⌁ CLAUDE DESKTOP + MCP

Test your local MCP server from Claude Desktop

Tapinto opens a public HTTPS URL onto a Model Context Protocol server running on your laptop — so Claude Desktop can talk to it without a deploy. First 60 minutes per week are free.

Start free

first 60 min / week free · from $0.001 / tunnel-minute · $0.002 / mcp-toolkit-minute · USD billing

The fast path: let Claude run it for itself

If you just want Claude to pull tunnels up when it needs them, wire the Tapinto CLI as an MCP server inside Claude Desktop. Claude can then call create_tunnel, list_tunnels, stop_tunnel, and whoami on your behalf. The very first call auto-registers an anonymous 60 min/week trial bound to your machine — no signup, no card. Restart Claude Desktop after editing the config so the new server is picked up.

ADD TO CLAUDE_DESKTOP_CONFIG.JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tapinto": {
      "command": "tapinto",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows)

Restart your AI host after editing the config. First create_tunnel call auto-registers an anonymous 60 min/week trial — no signup, no card.

If tapinto isn't on Claude Desktop's PATH (common on macOS — the GUI app doesn't inherit your shell's PATH), substitute the absolute path (e.g. /usr/local/bin/tapinto) in the command field.

The classic path: paste a tunnel URL into Claude Desktop

Prefer driving the tunnel yourself? Open it from a terminal and add the public URL to Claude Desktop's remote MCP servers list — five steps, about two minutes.

  1. STEP 01

    Install the CLI

    curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cre8-IT-Code/tapinto-cli/main/install.sh | bash

  2. STEP 02

    Start your local MCP server

    Run your MCP server so it's listening on a local port — for example https://localhost:8080.

  3. STEP 03

    Open a Tapinto tunnel

    tapinto https://localhost:8080 --inspect

    Copy the printed https://<slug>.tapinto.it URL.

  4. STEP 04

    Add the URL to claude_desktop_config.json

    Open Claude Desktop's MCP configuration (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) and add the tunnel URL as a remote MCP server entry. Restart Claude Desktop so the new server is picked up.

  5. STEP 05

    Verify and inspect

    Open a chat in Claude Desktop and trigger one of your MCP server's tools. Tapinto's live inspector at tapinto.dev/tunnels/<slug> shows every JSON-RPC call, response, and error in real time.

See also: Cursor + localhost MCP · What is an MCP tunnel?