# Fabric — start here

Fabric gives your Claude your own working memory: the mail you choose to hand
it, searchable, on your own machine. You stop re-explaining yourself to the AI
you already pay for.

**You'll need:** this kit (you have it), the Claude Desktop app, and an export
of your own mail (the setup walks you through getting one).

## The short version

Claude walks you through the whole setup. Install the Fabric extension
(`fabric.mcpb` in this folder: Claude Desktop › Settings › Extensions › drag it
in), then say to Claude:

> set up my fabric store

It tells you the single next step, checks your progress, and picks up where you
left off. Two of the steps happen in this folder:

1. **Install the collector.** Open Terminal (press ⌘-Space, type "Terminal",
   press Enter) and paste:

       bash ~/Downloads/fabric-kit/install.sh

   When it prints "collector ready", go back to Claude.
2. **Build the store.** Once you have your mail export (Claude explains how to
   get one from takeout.google.com), Claude gives you the exact one-line
   command to run. That's it.

**On Microsoft 365 / Outlook?** The same kit covers you: run the installer with
your own email address after it and a guided flow takes over, including the
mail-reader setup:

       bash ~/Downloads/fabric-kit/install.sh you@yourcompany.com

## What you're agreeing to — precisely

- Your mail is copied **onto this machine only**. Nothing about you is
  uploaded anywhere; the tool never asks for your password.
- **Mail you've deleted is left out** — deleted and junk folders are never
  collected.
- When you later ask Claude a question, **only the slice that answers it**
  goes to Claude — through your own Claude account, like any chat you type.
- Changing your mind takes a minute, not a process: delete
  `~/Library/Application Support/Fabric/` (the collected store) and the
  extension from Claude Desktop's settings.

## If something doesn't work

Run (or paste):

    ~/Downloads/fabric-kit/fabric-collect diagnose

A small **plain-text** file appears on your Desktop. Read it — that's the
point, you can see exactly what's in it — then send it to hello@fabric.stream
and a person replies. The tool itself never sends anything.

If your company's security blocks the setup: `IT-ONE-PAGER.md` in this folder
is one page for your IT team with two standard options. That's a normal
outcome, not a failure.

## Your first two questions to Claude

- *What does Fabric know?*
- *Search my mail for…* — pick something you actually need this week.

---
*In this folder: `install.sh` (step 1 runs it) · `fabric-collect` (the collector) ·
`fabric.mcpb` (the Claude extension) · `IT-ONE-PAGER.md` (for your IT team).*
