> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcollate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Claude Desktop

> Set up MCP Server to connect Claude Desktop with OAuth or PAT-based authentication for AI-powered access to your data.

# Getting Started with Claude Desktop

Configure Collate's MCP Server to interact with Anthropic's AI assistant platform.

## Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

1. **Collate v1.8.0+** running
2. **MCP Application** installed in Collate
   * Navigate to `<YOUR-Collate-SERVER>/marketplace/apps/McpApplication`
   * Install **McpApplication** if not already installed
3. **[Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download)** installed

## Connect with OAuth 2.0 (Recommended)

OAuth lets you authenticate using your existing Collate login, with no tokens to manage.

### Step 1: Open Settings

Open Claude Desktop and navigate to **Settings**.

### Step 2: Add a Custom Connector

Go to **Connectors** and click **Add custom connector**.

### Step 3: Configure the Server

* **Name**: Enter a name for your connector (e.g., `Collate`)
* **Remote MCP server URL**: Enter your Collate MCP Server URL:

```
https://<YOUR-Collate-SERVER>/mcp
```

For example: `https://your-collate-instance.com/mcp`

Click **Add** to save.

<img noZoom src="https://mintcdn.com/collatedocs/img23MnO9HDWyvbG/public/images/how-to-guides/mcp/claude-oauth-add-connector.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=img23MnO9HDWyvbG&q=85&s=2be87fc164759d7c8c5dff79bccc00a8" alt="Claude Desktop Add custom connector dialog" width="1074" height="840" data-path="public/images/how-to-guides/mcp/claude-oauth-add-connector.png" />

### Step 4: Authenticate

Claude Desktop will open a browser window prompting you to sign in with your Collate credentials. Follow the on-screen instructions based on your configured authentication method:

* **SSO (Google, Azure, Okta, etc.)**: You will be redirected to your SSO provider's login page
* **Basic Auth**: Enter your Collate username and password

Once authenticated, Claude Desktop connects to your Collate MCP Server automatically. You will see the server listed with all available MCP tools.

<img noZoom src="https://mintcdn.com/collatedocs/img23MnO9HDWyvbG/public/images/how-to-guides/mcp/claude-oauth-connected.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=img23MnO9HDWyvbG&q=85&s=5b82e58993abdbb4fce7b9dcc1d56dc7" alt="Claude Desktop showing connected Collate MCP Server with available tools" width="1696" height="1358" data-path="public/images/how-to-guides/mcp/claude-oauth-connected.png" />

## Connect with Personal Access Token (PAT)

If you prefer token-based authentication or OAuth is not available in your environment, you can use a Personal Access Token with the `mcp-remote` proxy.

### Prerequisites for PAT Method

In addition to the general prerequisites above, you will need:

* [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) and npx/node version 22
* Collate [Personal Access Token](/collate-ai/mcp#adding-a-personal-access-token-to-your-mcp-client)

### Configure Claude Desktop

Navigate to Claude Desktop's Settings, then select *Developer* and *Edit Config*. Paste the following into `claude_desktop_config.json`:

```json theme={null}
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Collate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "<YOUR-Collate-SERVER>/mcp",
        "--auth-server-url=<YOUR-Collate-SERVER>/mcp",
        "--client-id=Collate",
        "--verbose",
        "--clean",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer <YOUR-Collate-PAT>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Replace `<YOUR-Collate-SERVER>` with your Collate instance URL and `<YOUR-Collate-PAT>` with your Personal Access Token.

Restart Claude Desktop. You should see your `Collate` service running.

## Prompt to Read from Collate

This part of the guide assumes that you have assets in Collate that Claude can read. You can add data sources into Collate [here](https://docs.open-metadata.org/latest/connectors).

Paste the following prompt into Claude to have it read from Collate:

```
Imagine you're a data analyst tasked with building a customer retention dashboard.
Can you help me identify which tables or datasets in the Collate database might
contain relevant information?
```

Claude will ask if it can use the external integration `Collate`, select *Allow always*. You may have to do this multiple times, once for each tool. Claude is now reading from Collate via its MCP Server!

For more sample use cases with MCP please check out [our blog](https://collatedata.medium.com/mcp-sample-uses-in-collate-b7846864f63b)!

## Additional Resources

* [Collate MCP Documentation](/collate-ai/mcp)
* [OAuth 2.0 Authentication](/collate-ai/mcp/oauth)
* [MCP Tools Reference](/collate-ai/mcp/reference)

### Reach out on Slack!

With MCP, we are finding new ways to use Collate all the time! Now that you have Claude and Collate configured to work together, think you've got a great new use case? Show us what you've got in [Slack](https://slack.open-metadata.org/)!