askLABSCO SUMMARY
A prompt goes over to the desktop app, the answer comes back.
Two operations, both narrow: ask Claude Desktop something and read the conversations it has. The dependency worth deciding on up front is Accessibility permission for your terminal, since that is how the automation reaches the app at all.
What it is
A Model Context Protocol server that lets Claude Code communicate with Claude Desktop. It sends a prompt through native macOS automation, polls for the answer with a configurable timeout, and returns it, and it can list the conversations Desktop currently holds.
What you get
- Prompts sent from Claude Code to Claude Desktop, and the response returned
- Automatic polling for the response, with a timeout defaulting to 30 seconds and a maximum of 300
- A pollingInterval you set, so how often the server checks for an answer is yours to decide
- A specific conversation continued by passing its conversationId
- The list of conversations available in Claude Desktop (get_conversations)
- Error handling, retry logic and logging around the automation
Requirements
macOS, Node.js 18 or later, Claude Desktop installed, and Accessibility permission granted to your terminal app so AppleScript can control it, followed by a terminal restart. Install with npx mcp-claude-desktop, or build locally and point the client at dist/index.js.
Setup effort
One command — npx mcp-claude-desktop
USE CASES
01
Getting a second read on something mid-session
Send the question across to Claude Desktop and the reply comes back into the session that asked, without switching windows or copying text between them.
02
Continuing a thread that already has the context
Pass the conversationId of an existing Desktop conversation, so the prompt lands in the discussion that already knows the background instead of a fresh one.
03
Choosing which conversation to send to
List what Desktop currently has open and take the ID from there, which is the only way to address a specific thread deliberately.
04
Handling an answer that takes a while
Raise the timeout toward the 300-second maximum and widen the polling interval, so long generations complete rather than timing out at the 30-second default.
2 tools
Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.
get_conversationsBEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
2 tools named in the project's documentation.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- Node.js 18+
Where it runs
Both documented clients run the server on your machine.
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx mcp-claude-desktopMCP Clients
Claude Code, Any MCP client
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"claude-desktop": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-claude-desktop"
]
}
}
}
