Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop supports remote MCP servers through Connectors. Add Toolcog and start using APIs from the desktop app.

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop installed (download)

Add Toolcog

1. Open Settings → Connectors
2. Click Add custom connector
3. Enter:
   • Name: Toolcog
   • URL: https://mcp.toolcog.com
4. Click Add

You’ll be prompted to sign in to Toolcog. Account creation is automatic on first login.

Enable in Conversations

Connectors aren’t active by default. To enable Toolcog in a conversation:

1. Click the Search and tools button (bottom left of the chat input)
2. Enable the Toolcog connector

Once enabled, Claude can discover, learn, and execute API operations.

Verify It’s Working

Start a new conversation and ask Claude something that uses Toolcog:

“What operations does Stripe have for creating customers?”

If everything is working, Claude will:

1. Use find_api to discover relevant Stripe operations
2. Return a list of operations like stripe/createCustomer, stripe/createPaymentSource

If you see operations listed, Toolcog is connected and working.

Catalogs

To connect to a specific catalog instead of the standard catalog:

https://mcp.toolcog.com/{owner}/{catalog}

See Catalogs for details.

Troubleshooting

Connector doesn’t appear

• Ensure it’s enabled via the Search and tools button
• Check Settings → Connectors to verify the connector was added

”Unauthorized” errors

• Sign in to Toolcog — Visit toolcog.com/login and ensure you’re logged in.
• Re-authenticate — If your session expired, Claude will prompt you to sign in again.

Operations not found

• Check the format — Operations are named serviceName/operationName (case-sensitive).
• Use discovery first — Ask Claude to find operations before trying to call them.
• Verify the catalog — If using a custom scope, ensure the catalog contains the API you’re looking for.

Authorization required for API calls

When Claude tries to call an API you haven’t authorized:

1. Claude responds with a message like “Click here to authorize GitHub”
2. Click the link to grant permission via OAuth
3. After authorizing, retry your request

This is expected behavior. Toolcog uses on-demand authorization—you grant access to each service only when needed.

Connection timeouts

• Retry the request — Transient network issues can cause timeouts.
• Check the target API — The API you’re calling might be slow or down.
• Simplify the request — Complex operations involving large responses may time out.

Tips for Effective Use

Be specific about intent. When discovering operations, describe what you want to accomplish:

Good: “Find an operation to create a Stripe subscription with a trial period”

Less good: “Stripe subscription”

Let Claude handle the interface. You don’t need to know parameter names. Ask Claude to create something, and it will figure out what parameters are needed.

Authorize incrementally. Don’t pre-authorize every service. Connect to APIs as you need them—it’s faster and keeps your permissions minimal.

Next Steps

• Authenticated Requests — Walk through the authorization flow in detail
• API Tools — Understand how Claude discovers and uses APIs