Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop talks to remote MCP servers through the mcp-remote shim, which is published on npm. You don’t need to install anything globally — npx will fetch it on demand.

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed and signed in.
Node.js 18+ on your PATH so npx resolves.
An Estaite MCP API key from estaite.com/developers.

Config file location

OS	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

If the file doesn’t exist, create it. Claude Desktop reads it on launch.

Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "estaite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.estaite.com",
        "--header",
        "x-api-key:YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key from your dashboard.

Apply

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop (closing the window is not enough on macOS — use Cmd-Q). The 13 Estaite tools will appear in the tool picker on your next conversation.

Troubleshooting

Tools don’t appear — check Claude Desktop’s developer logs (Help → Toggle Developer Tools → Console). 401 means the API key is wrong; 403 means the workspace is suspended.
npx not found — install Node.js 18+ and make sure your shell’s PATH is what Claude Desktop sees. On macOS, you may need to launch Claude from a terminal (open -a "Claude") the first time.
Corporate proxy — npx mcp-remote honors HTTPS_PROXY. Set it in your shell profile so Claude Desktop inherits it.

Connectors (alternative)

Claude.ai’s web app and the desktop “Connectors” feature accept a URL plus the ?key= query string. See Authentication → Option 3. The mcp-remote config above is preferred whenever it’s available.