Rockaway Ventures Brain MCP
This connects Claude Code or Codex to the read-only Rockaway Ventures brain.
After setup, you can chat naturally and ask questions like:
Use the Rockaway brain to answer this: what do we know about this company?
Use the Rockaway brain to find recent notes about this founder.
Use the Rockaway brain to find open threads around this deal.
Use the Rockaway brain to enrich this CSV.
This repository connects the Rockaway Ventures brain and installs a small Rockaway brain skill so Claude Code or Codex knows how to ask it questions.
Use this from the terminal on the same machine where Claude Code or Codex runs. Do not add this URL through Claude's custom connector UI: custom connectors are reached from Anthropic's cloud, while this private endpoint is intentionally reachable only from Tailscale-connected local machines.
What You Install
This one setup gives you both pieces:
1. The read-only Rockaway Ventures brain connection.
2. The Rockaway Ventures brain skill.
3. A separate read-only QMD search connection for fast semantic recall.
After setup, the skill command is:
$rockaway-ventures-brain
Use that command at the start of your message when you want Claude Code or Codex to use the Rockaway Ventures brain.
Install As An Agent Plugin
Make sure Tailscale is connected, then use the one line for your app.
Codex:
codex plugin marketplace add zabrodsk/rockaway-ventures-brain-mcp && codex plugin add rockaway-ventures-brain@rockaway-ventures-brain
Claude Code:
claude plugin marketplace add zabrodsk/rockaway-ventures-brain-mcp && claude plugin install rockaway-ventures-brain@rockaway-ventures-brain
The plugin installs the skill and both read-only brain connections together. There is no bearer token and no separate QMD installation. Restart the app after installation.
Legacy setup remains available as a compatibility fallback: bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zabrodsk/rockaway-ventures-brain-mcp/main/bootstrap.sh)".
What Gets Connected
MCP name: rockaway-ventures
MCP URL: https://clawdbot--mac-mini.taild9e247.ts.net:8447/mcp
Access: read-only
QMD MCP name: rockaway-ventures-qmd
QMD MCP URL: https://clawdbot--mac-mini.taild9e247.ts.net:8445/mcp
QMD collection: rockaway-ventures
The brain and QMD connections are read-only. QMD search runs as a separate Mac mini QMD MCP; no local QMD install is needed. Existing GBrain MCP remains canonical for page expansion, links, backlinks, and stats.
The repository follows Agent Plugins 1.0 with portable plugin.json, mcp.json, and skills/ components. Codex and Claude Code compatibility manifests are included until every client loads the portable files directly.
How To Use It
After setup, use this skill command:
$rockaway-ventures-brain
The easiest pattern is:
$rockaway-ventures-brain Use the Rockaway brain to answer this: ...
Examples:
$rockaway-ventures-brain Use the Rockaway brain to answer this: what do we know about Acme?
$rockaway-ventures-brain Use the Rockaway brain to find what we know about Jane Example.
$rockaway-ventures-brain Use the Rockaway brain to find notes related to the Series A process.
For CSV or spreadsheet lookup, tell Codex or Claude:
$rockaway-ventures-brain Use the Rockaway brain to enrich this CSV.
Useful output columns are row, match, confidence, summary, next step, and sources.
To verify from a terminal:
codex mcp list
You should see rockaway-ventures and rockaway-ventures-qmd.
Retrieval Benchmark
This repo includes a small benchmark harness for the read-only retrieval path. It writes timing metadata under .bench/, which is ignored by git and must stay outside the vault.
python3 scripts/bench_retrieval.py --suite smoke --runs 3 --warm
python3 scripts/bench_retrieval.py --suite full --runs 20 --warm --endpoint tailscale
By default the benchmark hashes query text in its output. Use --queries .bench/private-queries.json or the --company, --person, --deal, and --theme flags for private local samples.
Need Access?
You need to be on the Rockaway Tailscale network, and your Tailscale identity must be allowed to reach the Ventures brain port. Open this URL in a browser while Tailscale is connected:
https://clawdbot--mac-mini.taild9e247.ts.net:8447/mcp
Seeing JSON such as Method not allowed means the private network path is working.
Troubleshooting
If codex mcp list or Claude Code shows rockaway-ventures failing to start, first confirm Tailscale is connected and the browser check above reaches the URL. If the browser cannot connect, ask the Rockaway brain admin to verify your Tailscale access. If the browser reaches the URL but Claude Code or Codex still fails, fully quit and reopen the app.
Claude custom connectors are not the supported path for this private brain. They connect from Anthropic's cloud, not from your local Tailscale-connected machine.
The linear MCP is independent of this toolkit. If it reports "not logged in,"
run codex mcp login linear.
Setup Guide
Open or download the guide: