Connecting Claude Desktop

Prerequisites

To connect Claude Desktop to CodeContext, you need:

• Claude Desktop installed on your Mac or Windows computer.
• A CodeContext API key (create one from your Settings page).

Edit Your Claude Config

Claude Desktop uses a JSON configuration file to manage MCP servers. To add CodeContext:

1. Open Custom Connectors in Claude Desktop — Click the search icon in the input bar, then select "Add custom connectors" at the bottom of the panel.
2. Add CodeContext as a connector — Paste your CodeContext MCP server URL and give it a name like "CodeContext". Claude will authenticate and connect automatically.
3. Verify the connection — Click the search icon again — you should see CodeContext listed. Ask Claude to list your coding standards to confirm.

Your configuration will look something like this — just replace the URL and API key with your own values.

Restart Claude Desktop

After saving your config, fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. The MCP server will connect on startup. You should see a small tools icon indicating that MCP tools are available in your conversations.

Tips for Best Results

When chatting with Claude, you can ask it to look up specific standards or reference your API specs. Claude will use the MCP tools to search your knowledge base and include relevant information in its responses.

Try prompts like "What are our naming conventions for React components?" or "Show me the endpoints for the user API."