---
title: Claude Desktop
description: "Add the CLIKA Platform to Claude Desktop with the extension from the platform's Settings page, check that it works, and remove it."
---

Follow this page and you can ask Claude things like "which of my devices are online?" or "run a benchmark of this model", and Claude answers from the CLIKA Platform. It takes about five minutes. You need Claude Desktop installed on your computer and an account on the CLIKA Platform.

## Step 1. Get a key and the extension

1. Sign in to the CLIKA Platform (for example `platform.clika.io`) and open **Settings**, then **Developer access**.
2. Press **Create key**.
   - **Key name**: `claude-desktop`.
   - **Start from a template**: **Worker**. Claude can then look at your devices and also run benchmarks for you.
   - Leave everything else as it is, and press **Create**.

   ![The Create API key dialog: Key name claude-desktop, Expiry Platform default, the Worker template selected and its permissions ticked, and Create](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/create-key.png)

3. Press the copy button next to the key and paste the key somewhere for a moment, for example in a note. It is shown only once: after you press **Done**, you cannot see it again.

   ![The API key created dialog: the new key, which starts with clika_, the copy button next to it, and Done](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/key-created.png)

4. On the same page, find the **Claude Desktop** card. Check that the selected tab matches your computer, and pick the right one if it does not:
   - A Mac: **macOS (Apple Silicon)**. Macs with an Intel processor are not supported.
   - A Windows PC: **Windows (x86_64)**. Pick **Windows (arm64)** only on a Windows laptop with a Snapdragon processor.
   - A Linux PC: **Linux (x86_64)**, or **Linux (arm64)** on an Arm computer.
5. Press the download button under the tabs, for example **Download for Windows (x86_64)**. If the button no longer works, press **Refresh Links** and try again.

## Step 2. Add the extension to Claude Desktop

1. In Claude Desktop, open **Settings**. On Windows and Linux, open the menu at the top left and choose **File**, then **Settings**, or press `Ctrl+,`. On macOS, press `⌘,`.
2. Choose **Extensions**. The page ends with the line **Drag .MCPB or .DXT files here to install**.

   ![Claude Desktop Settings, Extensions, with no extensions installed: the Advanced settings button and the line Drag .MCPB or .DXT files here to install](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/01-extensions-page.png)

3. Drag the file you downloaded in step 1 (its name ends in `.mcpb`) from your Downloads folder onto that page.

   **If that doesn't work,** add the file this way instead:

   1. On the same page, press **Advanced settings**.
   2. Under **Extension developer**, press **Install extension** and choose the file you downloaded.

   ![Claude Desktop Extensions, Advanced settings: the Extension developer section with the Install extension button](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/02-advanced-settings.png)

4. The page for **Clika Platform** opens. Press **Install**.

   ![The Clika Platform extension page in Claude Desktop with the Install button](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/03-install-preview.png)

5. When asked **Do you want to install Clika Platform?**, press **Install**.

6. In **Configure Clika Platform**, paste the key you copied in step 1 into **API key**. Leave **Platform URL** as it is, and press **Save**.

   ![The Configure Clika Platform dialog: API key above Platform URL, with Cancel and Save](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/05-configure.png)

7. The extension is added turned off. Switch the toggle that reads **Disabled** so that it reads **Enabled**.

   ![The installed Clika Platform extension with its toggle reading Disabled](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/06-installed-disabled.png)

## Step 3. Try it

Close Settings, start a new conversation in **Chat**, and ask:

> Which of my Clika Platform devices are online?

The first time, Claude asks for permission to use the platform. Press **Always allow**, or **Allow once** to be asked again next time. When Claude answers with your devices, you are ready.

### If it does not work

- Check that the extension's toggle reads **Enabled** (Step 2, 7).
- Check that you pasted the whole key. It starts with `clika_`.
- A key stops working 90 days after you created it. Create a new one (Step 1) and put it in with **Configure** next to **Clika Platform** in **Settings**, **Extensions**.
- Quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again.

If it still does not work, see [Troubleshooting](troubleshooting.md).

## Remove it

Open **Settings**, then **Extensions** in Claude Desktop. Press **Configure** next to **Clika Platform**, then **Uninstall**, and confirm with **Uninstall**. Claude Desktop removes the extension and the key you entered.

![The Uninstall Clika Platform? confirmation in Claude Desktop](/img/platform/mcp/claude-desktop/07-uninstall-confirm.png)

If nothing else uses the key, revoke it on the platform under **Settings**, then **Developer access**.

## Good to know

- A key stops working 90 days after you created it. Create a new one and put it in with **Configure**.
- When the CLIKA Platform is updated, download the extension again (Step 1) and add it the same way (Step 2).

## For advanced users

The extension is a `.mcpb` file that carries the CLIKA CLI and the settings Claude Desktop needs to start it. Your deployment builds it from the CLIKA CLI it serves, so the extension's version is the deployment's CLI version, and it runs `clika-cli mcp` with the URL and the key you entered: it serves the `api-key` toolset, and of that the tools your key can call. It is offered for Linux and Windows on x86_64 and arm64, and for macOS on Apple silicon.

If you already use the CLIKA CLI, you can register Claude Desktop with it instead of the extension, or write the entry by hand.

### A self-signed certificate

The extension cannot skip certificate verification. On a deployment with a self-signed certificate, register with `clika-cli mcp install claude-desktop --insecure-tls` instead (next section).

### Register with the CLIKA CLI

With the CLIKA CLI installed and logged in ([Get started with the CLI](../cli/get-started.md)), one command registers the platform:

```bash
clika-cli mcp install claude-desktop
```

It adds an entry named `clika-platform` to `claude_desktop_config.json`. The entry runs the CLIKA CLI as a bridge to the deployment's MCP endpoint (`clika-cli --profile default mcp --remote`), so the tools follow the deployment with no extension to update. The entry holds no API key: the CLIKA CLI reads the key from its profile each time Claude Desktop starts it.

The command finds the file Claude Desktop reads on each operating system, including the Microsoft Store install on Windows, and `clika-cli mcp status` shows which file it chose and why. Before writing anything it checks the profile's key with one request to the deployment. If the profile has no key or the deployment refuses it, the command offers to log in when it runs at a terminal, and prints the `login` command to run otherwise. If Claude Desktop is running, the command says so. Restart it to load the server.

```bash
clika-cli mcp install claude-desktop --profile onprem --insecure-tls
clika-cli mcp install claude-desktop --dry-run
```

`--profile` registers another deployment's profile, `--insecure-tls` adds the flag to the entry for a deployment with a self-signed certificate, and `--dry-run` prints the entry without writing it. The [CLI reference](../cli/mcp.md#mcp-install-uninstall-status-and-headers) lists every flag.

### Add the entry by hand

Log in with the CLIKA CLI first (`clika-cli --base-url https://platform.clika.io login`), then add the entry to Claude Desktop's config file:

| Operating system | File |
| --- | --- |
| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` |
| Linux | `~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`, or `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` when `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is set |
| Windows, Microsoft Store install | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_*\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` |
| Windows, standalone installer | `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` |

The entry runs the CLIKA CLI by its absolute path, with the profile that holds your key:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clika-platform": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/clika-cli",
      "args": ["--profile", "default", "mcp", "--remote"]
    }
  }
}
```

On Windows the path is the one the installer printed after `installed clika-cli to`, with each backslash doubled, for example `"C:\\Users\\you\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\clika\\bin\\clika-cli.exe"`. For a deployment with a self-signed certificate, add `"--insecure-tls"` before `"mcp"`. Keep any other servers already in `mcpServers`. If Claude Desktop is running, restart it.

An entry you write by hand is yours: `mcp install` and `mcp uninstall` never change or remove it. If it uses the name `clika-platform`, `mcp install` refuses that name and asks for `--name`.

### Remove a CLIKA CLI or hand-written entry

An entry registered with the CLIKA CLI is removed with the CLIKA CLI, which deletes the entries `mcp install` added for the profile and leaves every other entry alone:

```bash
clika-cli mcp uninstall claude-desktop
```

An entry written by hand is deleted from the config file by hand. In both cases, if Claude Desktop is running, restart it. If no other client uses the API key, revoke it under **Settings**, then **Developer access**.