Claude Desktop

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed (macOS or Windows)
A MCPCore server with at least one tool
The config snippet from your server’s Integration tab

Step 1 — Get your config snippet

Open your server’s detail page, click the Integration tab, and select Claude Desktop. Copy the generated config snippet. It will look like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "your-server-code": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://your-subdomain.mcpcore.io/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For API Key mode, the snippet includes the auth header:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "your-server-code": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote@latest",
        "https://your-subdomain.mcpcore.io/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Step 2 — Open the config file

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

If the file doesn’t exist, create it with {} as the initial content.

Step 3 — Merge the snippet

If the file already has a mcpServers object, add your new server entry alongside the existing ones:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "existing-server": { "..." },
    "your-server-code": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://your-subdomain.mcpcore.io/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Step 4 — Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. MCP connections are established at startup.

Step 5 — Verify

Look for the tools icon (plug or hammer) in the Claude Desktop chat input bar. Click it to see available tools from your server.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Tools not visible after restart	Check JSON syntax — a missing comma or bracket breaks the whole file
`401 Unauthorized` in logs	Verify the API key in the `--header` argument
`Could not connect`	Check internet access; verify the subdomain URL is correct
Tool calls fail	Open Traffic Logs to see the error detail

Validate your JSON at jsonlint.com before saving — syntax errors are the most common cause of connection failures in Claude Desktop.

Getting Started

MCP Servers

Tools

Observability

Connect AI Clients

Prerequisites

Step 1 — Get your config snippet

Step 2 — Open the config file

Step 3 — Merge the snippet

Step 4 — Restart Claude Desktop

Step 5 — Verify

Troubleshooting

​Prerequisites

​Step 1 — Get your config snippet

​Step 2 — Open the config file

​Step 3 — Merge the snippet

​Step 4 — Restart Claude Desktop

​Step 5 — Verify

​Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Step 1 — Get your config snippet

Step 2 — Open the config file

Step 3 — Merge the snippet

Step 4 — Restart Claude Desktop

Step 5 — Verify

Troubleshooting