Connecting to Claude Desktop

Hands-on practice for this lecture. Work through the exercises and quizzes to reinforce what you've learned.

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Interactive Workshop

Claude Desktop Integration

Configure Claude Desktop to spawn your MCP server — understand the config file, absolute paths, and how to verify a successful connection.

1

Claude Desktop reads this JSON file at startup to spawn MCP server processes.

jsonclaude_desktop_config.json
1{
2  "mcpServers": {
3    "my-server": {
4      "command": "/usr/local/bin/node",
5      "args": ["/Users/you/projects/my-server/index.js"],
6      "env": {
7        "NODE_NO_WARNINGS": "1"
8      }
9    },
10    "another-server": {
11      "command": "/usr/local/bin/node",
12      "args": ["/Users/you/projects/another-server/dist/index.js"],
13      "env": {
14        "NODE_NO_WARNINGS": "1",
15        "API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
16      }
17    }
18  }
19}
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MCP Client
stdio · connectedclaude-desktop
validate_config

Validate a Claude Desktop config entry — check for common mistakes

requiredstring
requiredstring
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Test Your Understanding

Multiple choice — select an answer to see the explanation.

1 / 3

Why must Claude Desktop be fully restarted when you change your MCP server?

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