application

The @mdbase-dev/connect SDK gives browser and native applications an authorized, collection-scoped client:

pnpm add @mdbase-dev/connect

Start with the five-minute quickstart or read the complete Connect SDK guide. The SDK supports authorization with PKCE, direct and relayed operations, hosted replication, change delivery, notifications, and portable downloaded applications.

Applications declare their data contracts and requested capabilities. If a collection needs a declared contract, mdbase connect shows that change during approval and installs it as one verified transaction. This does not give the application general permission to manage types or schemas.

Security and privacy

mdbase connect is designed so that granting useful access does not mean handing an application an entire folder or account:

• Each grant is tied to one application, one collection, and an explicit set of operations.
• The local connector enforces access at the computer that owns a local collection.
• Local collection paths never leave the computer.
• Browser-to-connector relay payloads are end-to-end encrypted. The managed relay can see routing metadata, operation timing, and payload sizes, but not record contents or operation results.
• Hosted Markdown is encrypted at rest using per-collection data keys.
• Pausing is enforced immediately. Revocation immediately disables Connect-issued credentials; a hosted authority rechecks access before each new operation or bounded file range and explicitly confirms completion.

The MCP gateway is an authorized application endpoint: it decrypts responses in memory so it can return them to the MCP client, but does not persist record payloads or operation results.

For the detailed trust model, see Architecture, Encryption, and Hosted collections. Security assumptions, abuse cases, and prerelease residual risks are collected in the Threat model. The source and test map for independent review is the explicitly unaudited Security audit preparation package. Please use the private reporting process in the Security policy for suspected vulnerabilities.

Command line

The desktop app includes the unified mdbase CLI and background daemon. The same native executable is also published as a standalone headless archive for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Direct collection commands are top-level; identity, authorization, mirroring, and daemon administration live under mdbase connect.

mdbase --root /path/to/notes query --types task
mdbase connect collection list
mdbase connect hosted list
mdbase connect hosted authorize <collection-id> --read-only
mdbase --collection <collection-id> query --types task
mdbase connect mirror add <collection-id> /path/to/mirror
mdbase connect mirror plan <replica-id> --json
mdbase connect mirror sync <replica-id> --plan sha256:<fingerprint>
mdbase connect status

Human-readable output is the default. Connect administration commands support --json for automation. See the unified CLI guide for the full command model and the headless installation guide for verified standalone installation and service operation.

Self-hosting

mdbase connect is open-source, and advanced operators can run the control plane, relay, hosted collection provider, and MCP gateway themselves. Self-hosters are responsible for authentication, TLS, signing, upgrades, monitoring, backups, and incident response.

Use an immutable beta release tag rather than main, and follow the production self-hosting guide.

Contributing

This repository contains the editor, desktop app, CLI and connector, browser SDK, managed-service control plane and relay, hosted collection provider, MCP gateway, and shared protocols. These products release independently even though they share one workspace and lockfile.

Development requires a Rust toolchain, Node.js 24 LTS, and pnpm 11.15.1.

pnpm install
cargo test --workspace
pnpm build
pnpm typecheck
pnpm test

The private mdbase-connect-testbed-adapter crate drives the production notification catalog, authorization hook, action provider, runtime, and store through the spec-owned runtime.application-execution black-box scenario. It is verification plumbing only and is never published as a Connect API.

The end-to-end suites cover local authorization, the encrypted relay, hosted replication, and the production hosted provider:

pnpm e2e
pnpm e2e:relay
pnpm e2e:sync
pnpm e2e:provider

Seeded functional stress profiles cover concurrent replicas, lost responses, restarts, compaction, mirror convergence, scale, and soak behavior:

pnpm stress:quick
pnpm stress:functional
pnpm stress:soak:smoke

To run the local development environment:

cp .env.example .env
pnpm dev:environment:up
pnpm dev:desktop:fresh

See Testing, Functional stress testing, Maintainability, Releasing, and Production self-hosting for the complete workflows.

License

MIT