# TrainBud
**Talk to your training data.**
TrainBud is an open-source MCP server that connects your Garmin Connect fitness data to Claude, Cursor, and other AI assistants. Ask about workouts, sleep, heart rate, recovery, and body composition in plain English — privately, on your machine.
> **Disclaimer:** TrainBud is an unofficial community project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Garmin Ltd. Garmin Connect is a trademark of Garmin Ltd.
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/trainbud)
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[](https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/Zsadigzade/trainbud)
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## Try it
Once connected to your MCP client, ask things like:
- *"What did I do today?"*
- *"How's my sleep been this week?"*
- *"Am I recovered enough to train hard tomorrow?"*
- *"Is my resting heart rate trending down?"*
See [examples/prompts.md](./examples/prompts.md) for more ideas.
## Why TrainBud
- **Private** — credentials stay in your local `.env`; data is cached on your machine
- **Local-first** — SQLite cache, session tokens in `.trainbud/`
- **Works everywhere** — Windows, macOS, Linux (Node.js 22.12+)
- **Any MCP client** — Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other stdio-compatible clients
- **Smart fetching** — batched API calls and automatic re-auth when sessions expire
## Quick start
```bash
npx trainbud setup
```
The setup wizard walks you through credentials, authentication, and connecting Cursor or
Claude Desktop — no MCP config editing required. Then restart your MCP client and ask it
what you did today.
To keep `trainbud` on your PATH instead of typing `npx` every time:
```bash
npm install -g trainbud
trainbud setup
```
Needs Node 22.12+. Full walkthrough: [QUICKSTART.md](./QUICKSTART.md)
From source (for contributors, or to run an unreleased commit)
```bash
git clone https://github.com/Zsadigzade/trainbud.git
cd trainbud
npm install
npm run build
npm link # puts `trainbud` on your PATH; undo with `npm unlink -g trainbud`
trainbud setup
```
Without `npm link`, every `trainbud ` in this README is
`node dist/index.js ` run from the repo root. If `dist/` does not exist yet,
run `npm run build` first.
## Claude Code plugin (recommended)
Install as a [Claude Code plugin](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins) — skills **and** MCP server in one step:
```bash
/plugin marketplace add Zsadigzade/trainbud
/plugin install trainbud@trainbud
```
Set credentials, then restart Claude Code:
```bash
export GARMIN_EMAIL="your@email.com"
export GARMIN_PASSWORD="yourpassword"
```
| Command | What it does |
|---------|----------------|
| `/trainbud:trainbud-setup` | First-time setup and diagnostics |
| `/trainbud:trainbud` | Ask about workouts, sleep, recovery, HR, stress, VO2 max |
Plugin files live in [`plugin/`](./plugin/). See [`plugin/README.md`](./plugin/README.md).
## Claude Code skills (in-repo)
This repo also ships project skills in [`.claude/skills/`](./.claude/skills/) for development without installing the plugin:
| Command | What it does |
|---------|----------------|
| `/trainbud-setup` | Install, authenticate, configure MCP, run live check |
| `/trainbud` | Ask about workouts, sleep, recovery, HR, stress, VO2 max |
Open the repo in **Claude Code** (`claude` in this directory) — skills load automatically.
To use skills in **every** project without the plugin, copy them to `~/.claude/skills/`.
After setup, restart your MCP client and try `/trainbud` with *"What did I do today?"*
## Dashboard
`trainbud serve` hosts a dashboard at `/dashboard`. It is phone-first, because the
pairing flow is: you are standing next to the watch holding a phone when you approve a
code.
It shows what stands out today against your own baselines, this week against last week,
and resting heart rate and sleep plotted against your own 30-day median — all read from
the local history store, so it paints instantly and works even when your Connect session
has expired. **A break in a line is a day with no measurement, not a zero.**
It is also where you tell TrainBud who it is talking to:
| Setting | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Name, units, primary sport, weekly goal | Every renderer, and what the AI is told about you |
| Thresholds | Where green becomes amber and amber becomes red — on the watch too |
| Watch cards | Which cards appear on the wrist and in what order, live on the next sync |
| AI model, tone, answer length | How the Ask card and the daily insight sound |
| Your own Ask questions | Up to five, 32 characters each. They lead the watch's Ask menu; the rest of the slots stay generated from what fired |
| Monthly spending cap | Optional. Refuses an Ask past the cap instead of spending past it |
| Privacy | Local feature counters, on by default, with a delete button |
**Usage.** TrainBud runs on your own AI provider key, so every question and every daily
insight is charged to you. The dashboard shows the tokens and cost per call, the month to
date, and a 30-day chart. A model this build has no published price for is recorded with
its cost left *unknown* rather than as zero — a call priced at zero would make a cap that
can never trip.
Nothing on this page leaves your machine. There is no endpoint to send it to.
## Garmin watch widget (Connect IQ)
View recovery, sleep, activity, stress, and VO2 max on your Garmin watch via a Connect IQ widget in [`ciq/`](./ciq/).
**Requires:** `trainbud serve` running + HTTPS tunnel (same setup as web AI).
1. Start the server and tunnel:
```bash
trainbud serve
cloudflared tunnel --url http://127.0.0.1:3847
```
2. Build and sideload the widget — see [ciq/README.md](./ciq/README.md)
3. In **Garmin Connect Mobile** → Connect IQ → TrainBud settings, set:
- **Server URL** — your tunnel URL (e.g. `https://abc.trycloudflare.com`)
4. Open the widget on your watch — it shows a pairing code. Approve it in the dashboard (`/dashboard?token=YOUR_API_KEY`) to complete setup. The dashboard swaps that token for a session cookie and drops it from the URL, so the address bar is safe to screenshot afterwards.
The glance shows recovery and sleep, or the top finding in a few characters ("RHR +4 bpm"),
from the last cached summary, so it renders without waiting on the network; once that is more
than two hours old it says so. Open it and tap or swipe to cycle through the cards you left
switched on in the dashboard. The watch calls `GET /api/watch` — a compact JSON summary, not
the full MCP protocol.
On the Today card, **START (or tap) opens a finding to the rule it fired on** — "Each of the
last 3 days was at least 3 bpm and 2 deviations above your 28-day median of 48 bpm" — and from
there it can be **muted for three days** (`POST /api/mute`). The Sleep card names what moved
last night against your own nights ("Deep 40m (1h24m)"). On the Forerunner 55, whose widget has
64 KB, those two are compiled out so the rest still fits.
## Detector rules
Every finding fires on a rule you can see and move. The dashboard's **Detector rules**
section holds the bars — resting HR days/bpm/deviations, sleep-debt hours, HRV drop, the
training-load ratios, and "several signals together" (resting HR up, HRV down and sleep
stress up at once) — bounded so no setting makes every day, or no day, a finding. Every
surface shows the rule a finding fired on, with the numbers that were in force.
## Voice (`/voice`)
Hold a button on your phone, ask a question out loud, hear the answer read back.
Open `https://YOUR-HOST/voice?token=YOUR_API_KEY` once; it trades the key for a cookie
and redirects to a clean URL.
- **Android / Chrome** — speech recognition happens in the browser. Free, no key.
- **iPhone / Safari** — records audio and transcribes it server-side via Groq
(`whisper-large-v3-turbo`, about $0.04 per hour of audio). Add the key on the dashboard.
- **Both** — answers are spoken back, and **Read me my day** / **Read today's insight**
cost nothing at all: they are composed in code from data already on hand, not generated.
Not a watch feature and it cannot be one: Connect IQ exposes no microphone or speaker to
a widget. Not hands-free either — mobile browsers suspend the microphone when the tab is
backgrounded, so the phone has to be awake with the page in front of you.
Full detail: [docs/VOICE.md](./docs/VOICE.md)
## Always on (`/voice` and the watch, without babysitting a terminal)
`trainbud serve` in a terminal lasts until the terminal closes. To have the server and the
tunnel come back by themselves after a reboot:
```powershell
.\scripts\install-always-on.ps1 -Hostname trainbud.example.com
```
That registers a scheduled task for the server and a watchdog that checks both halves every
five minutes — because **a tunnel that answers is not a server that answers**: a tunnel with
nothing behind it serves its own error page under a 200, so the link looks alive while the
watch reports `HTTP -400`. systemd, launchd and Docker Compose recipes are in the guide.
Full detail, including Cloudflare named tunnels: [docs/ALWAYS-ON.md](./docs/ALWAYS-ON.md)
## Connect to Claude Desktop
Edit `claude_desktop_config.json`:
**Windows:** `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
**macOS:** `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"trainbud": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["C:/path/to/trainbud/dist/index.js", "start"],
"env": {
"GARMIN_EMAIL": "your@email.com",
"GARMIN_PASSWORD": "yourpassword"
}
}
}
}
```
With `trainbud` on your PATH (`npm install -g trainbud`, or `npm link` from a clone),
point the client at the command instead of a path:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"trainbud": {
"command": "trainbud",
"args": ["start"]
}
}
}
```
Restart your MCP client, then start asking questions.
## Tools
| Tool | What it answers |
|------|-----------------|
| `get_latest_activity` | Your most recent workout — distance, pace, HR, elevation |
| `get_activities_range` | Activities between two dates |
| `get_sleep_data` | Sleep duration, stages, score, awakenings — and which parts of last night were unusual for you |
| `get_heart_rate_trends` | Resting, max, and average HR over time |
| `get_recovery_status` | Recovery score from HRV, sleep, stress, resting HR |
| `get_body_composition` | Weight, body fat, and muscle mass trends |
| `get_stress_levels` | Daily stress averages and trends |
| `get_vo2_max_trends` | VO2 max fitness trends over time |
| `get_training_insights` | Combined weekly summary (activities, sleep, recovery, stress) |
| `get_findings` | What stands out against **your own** 28-day baselines, with the rule each finding fired on |
| `get_week_review` | This week against last, the load forecast, sleep debt, and your next race |
| `compare_workouts` | One workout against your own earlier efforts of the same type and distance |
| `remember_context` | Record a goal, a race and its date, an injury, or a note |
| `get_user_context` | What is on record about you, on any date |
| `log_subjective` | How a session actually felt — RPE, soreness, mood |
## CLI
```bash
trainbud setup # Interactive first-time setup (recommended)
trainbud serve # Remote HTTP MCP for web AI (claude.ai, ChatGPT)
trainbud check # Live diagnostics against all tools
trainbud doctor # What the watch would see: public URL, AI key, history depth
trainbud backfill # Pull Garmin history into the local store (resumable)
trainbud findings # What stands out against your own baselines, and the rule each fired on
trainbud rederive # Rebuild sleep measurements (deep, REM, awakenings) from the local archive — no Garmin requests
trainbud start # Start the MCP server (stdio)
trainbud auth # Force re-authentication
trainbud cache clear # Clear cached data
trainbud devices # List paired watches
trainbud devices revoke # Take one watch's access away
trainbud rotate status # Which secrets are set, and whether their two homes agree
trainbud rotate api-key # Replace TRAINBUD_API_KEY, and say what that invalidates
trainbud rotate ai-key # Replace the AI key in BOTH .env and app.db
trainbud status # Show session and cache status
trainbud --version # Print version
```
`rotate ai-key` writes both stores on purpose. The AI key lives in `.env` *and* in
`app.db`, the database copy is the one actually read, and hand-editing only the file
leaves a rotated key that never took effect.
Every one of these also works as `npx trainbud ` without installing anything.
### Troubleshooting: `trainbud: command not found`
Either use `npx trainbud `, or install it globally with
`npm install -g trainbud`. Running from a clone instead? Run `npm link` once from the
repo root, or call the built entry point directly with `node dist/index.js doctor`
(after `npm run build`).
## Configuration
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `GARMIN_EMAIL` | — | Garmin Connect email |
| `GARMIN_PASSWORD` | — | Garmin Connect password |
| `TRAINBUD_SESSION_PATH` | `.trainbud/session.json` | Session token storage |
| `TRAINBUD_LOG_PATH` | `.trainbud/mcp.log` | Log file path |
| `TRAINBUD_CACHE_PATH` | `.trainbud/cache.db` | SQLite cache database |
| `CACHE_TTL_ACTIVITIES` | `1800` | Activity cache TTL (seconds) |
| `CACHE_TTL_SLEEP` | `7200` | Sleep cache TTL (seconds) |
| `CACHE_TTL_STATS` | `3600` | Stats cache TTL (seconds) |
| `TRAINBUD_API_KEY` | auto-generated | Bearer token for HTTP MCP (`trainbud serve`) |
| `TRAINBUD_HOST` | `127.0.0.1` | Bind host for HTTP server |
| `TRAINBUD_PORT` | `3847` | Bind port for HTTP server |
## Security & privacy
- Credentials live only in your local `.env` file — never sent to a third party
- Session tokens in `.trainbud/session.json` are as sensitive as a password
- Tool errors are sanitized before reaching the AI client
- Uses the unofficial [`garmin-connect`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/garmin-connect) npm package (not Garmin's enterprise OAuth API)
- **MFA is not supported** by the underlying library — disable MFA or use an app-specific password
- The server binds `127.0.0.1` by default. It is only reachable from the internet if
you point a tunnel at it, and every route except `/health` needs the API key
- The dashboard takes the key once, on `/dashboard?token=…`, then trades it for an
`HttpOnly` session cookie and redirects to a clean URL — so the key does not sit in
your address bar, your history, or a screenshot
- **A paired watch holds a token scoped to that watch**, minted at pairing and stored
on the server as a SHA-256 hash. `trainbud devices` lists them, `trainbud devices
revoke ` takes one away — without logging out the dashboard, `/mcp`, or your
other watches. A watch paired before 0.5.2 holds the API key itself; re-pair it to
swap that for a scoped token
- Every response carries `Content-Security-Policy`, `X-Content-Type-Options`,
`X-Frame-Options` and `Referrer-Policy`, including the 401s. HSTS is sent only on a
request that actually arrived over TLS, so the loopback dashboard stays reachable
### What TrainBud is not
- **Not a hosted service.** There is no TrainBud account and no TrainBud server. You run
it, on your machine, against your own Garmin credentials
- **Not an official Garmin integration.** It drives an unofficial library against the
Connect web API. Garmin can change that API without notice, and does
- **Not MFA-compatible.** If your Connect account has MFA on, this will not log in
- **Not free to ask.** The AI features run on your own Anthropic key and are billed to
you. The dashboard meters every call and can refuse past a cap you set
## Troubleshooting
| Issue | Fix |
|-------|-----|
| Authentication failed | Verify `.env` credentials, run `trainbud auth` |
| MFA enabled on account | Disable MFA or use an app-specific password |
| Stale data | Run `trainbud cache clear` |
| Rate limited | Wait 60 seconds; cached responses are used when available |
| Watch shows "Not a TrainBud server" or error -400 | Your public URL is answering with something that is not TrainBud's JSON — usually a tunnel that is down. Run `trainbud doctor`; it says exactly what came back |
| Watch shows "Watch not authorised" | The API key changed since the watch paired. Pair it again from the dashboard |
| Watch shows "AI not set up" | AI is bring-your-own-key. Paste an Anthropic key into the dashboard |
| No sleep/HR data | Ensure your Garmin device has synced to Garmin Connect |
| Server won't start | Check that `GARMIN_EMAIL` and `GARMIN_PASSWORD` are set in `.env` |
## Docker
A published image, built and exercised in CI on every push so it is not a
promise that quietly rots:
```bash
docker pull ghcr.io/zsadigzade/trainbud:latest
```
Or build it yourself from this repository:
```bash
docker build -t trainbud .
```
**One thing matters more than the rest: mount a volume at `/app/.trainbud`.**
That is where the SQLite history, the cached session and the log live. Without
it, every container restart throws away your downloaded history and
re-authenticates from scratch.
### As an MCP server for a desktop client
The default entrypoint speaks MCP over stdio, so the client runs the container:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"trainbud": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "GARMIN_EMAIL", "-e", "GARMIN_PASSWORD",
"-v", "trainbud-data:/app/.trainbud",
"trainbud"
]
}
}
}
```
`-i` is required — without it the container has no stdin and the client sees a
server that connects and immediately goes quiet. The two `-e` flags with no
value pass the variables through from your own environment, so your credentials
stay out of the config file.
### As an HTTP server, for the watch app or a web client
```bash
docker run --rm -p 3847:3847 \
-e GARMIN_EMAIL -e GARMIN_PASSWORD \
-e TRAINBUD_API_KEY \
-e TRAINBUD_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-v trainbud-data:/app/.trainbud \
--entrypoint node trainbud dist/index.js serve
```
`TRAINBUD_HOST=0.0.0.0` is needed inside a container: the server binds
`127.0.0.1` by default, which is the right default on a laptop and unreachable
from outside a container.
### Filling the history
`trainbud setup` is interactive and assumes a terminal, so with Docker do the
one-off backfill directly:
```bash
docker run --rm -e GARMIN_EMAIL -e GARMIN_PASSWORD \
-v trainbud-data:/app/.trainbud \
--entrypoint node trainbud dist/index.js backfill
```
The same pattern runs `doctor`, `check` and `devices`.
## Development
```bash
npm install
npm run build
npm test # the whole suite, via the Node test runner
npm run lint
npm run dev # Start with auto-reload
```
Use `.nvmrc` with nvm/fnm for Node 22. `npm run test:coverage` reports coverage through Node's own test runner, and `npm run test:watch` reruns on change.
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) and [docs/VAULT.md](./docs/VAULT.md) for architecture and design notes (Obsidian vault, outside this repo).
## Roadmap
- [x] VO2 max trends
- [x] Stress levels
- [x] Training insights
- [x] Workout comparison
- [x] Docker image — published to `ghcr.io/zsadigzade/trainbud`
## License
MIT — see [LICENSE](./LICENSE).
Garmin Connect is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. This project is not affiliated with Garmin Ltd.