After my failed attempt with Claude, I downloaded the latest version of Tinderbox 11 which allows integration with Gemini. I wasn’t able to get clear instructions from the official help documentation on how to set up the Gemini integration so I looked through the forums (and I asked Gemini itself).
I’ve managed to get to the point where a similar directory structure to the one that was created for Claude under Hints > AI has been created for Gemini. When I start Gemini from my terminal, Tinderbox opens.
But then I see the following errors:
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ x get_notes (tinderbox MCP Server) {“attributes”:“Text”,“query”:“$Text.contains(“non-verbal predication”) | $… │
│ │
│ MCP tool ‘get_notes’ reported tool error for function call: │
│ {“name”:“get_notes”,“args”:{“attributes”:“Text”,“query”:”$Text.contains(“non-verbal predication”) |
│ $Text.contains(“support verbs”) | $Text.contains(“adjective”)"}} with response: │
│ [{“functionResponse”:{“name”:“get_notes”,“response”:{“error”:{“message”:“MCP error -42: MCP is disabled; try turning on File:Enable AI Integration or check Document Settings”,“isError”:true}}}}] │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
✦ I am unable to access your Tinderbox notes because the “AI Integration” feature is currently disabled. Please enable it by going to File > Enable AI Integration in Tinderbox, or check your Document Settings. Once enabled, I can proceed with searching your notes.
———————————————————————————————————
But I have checked and AI integration IS enabled and the box next to Enable AI Integration in this document IS ticked!
Be sure you’re using Tinderbox 11.0.1 or later, preferably Tinderbox 11.5, with Gemini.
Be sure you have enabled AI Integration (Tinderbox ▸ Enable AI Integration) and also enabled AI integration in the current document (in Document Settings)
OK. I cannot really say what did it (I closed Tinderbox and the terminal a few times and I restarted my computer) but now it seems things are working fine and I can use both Gemini and Claude with my documents. Thanks.
I had pretty much similar experiences with Claude. It failed repeatedly, could not find the documents I requested, gave me MCP errors.
I repeatedly enabled and disabled AI in Tinderbox. Made a point of launching Claude first. Restarted my Mac. I think there is even a routine for clearing Claude’s cache.
No joy. Then suddenly it started working.
A couple of tips from my experience:
Always launch Claude first. It will launch Tinderbox.
Make sure Tinderbox’s default “Untitled” document is closed, and not simply in the background, otherwise Claude will try and write notes into that document. I presume it’s best not to have two documents open at the same time.
Download the Hints Container and read the AI hints. You can leave notes for Claude there, or in my case, I had Claude leave notes for itself.
I’ve found it best to always reference the document and full path of the note I want Claude to work with. My notes are pretty unsophisticated, and it actually seems to make them harder for Claude to work with.
An important point that is easy to overlook: Claude and Gemini expect Tinderbox to be their tool which they launch themselves.
It would be interesting to know what sort of mistakes Claude or Gemini make. Knowing the sort of things they do wrong, we can refine the tools or the readings to help them get it right.
I’m not sure why this happens, but Claude often thinks a note is “empty” or has no text. For whatever reason it seems to find the note’s name, but doesn’t fully access it. When I specify the full path, I get better results.
Claude doesn’t seem to consider the prototypes I’m using, unless I directly encourage it to do so. For instance I have notes with Prototype “Idea”, “Intention”, “Action”, etc. When I ask Claude to evaluate or provide a summary, it doesn’t take Prototype into account unless I specifically make a request and explain what the prototypes “mean” in the context of my document.
But perhaps the most troubling flaw is that Claude interprets aliases as duplicates…even when it has created the Agent that generates the aliases. I suspect that the fix for this would be to leave a note in Hints that explain aliases…I just haven’t gotten to that yet.
Empty notes: look at the details of the tool call. Claude gives you a disclosure triangle to look at them; you should be able to see what it tried to do. (Often, it’s looking at a different document)
Proptotypes: Claude knows about prototypes, but doesn’t know how you prefer to use them. Consider adding a note to Readings that succinctly explains what prototypes mean in your context.
Aliases: The built-in readings do not explain aliases at all to Claude. That’s probably worth a sentence or two.