MCP in Claude Desktop.
Connectors for remote, config file for local.

For any server that offers a URL, this is the whole setup. No Node, no config file, no restart.

1. 1
   Open Settings, go to Connectors, and choose Add custom connector.
2. 2
   Paste the server URL. For Amie's calendar, todos, and meeting notes server:

   https://mcp.amie.so
3. 3
   Approve the OAuth sign-in when your browser opens. The connector then shows as connected, and its tools are available in every new chat.

Local servers run as processes Claude Desktop starts for you, which means you need Node installed and a correctly formed config. Open Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config. That opens claude_desktop_config.json: on macOS it lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, on Windows at %APPDATA%\Claude\.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-local-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@some/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Save, then quit Claude fully (from the menu bar icon on macOS or the system tray on Windows) and reopen it. Closing the window isn't enough; the app keeps running and never re-reads the config. This restart is the single most common reason local MCP setups “don't work”.

Use the config file when a server only exists as a local package, or when you want credentials to stay on your machine. Use a connector whenever a hosted URL exists: OAuth replaces API keys, nothing runs on your laptop, and the server keeps working when the vendor updates it. Amie's server is remote for exactly this reason, and one URL covers Google Calendar, Outlook, todos, and meeting notes across all your accounts.