Dex

Dex is an MCP server that acts as your AI Chief of Staff, helping manage strategic work, meetings, relationships, and daily planning by leveraging Claude-based capabilities. The server provides task synchronization across your notes and project files, meeting intelligence to keep you informed, and career tracking features that adapt to your role. Once running, you can interact with the server to generate daily plans, pull in calendar events, summarize meeting notes, and update related documents automatically. The system is designed to be installed with Python 3.10+ and integrated into Cursor for a GUI-like workflow, with the CLI-based setup guiding you through code retrieval, installation, and enabling the MCP servers. Tools are centered around task sync, calendar-aware planning, and context-rich actions that keep your work organized without manual repetition.

Prerequisites:

• Cursor: download and install (free tier acceptable)
• Git: installed (required for setup and updates)
• Node.js: install the LTS version (enables automation features during setup)
• Python 3.10+: install from python.org (required for MCP servers and task sync)
  • Mac: ensure Command Line Tools are installed when prompted
  • Windows: add Python to PATH during installation
• Internet access to clone the repository and install dependencies

Step-by-step installation:

1. Get the code:

# Option A: clone via Git
git clone https://github.com/davekilleen/dex.git
cd dex

# Option B: download ZIP from GitHub and unzip, then open the folder

2. Install the MCP automation and dependencies (Dex uses Python 3.10+ and MCP SDK):

# Optional: upgrade pip first
python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip

# Install required MCP packages and dependencies
pip3 install --user "mcp>=1.0.0,<2.0.0" pyyaml python-dateutil

3. Run the installer script provided with the repo to set up the MCP components:

./install.sh

4. Verify MCP servers are configured and running. Cursor should detect a .mcp.json file and enable the Dex MCP server. If you encounter issues, re-run the dependency install commands and restart Cursor.

Notes:

• Ensure Python 3.10+ is the default Python when invoking python3. If your system uses python3.11 or newer, the same commands apply.
• If you plan to run from the command line outside Cursor, you can start the server with:

python3 -m dex

• The Dex setup mentions optional integration with Google Calendar for real meeting context on Mac; follow the prompts in the repository readme to enable calendar syncing if desired.

Tips and common issues:

• Python dependencies are the most common source of setup errors. If you see import or module errors, re-run:
  • python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
  • pip3 install --user "mcp>=1.0.0,<2.0.0" pyyaml python-dateutil
• Ensure your PATH includes Python and any scripts directory used by pip for user installs.
• Dex relies on Python 3.10+ for the MCP SDK; running with an older Python version may prevent task sync and meeting intelligence from functioning.
• If Cursor does not automatically enable the MCP server after installation, manually verify the presence of a .mcp.json file in the repo and restart Cursor.
• This MCP setup emphasizes task synchronization across meeting notes, Tasks.md, and project files; validate by updating a task in a meeting note and confirming updates propagate to related documents.