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 19 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) — 19 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.

Phantom has been approved for the Anthropic Plugin Marketplace.

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 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 is installed: 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