7.2 Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop discovers MCP servers through its connectors UI — there is no need to hand-edit a config file. Open Settings ⇒ Connectors ⇒ Add and paste your MCP server URL:

https://your-host/mcp

Leave any “bearer token” or “API key” field blank — OAuth is the default auth mode. Click Save / Connect.

Claude Desktop will:

  1. Discover the OwnSona AS via the well-known metadata documents.
  2. Register itself dynamically (RFC 7591).
  3. Open a browser tab to https://your-host/oauth/authorize.

In that browser tab, enter your OWNSONA_LOGIN_USERNAME and OWNSONA_LOGIN_PASSWORD from application.ini. Click Allow on the consent screen. The browser hands the resulting OAuth code back to Claude, which exchanges it for an access token + refresh token and stores them locally. Subsequent calls use those tokens automatically; you will not see the browser flow again until the refresh token expires (30 days by default).

In any conversation, ask “what tools do you have?” You should see the nine OwnSona tools listed.

7.2.1 Older Claude Desktop versions that still accept a JSON config file

Some legacy versions of Claude Desktop read MCP servers from a JSON config file rather than the connectors UI. If yours is one of them, the config-file path is unchanged but the url field is the only thing you need — no headers/bearer entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ownsona": {
      "url": "https://your-host/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Config-file paths:

macOS

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

Windows

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Linux

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (when supported)

Restart Claude Desktop after editing. The first request triggers the same browser-based OAuth login described above.

7.2.2 Verify

In a fresh conversation:

Please call the recall tool with the query "test".

Claude will invoke recall. Even on an empty store you’ll see the tool call succeed with an empty matches array.