Connecting Claude Desktop

Last reviewed: 28 Oct 2026

The Claude desktop app (Mac and Windows) connects the same way as Claude on the web: as a custom connector you paste one URL into. Custom connectors need a paid Claude plan.

Step 1: Add the connector

In the app: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. On the Connect page, open the Claude Desktop row (under Add another agent if it is not connected yet), press Make a key for Claude on the web (the app and the web connect the same way), and paste the URL it shows. Your key is inside the URL and shown once, so share it with no one; leave the OAuth fields blank.

Older builds: Settings, Developer, Edit Config, and add the same URL there. This is the desktop app's own config; Claude Code, the program in your terminal, is connected separately by the installer.

Step 2: Check it worked

Start a new chat and ask "What's my current focus?" If it answers with your project, you are connected.

Files on your machine

Claude Desktop reaches your files the same way ChatGPT does: through the tunnel, and only for projects you shared (the checkbox when you create a project, or naetive share --project <name> on that computer). The tunnel then starts by itself (on Windows, start it yourself with start-tunnel.cmd). Your files stay on your computer; what the agent asks for travels to it, encrypted, when you ask it something. See Sharing your projects and starting the tunnel. If you want an agent that works on your code directly, that is Claude Code.