Connect Claude Desktop

Two ways to wire Claude Desktop (and claude.ai) to vibeD. Pick by where vibeD runs:

vibeD is…	Use
Reachable on the public internet over HTTPS	Custom connector, no local tooling
Only on your machine / private network (e.g. make dev)	mcp-remote bridge in claude_desktop_config.json

Option A: Custom connector (remote MCP)

Claude Desktop and claude.ai can connect to a remote MCP server directly, without anything running on your laptop. This needs vibeD to be reachable from Anthropic's side, so it only works for a public, TLS-terminated install (see Authentication & HTTPS).

1. In Claude, open Customize → Connectors and click Add custom connector (Team/Enterprise owners: Organization settings → Connectors → Add → Custom → Web).
2. Name it vibed and enter the URL: https://vibed.example.com/mcp.
3. Authentication: custom connectors authenticate with OAuth, not a static header. Run vibeD in OIDC mode, which publishes /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource so the connector can discover your identity provider, and, if your IdP needs it, enter the client ID/secret under Advanced settings.
4. Save, then start a new chat and enable the vibed connector in the tools menu.

API-key auth and custom connectors

A custom connector cannot send a static Authorization: Bearer header. If your instance uses API-key auth, use Option B instead; mcp-remote can inject the header.

Option B: mcp-remote bridge (local or private instances)

Claude Desktop's config file only launches stdio servers, so for a local or private vibeD you bridge the HTTP endpoint with mcp-remote. This is the standard setup for a make dev install.

Edit the config file:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vibed": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:8080/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

With auth enabled, add the token as a header. Keep the secret out of the file by referencing an environment variable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vibed": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote", "https://vibed.example.com/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization:${VIBED_TOKEN}"
      ],
      "env": { "VIBED_TOKEN": "Bearer vibed_sk_your_secret_key_here" }
    }
  }
}

(The Authorization:${VIBED_TOKEN} form with no space after the colon is deliberate; it sidesteps a known argument-splitting issue in Claude Desktop.)

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop; a window close is not enough. The hammer/tools icon should now list the vibeD tools.

Self-signed or plain-HTTP instances

• http://localhost:8080 (dev default) works as-is; mcp-remote allows plain HTTP to loopback.
• For a self-signed cert (auth.tls.autoTLS), either trust the cert in your OS keychain or, for local testing only, set "env": {"NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED": "0"} on the server entry.

Try it

"Deploy a simple portfolio website with my name to vibeD."

Claude calls deploy_artifact and replies with the URL once the app is Ready. On a dev install the URL looks like http://<id>.localhost/.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
Server missing from the tools list	Config JSON is valid (no trailing commas); Claude was fully quit; npx -y mcp-remote http://localhost:8080/mcp runs from a terminal
401 Unauthorized in the MCP log	Auth is on: add the --header (Option B) or switch to OIDC (Option A)
Tools appear but deploys fail with TemplateMissing	The needed warm pool isn't enabled; see local dev → warm pools
Logs	macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-server-vibed.log

See also Authentication and the MCP tools reference.