How to Use MCP Tools on Claude Desktop App and Automate Your Daily Tasks

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new standard for secure connection between AI assistants, such as Claude, and systems where data exists. This includes code repositories (Github, Gitlab), APIs (Google Maps, Youtube, Brave), business tools (Slack, Notion, Bluesky) and even local development environments on your own computer.

In this guide, I’ll explain what MCP is and how it works in simple terms, so you can easily understand its structure. Then I’ll show you step-by-step how to install MCP on the Claude Desktop App, making it easy for you to start using it right away. Finally, we’ll put everything into context with a real-world example that shows how MCP can actually simplify and speed up your day-to-day tasks.

How MCP works

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) operates on a client-host-server architecture, enabling AI applications to connect seamlessly with various data sources and tools. Here’s a breakdown of its components:

MCP Hosts: Applications such as Claude Desktop, development environments, or AI tools that use MCP to interact with various resources.
MCP Clients: Components in the host that establish direct, one-to-one connections with specific servers.
MCP Servers: Small programs designed to offer particular functionalities via the MCP framework.
Local Resources: Resources on your computer, like files, databases, or services, that MCP servers can securely retrieve and manage.
Remote Resources: External online resources, such as APIs or cloud-based services, that MCP servers can connect to for data or functionality.

How To Use MCP Tools on Claude Desktop App

Step 1: Download and Install Claude Desktop

Visit the Claude website and download the Claude Desktop App for Mac.
Follow the installation instructions to set it up on your computer.

Step 2: Create a Config File

Open the Terminal application on your Mac.
Navigate to the Claude configuration directory by running:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

3. Create a new configuration file for MCP by typing:

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

Step 3: Install the Brave Search MCP Tool

For this simple tutorial we are going to use Brave MCP tool, which will allow Claude Desktop App to search on the web.

Open the terminal and run the following command:

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search

2. Get a Brave API key by signing up on their website.

3. Choose a plan (Free tier available with 2,000 queries/month)

4. Generate your API key from the developer dashboard and copy the new API Key.

5. Open the newly created claude_desktop_config.json in your preferred text editor and add this to it. Don’t forget to add the Brave API Key on the field “BRAVE_API_KEY”.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Relaunch Claude Desktop App

Close the Claude app and reopen it.
On the right-hand side of the app, verify that two new tools appear (red circle on the image below) for internet searching with the Brave Search MCP tool .

Step 6: Try It Out!

I’m going to provide two prompts to Claude, the first one “What’s the current price of Bitcoin?”

Claude will prompt for permission to use a tool at the start of each conversation. So you can click to allow it, as you can see in the image below.

After that you can see that Claude is using brave_web_search tool from Brave MCP server, and providing information with data from the web.

I have done a quick research to double check if the response from Claude is correct and we can say that the price is almost correct with a diference of $98.

In the second example, I asked Claude for a summary of Manchester United’s latest game. Claude performed two web searches: first to find the most recent match and then to get the game details. The day I’m currently writing this article is 8th December of 2024 and we can assure that the info provided is correctly, unfortunately United lost ;(

MCP tools like Brave Search on the Claude Desktop App make it easy to integrate AI into your daily routine. From finding real-time information to automating tasks, MCP simplifies everything. Try exploring other MCP servers to see how they can boost your productivity even more!

I would suggest the following ones: