Agents

Other agents

Rowkery's MCP server works with any client that can start a local stdio server. Connect an agent sets up Claude Code and Claude Desktop in one click; this page has the setup to paste for the others.

What every client needs

Every client starts the same thing: Rowkery's own app, run with --mcp.

• The path assumes Rowkery is in Applications. If you keep it somewhere else, use that copy's path, ending in Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery. If you move the app later, update the path.
• Rowkery doesn't need to be open. With --mcp the app opens no window: it answers the client and quits when the client disconnects.
• It reads your saved connections. The server uses the same connections, keychain and sharing settings as the app, read again on every call. An agent sees only what you share on the Agents page (see Choosing what to share), and every call lands in its activity log.
• Nothing to install. There is no npm package or separate download; the app is the server.

Before you start, share at least one connection: open the Agents page with ⇧⌘A and turn on its switch.

Check that it's connected

Each client has its own place to see its servers, given below. The test that works in all of them: ask the agent "Which Rowkery connections can you see?". It calls list_connections, and the call shows up in the Agents page's activity log, with the client's name on its session.

Claude Code and Claude Desktop

Use Connect an agent on the Agents page or in ⌘K; it shows exactly what it will run first (see Connecting to agents). To do the same by hand:

Claude Code

claude mcp add --scope user rowkery -- /Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery --mcp

--scope user adds it for all your projects. Start a new Claude Code session afterwards; one that's already open won't see it. claude mcp list shows it.

Claude Desktop

Add this to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json, keeping anything else already in the file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Quit and reopen Claude Desktop afterwards.

Keep the name rowkery for these two: Connect an agent looks for that entry to tell you whether it's already set up, or points to another copy of Rowkery.

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project, or .cursor/mcp.json in one project's folder:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Check: open Customize in Cursor's sidebar, where Rowkery is listed with a switch to turn it on or off. If it doesn't start, the Output panel (⇧⌘U) has its log under MCP Logs.

VS Code (Copilot agent mode)

Run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette (⇧⌘P) for every workspace, or create .vscode/mcp.json in one workspace. VS Code names the top-level key servers where other clients use mcpServers:

{
  "servers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Check: run MCP: List Servers. Pick Rowkery there to start, stop or restart it, or to see its output. Its tools are available in Copilot Chat's agent mode.

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json, or open it from the Cascade section of Windsurf's settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Check: press the refresh button in Cascade's list of MCP servers after saving; Rowkery appears in the list. On an Enterprise plan, MCP has to be turned on in settings first.

Zed

Run zed: open settings file from the command palette and add a context_servers entry:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

You can also add it in Settings › AI › MCP Servers with Add Server › Add Local Server.

Check: in Settings › AI › MCP Servers, a green dot beside Rowkery, with the tooltip "Server is active", means it's running.

OpenAI Codex CLI

Add it with one command:

codex mcp add rowkery -- /Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery --mcp

Or add this to ~/.codex/config.toml (or .codex/config.toml in a trusted project):

[mcp_servers.rowkery]
command = "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery"
args = ["--mcp"]

Check: codex mcp list in a terminal, or /mcp inside a Codex session.

Gemini CLI

Add this to ~/.gemini/settings.json for every folder, or .gemini/settings.json in one project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Check: /mcp in a Gemini session shows Rowkery as CONNECTED, with its tools; gemini mcp list in a terminal says Connected. In a folder you haven't trusted, Gemini shows stdio servers as disconnected until you trust it.

Cline

In the Cline panel, click the MCP Servers icon, open the Configure tab and choose Configure MCP Servers. That opens cline_mcp_settings.json; add Rowkery under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Check: Rowkery appears in the MCP Servers list with its tools.

Continue

Create a folder named .continue/mcpServers at the top of your workspace, and in it a file rowkery.yaml:

name: Rowkery
version: 0.0.1
schema: v1
mcpServers:
  - name: Rowkery
    type: stdio
    command: /Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery
    args:
      - --mcp

Continue uses MCP tools only in agent mode. A JSON file in the Claude Desktop shape above also works dropped into the same folder.

Check: in agent mode, ask which Rowkery connections it can see.

Any other client

Most clients take the same shape as Claude Desktop: a named entry under mcpServers with a command and an args list.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rowkery": {
      "command": "/Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

A client that asks for one command line takes /Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery --mcp. Rowkery speaks MCP over stdio only; it doesn't serve HTTP or SSE.

If it doesn't connect

• "No such file" or the server never starts: check the path. Run ls /Applications/Rowkery.app/Contents/MacOS/Rowkery in Terminal; if it isn't there, Rowkery is installed somewhere else.
• The agent sees no connections: nothing is shared yet, or the time limit on a share has passed. The answer to list_connections says how many saved connections aren't shared.
• A table is missing: it isn't ticked in Edit access. Tables created after you shared a database stay hidden until you tick them.
• Every call shows in the activity log, refused ones with their reason, so the log is the first place to look when an agent says something failed.