Configuring AI Assistants

How Phantom connects

Phantom is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Your AI assistant connects to it as a tool provider — similar to how a browser connects to extensions. Once connected, Phantom’s 17 audio analysis tools appear as available functions your assistant can call.

Claude Code

The simplest setup. One command:

$ Claude Code setup

claude mcp add phantom — phantom-mcp

Verify it’s connected:

$ Verify

claude mcp list phantom (local, stdio) — 17 tools available

Claude Desktop

Add Phantom to your MCP server configuration file.

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

claude_desktop_config.json

{ "mcpServers": { "phantom": { "command": "phantom-mcp", "args": [] } } }

Restart Claude Desktop after saving the file. You should see Phantom’s tools listed in the tools panel.

Pro tip

If you installed Phantom in a virtual environment, use the full path to the binary: "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/phantom-mcp"

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP configuration (Settings > MCP Servers > Add):

Cursor MCP config

{ "mcpServers": { "phantom": { "command": "phantom-mcp", "args": [] } } }

Windsurf

Add to your Windsurf MCP settings (.windsurfrules or settings panel):

Windsurf MCP config

{ "mcpServers": { "phantom": { "command": "phantom-mcp", "args": [] } } }

Other MCP-compatible tools

Any tool that supports the MCP protocol can connect to Phantom. The configuration pattern is always the same:

  1. Find your tool’s MCP server configuration
  2. Add an entry with "command": "phantom-mcp" and "args": []
  3. Restart the tool

Note

Phantom runs locally — your audio files never leave your machine. The MCP connection is between your AI assistant’s process and the Phantom server process, both on your local system.

Troubleshooting

“Command not found: phantom-mcp”

  • Ensure Phantom is installed: pip show phantom-audio
  • If using a virtual environment, use the full path to the binary
  • On Windows, try phantom-mcp.exe

“No tools available” after connecting

  • Restart your AI assistant after adding the configuration
  • Check the config JSON is valid (no trailing commas)
  • Verify Phantom version is 0.4.0 or later: phantom --version

Assistant can’t find audio files

  • Use absolute paths: /Users/you/Music/session/vocals.wav
  • Or relative paths from your project root if using Claude Code