How to Connect Claude Desktop to the DataLinks MCP Server

1. Installing Claude Desktop
2. Installing required system dependencies
3. Locating the Claude config folder and file
4. Adding the DataLinks MCP configuration
5. Restarting Claude Desktop
6. Verifying the connection

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Step 1: Install Claude Desktop

1. Open your browser and go to https://claude.com/download
2. Download the installer for your operating system:
   • Windows: .exe
   • macOS: .dmg
   • Linux: .AppImage or .deb depending on your distribution
3. Run the installer and follow the on screen instructions.
4. Launch Claude Desktop and sign in with your Anthropic account.

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Step 2: Install required dependencies

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Windows

• Install Node.js (required)
  • Download from https://nodejs.org
  • Choose the LTS version
  • Restart your computer after installation
• Confirm installation:
  node--version
  npx--version
  

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macOS

• Install Node.js
  • Option 1: Download from https://nodejs.org
  • Option 2: Use Homebrew (Don’t have Homebrew? For install instructions, see brew.sh)
    brew install node
    
• Confirm installation:
  node -v
  npx -v
  

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Linux

• Install Node.js using your package manager Ubuntu or Debian:
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install nodejs npm
  
  Fedora:
  sudo dnf install nodejs
  
• Confirm installation:
  node--version
  npx--version
  

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Step 3: Locate the Claude Desktop config folder and open the config file

1. Open Claude Desktop.
2. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the app.
3. Click Settings.
4. Click Developer at the bottom of the left menu.
5. Click the Edit Config button.

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Typical config location by platform

• Windows: %APPDATA%\\Claude\\
• macOS: ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/Claude/
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/

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Step 4: Add the DataLinks MCP configuration

1. Inside the Claude folder, open the file called claude_desktop_config.json (or similar).
2. Paste the following configuration into the file:
   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "datalinks": {
         "command": "C:\\\\PROGRA~1\\\\nodejs\\\\npx.cmd",
         "args": [
           "mcp-remote",
           "<https://mcp.datalinks.com/mcp/>",
           "--header",
           "Authorization:Bearer <your-token-here>"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   
3. Replace <your-token-here> with your DataLinks API token.

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Notes for macOS and Linux

• Update the command path to your system’s npx location.
• Common values include:
  /usr/local/bin/npx
  
  or
  /opt/homebrew/bin/npx
  

which npx

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Step 5: Restart Claude Desktop

1. Fully close Claude Desktop. (This means closing it in your application tray icon as well.)
2. Open it again.
3. Claude will automatically load the MCP server during startup.

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Step 6: Verify the connection

Can you confirm that the DataLinks MCP server is available?

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Common troubleshooting

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Check the logs file

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Log file locations

• Windows: %APPDATA%\\Claude\\logs
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/logs
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/logs

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Common issues and fixes

• Confirm Node.js is installed
• Confirm npx works from the command line
• Double check the command path in the config file

• Verify your DataLinks token is correct
• Make sure there are no extra spaces in the Authorization header

• Ensure the npx.cmd path matches your Node.js installation
• C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\npx.cmd is common, but it can vary

• Check that the config file name is exactly claude_desktop_config.json
• Confirm the JSON formatting is valid

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Getting help

1. Open the Claude logs file
2. Copy the content
3. Paste them into an LLM (such as ChatGPT) along with a short description of what you tried
4. Also paste any error messages you were able to screenshot