Claude Desktop × MCP Gateway¶

Claude Desktop can launch a local stdio process for every chat "backend". By pointing it at mcpgateway.wrapper you give Claude instant access to every tool, prompt and resource registered in your Gateway.

📂 Where to edit the config¶

⚙️ Minimal JSON block¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpgateway-wrapper": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "mcpgateway.wrapper"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1",
        "MCP_AUTH": "Bearer <YOUR_JWT_TOKEN>",
        "MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT": "120"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use the real server ID instead of 1 and paste your bearer token.

🐳 Docker alternative¶

{
  "command": "docker",
  "args": [
    "run", "--rm", "--network=host", "-i",
    "-e", "MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1",
    "-e", "MCP_AUTH=<Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN>",
    "ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:0.7.0",
    "python3", "-m", "mcpgateway.wrapper"
  ]
}

(Mac / Windows users should replace localhost with host.docker.internal.)

⚡ pipx / uvx one-liner (wrapper already installed)¶

If you installed the package globally:

{
  "command": "pipx",
  "args": ["run", "python3", "-m", "mcpgateway.wrapper"],
  "env": {
    "MCP_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1",
    "MCP_AUTH": "Bearer <YOUR_JWT_TOKEN>"
  }
}

🧪 Smoke-test inside Claude¶

1. Restart Claude Desktop (quit from system-tray).
2. Select "mcpgateway-wrapper" in the chat dropdown.
3. Type:

#get_system_time { "timezone": "Europe/Dublin" }

If tools don't appear, open File ▸ Settings ▸ Developer ▸ View Logs to see wrapper output.

🔑 Environment variables recap¶

You can place them:

• under "env" in the mcpServers block (preferred)
• in your user/environment shell before launching Claude.