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Connect Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop supports MCP servers via local configuration. This guide connects your Whet Desktop instance in under a minute.

Prerequisites​

  • Claude Desktop installed (download).
  • Whet Desktop installed and running (download).
  • The agent token Whet generated on first launch. Read it from Settings → Agent tokens in the workbench, or run whet auth status and copy the masked-then-revealed token.

Edit the config​

The file lives at:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

If it does not exist, create it. If you already have other MCP servers configured, add the whet entry inside mcpServers.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whet": {
      "url": "http://localhost:7891/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <agent-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

For a Team / Enterprise deployment​

If your organization runs a shared Whet instance, point the URL at your team's host instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whet": {
      "url": "https://your-team.whet.so/api/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <agent-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop​

After saving the config, fully quit Claude Desktop (on macOS: Cmd+Q, not just close the window) and reopen it. MCP connections are initialized at boot.

Verify the connection​

  1. Open a new conversation.
  2. Look at the tools indicator in the input bar — you should see the icon with a counter (around 35 tools, 2 prompts, 2 resources available — see Available tools for the breakdown across core / sessions / dashboards).
  3. Try a minimal prompt:

Ask the Whet MCP to read the inbox of pipeline pp_a1b2c3.

If it responds with the list of artifacts, everything is connected.

Troubleshooting​

The tools icon does not appear — the config has a JSON error. Paste it into a validator (jq or web) before saving.

401 unauthorized — token expired or revoked. Generate a new one and update the config.

fetch failed / ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:7891 — Whet Desktop isn't running. Open the app from the system tray and retry. For a Team / Enterprise URL, check that the domain resolves and the certificate is valid.

Claude Desktop says "tool requires confirmation" — that is intended. Each Whet MCP tool has its own confirmation policy based on risk. Publish actions always require explicit confirmation.

Next step​