Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop supports MCP servers via stdio transport. Connect it to RouterMCP CLI to access all your aggregated tools.

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed
RouterMCP CLI installed (npm install -g routermcp)
A routermcp.jsonc configuration file

Locate Claude Config File

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Linux:

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add RouterMCP Server

Edit the config file to add RouterMCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "routermcp": {
      "command": "routermcp",
      "args": [],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project"
    }
  }
}

The cwd should point to the directory containing your routermcp.jsonc file.

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new configuration.

Verify Connection

Ask Claude to list available tools. You should see your aggregated tools from RouterMCP.

Configuration Options

Option	Description
`command`	The command to run (`routermcp`)
`args`	Command arguments (usually empty)
`cwd`	Working directory with your config file
`env`	Environment variables to set

Example with Environment Variables

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "routermcp": {
      "command": "routermcp",
      "args": ["-c", "routermcp.jsonc"],
      "cwd": "/home/user/projects/my-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_xxxx",
        "API_KEY": "secret123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Tools not appearing?

Check the Claude Desktop developer console for errors. Common issues:

Invalid path in cwd
RouterMCP not installed globally
Syntax error in routermcp.jsonc

Using multiple projects?

You can add multiple RouterMCP entries with different names and cwd paths:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "work": {
      "command": "routermcp",
      "cwd": "/path/to/work-project"
    },
    "personal": {
      "command": "routermcp", 
      "cwd": "/path/to/personal-project"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

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