Claude Desktop Setup

Connect Dashtray to Claude Desktop via MCP

Claude Desktop Integration

Get notifications from Claude Desktop directly to your phone.

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop app installed
• Dashtray account with API key
• API key copied (don’t lose it!)

Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Go to Dashtray Dashboard
2. Generate a new API key named “Claude Desktop”
3. Copy the full key immediately

Example: sk_test_a1b2c3d4e5f67890a1b2c3d4e5f67890a1b2c3d4e5f67890

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

macOS

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Click the menu (⋮) → Settings
3. Go to Developer → MCP Servers
4. Click Add Server
5. Fill in the configuration (edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dashtray": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@dashtray/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DASHTRAY_API_KEY": "sk_test_a1b2c3d4e5f67890a1b2c3d4e5f67890a1b2c3d4e5f67890"
      }
    }
  }
}

6. Save the file
7. Restart Claude Desktop

Windows

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Click the menu (⋮) → Settings
3. Go to Developer → MCP Servers
4. Edit the config (same as macOS, at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json)
5. Click Save
6. Restart Claude Desktop

Step 3: Test the Integration

In Claude Desktop, try this prompt:

Send me a notification saying "Claude Desktop is connected to Dashtray!"

You should see a notification on your device within seconds.

Configuration Details

The configuration tells Claude Desktop to:

1. Run the Dashtray MCP server via npx (downloads the published @dashtray/mcp-server package automatically; Node 18+ required)
2. Pass your API key via the DASHTRAY_API_KEY environment variable
3. Enable the send_notification tool

Troubleshooting

Tool not showing up in Claude?

• Check that the API key is correct
• Restart Claude Desktop completely
• Check the Claude logs for errors

Notifications not arriving?

• Verify the API key in the configuration
• Check that the Dashtray app is installed and logged in
• Ensure notifications are enabled in your device settings

Connection error?

• Check your internet connection
• Verify the API key hasn’t been revoked
• Try generating a new API key

Using the Tool

Once connected, Claude can send notifications like:

In any conversation:

• “Send a notification that I’m done analyzing this code”
• “Let me know when this task finishes”
• “Notify me about this important finding”

Example use cases:

• Get alerted when Claude completes long analyses
• Receive notifications about important findings
• Get reminders during brainstorming sessions
• Confirm when tasks are done

Next Steps

• 📖 Read MCP Tools documentation
• 🔧 See MCP Examples for more ideas
• 🤖 Try Cline for automation workflows