Claude Desktop was the first widely-deployed MCP host, and it remains the most popular way for non-developers on a team to talk to internal tools. Two lines of JSON in claude_desktop_config.json and your operator, your marketing lead, or your CEO can ask Claude to summarize this week's Apple Search Ads performance without ever opening a dashboard.
{
"mcpServers": {
"searchad": {
"url": "https://searchad.ai/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer sak_live_..."
}
}
}
}
Restart Claude Desktop. The tool icon appears in the chat input; SearchAd's catalog loads on first use.
Inside the SearchAd app, Settings → API access → New key. Pick scope and daily envelope. Copy the key.
Settings → Developer → Edit Config opens claude_desktop_config.json. Add the searchad entry with your bearer token.
Quit Claude Desktop fully, reopen it, start a new chat, ask "What apps do I have on Apple Search Ads?" If the tool icon shows searchad, you are wired.
A growth lead does not want to learn a CLI. A marketing manager does not want to live inside an IDE. Claude Desktop is the closest thing the AI ecosystem has to a normal-people chat app with tool access, and once SearchAd is wired in, the experience is "ask Claude what is happening with Apple Search Ads" and "ask Claude to do X about it". The technical implementation of MCP, envelopes, and approval gates is completely invisible to them, but the safety guarantees still hold.
For technical owners, this is the configuration that lets you stop being asked for ROAS screenshots in Slack. You set the envelope, hand over a scoped key, and the non-technical user gets self-serve answers and (within limits) self-serve actions.
"Summarize this week's Apple Search Ads performance for me in bullet points."
"What are the three worst-performing campaigns right now and what should I do about them?"
"Set up an Apple Search Ads launch for our new app in five tier-A countries, $10 a day each, paused."
"How much have we spent on Apple Search Ads month-to-date, by country?"
Open Claude Desktop Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Add the searchad MCP server with the SearchAd remote URL and your bearer token. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop; the tools appear in the next chat.
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Settings → Developer opens it in your default editor.
No. SearchAd's MCP server is a remote HTTP endpoint. Claude Desktop talks to it over HTTPS with your bearer token. There is no local process, no extra OS permission to grant.
Add multiple entries to mcpServers, each with a different name and bearer token. Claude Desktop shows them as separate tool groups.
It can chat unattended if you leave the window open, but anything that touches Apple still needs an envelope-covered call or a fresh approval token. Safety is server-side; the client cannot bypass it by being offline.