Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop talks to Hourdini through a small bridge that runs on your machine. Setup is a one-time edit to Claude's config file.

What you'll need

Claude Desktop, signed in with your Anthropic account.
A Hourdini Personal Access Token. Generate one at /cli/connect, and copy it now.

Step 1: Open the config file

Claude Desktop's config lives at:

Platform	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.

Step 2: Paste this snippet

Replace hd_pat_live_•••• with your actual token. If the file already has content under mcpServers, add hourdini alongside the existing entries.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hourdini": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://hourdini.app/api/mcp/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer ${HOURDINI_PAT}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HOURDINI_PAT": "hd_pat_live_••••"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file.

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop (right-click the dock icon → Quit on macOS; tray icon → Quit on Windows). A reload isn't enough.

Screenshot pending

Claude Desktop with the Hourdini connector showing as available in a chat.

Step 4: Try it

Open a new chat and ask:

What's running on Hourdini right now?

Claude should call Hourdini's get_running_timer tool and answer either with the active entry or "no timer running".

Troubleshooting

The connector doesn't appear. Make sure the JSON is valid (a missing comma will silently break it) and that you fully quit and relaunched Claude.

Calls fail with "not authenticated". The token is wrong or has been revoked. Generate a new one at /cli/connect and update the config.

Calls fail with "no_org". The token's org has been removed from your account. Generate a new token under your current active org.

For more, see the FAQ.