Turn Claude Into a Daily Coach That Re-Evaluates Your Garmin Data Automatically

Day 114: A Daily Coach That Checks Your Garmin Data Automatically

Building one training plan from your Garmin data is useful — see Day 109 for that prompt. It gets genuinely interesting when Claude re-checks your data every single morning without you asking, and tells you whether to push, hold, or back off before you've even opened the app.

First, connect Garmin to Claude

This uses the free, open-source garmin_mcp project, plus a paid Claude plan with access to Claude Cowork, Anthropic's desktop app with scheduled task support. No coding experience needed — every step is copy-paste.

Step 1: Open a terminal

On Mac: Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, and press Enter.

On Windows: Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and press Enter.

Step 2: Install uv (a small required tool)

The Garmin MCP server runs through uv, a free tool that downloads and runs it for you — including Python itself, so you don't need to install Python separately. Paste the command for your system into the terminal and press Enter:

Mac:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Text will scroll by — that's normal. When it stops and shows a new cursor, it's done. You only ever need to do this once on this computer.

Step 3: Log in to Garmin, from the terminal

Still in the same terminal window, paste this and press Enter (the first run may take a minute, since it also downloads a small Python runtime automatically):

uvx --python 3.12 --from git+https://github.com/Taxuspt/garmin_mcp garmin-mcp-auth

It will ask for your Garmin email, password, and — if you have it enabled — your MFA code. Type each one and press Enter. This saves a secure login token on your computer, valid for about six months, so Claude will never have to ask you to log in again.

Step 4: Download the Garmin MCP extension

Go to the project's Releases page and download the latest garmin-mcp.dxt file, listed under "Assets".

Step 5: Install it in Claude Desktop

Open the Claude desktop app (download and install it first if you haven't already), then drag the garmin-mcp.dxt file you just downloaded straight onto the Claude Desktop window. You can also double-click the file, or go to Settings → Extensions → Install Extension and pick it manually.

Claude shows a short configuration screen for the extension, with optional fields like token path, email, and password. Because you already logged in during Step 3, leave every field empty and just confirm — Claude uses your saved login automatically.

Step 6: Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop, then start a new conversation. Your Garmin data is now available to Claude directly, with no export and no copy-pasting.

If something goes wrong: if Claude says it can't find uvx, type which uvx (Mac) into the terminal, copy the path it prints, and paste that full path into the extension's "command" field instead of uvx. Your login token lasts about six months — if Claude suddenly stops seeing your data, just repeat Step 3.

Then, turn it into a daily coach

Step 7: Create a scheduled task

In Claude Cowork, open the Scheduled tab (or type /schedule in the chat) and start a new one. Choose to create it with Claude, then paste the prompt below.

Step 8: State your goal

Before you submit, add your goal underneath the prompt — run a marathon in 6 months, improve VO2 max, lose weight, whatever it is. Then answer the follow-up questions Claude asks, and set the cadence to daily.

You are my personal endurance coach. Every time you run, use the Garmin MCP connection to pull my latest activity, sleep, HRV, stress, Body Battery, and training readiness data — focus on the last 24 to 48 hours, with the recent weeks as context for the trend.

Each time you run, give me:
1. A one-line verdict: PUSH, HOLD, or BACK OFF today, based on my actual recovery numbers, not a fixed schedule
2. The specific data that led to that verdict (HRV vs. my baseline, sleep quality, Body Battery, training load trend)
3. If PUSH: what kind of session fits today (easy, tempo, intervals, long run) given my goal and recent training
4. If BACK OFF: what to do instead (full rest, active recovery, or a lighter version of today's planned session)
5. Any red flag worth flagging on its own (declining HRV trend over several days, poor sleep streak, resting heart rate creeping up)

Keep it short — a few sentences, not a report. I want a daily check-in, not a re-analysis from scratch every time.

MY GOAL: [fill in your goal — e.g. "run a marathon in 6 months", "improve VO2 max", "lose weight"]

What you get every morning

Every morning, Claude checks your actual Garmin data — automatically — and tells you whether to push, hold, or back off, with the specific numbers behind that call. It won't give you generic advice, because it knows exactly how you're doing that day, not how a hypothetical average athlete would be doing.