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Different MCP clients support different transport types. Choose the tab for your client below.
Claude Desktop supports stdio (local process) and remote URL transports.Config file location:
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Local (stdio) — runs your server as a local process:
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_STRATEGY": "bearer",
        "BEARER_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}
Remote (URL) — connects to a deployed server over HTTP:
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "url": "https://your-server.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}