Stage 4: Configure your MCP client

Introduction

In this stage, you will copy and rename the .env.example file (added during Stage 1), and then update it with your own Patchworks credentials

Pre-requisites

To complete this task, you must have access to an MCP client account. We are using Claude, as Claude Desktop is an easy starting point; however, other clients (e.g. Gemini and ChatGPT with MCP support) work in the same way.

You will also need an API key for your Patchworks account. Please refer to our API keys product documentation for information about obtaining API keys.

The steps

The instructions below are for Claude, using Mac OS. You may need to adapt these if your setup varies.

1

Prepare credentials

Ensure that your Patchworks API key is to hand, ready to copy/paste later in this task.

2

Prepare configuration content

Paste the following content into your preferred editor:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patchworks": {
      "command": "/Users/yourname/.local/bin/uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/Users/yourname/patchworks-mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PATCHWORKS_BASE_URL": "https://core.wearepatchworks.com/api/v1",
        "PATCHWORKS_TOKEN": "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
        "PATCHWORKS_TIMEOUT_SECONDS": "20"
      }
    }
  }
}

• The command element is the path to your uv binary (run which uv from a terminal window if you need to check this).

• The args element tells the MCP client (in this case, Claude) how to start the server.

• The env element is the config passed into your MCP server.

Make the following changes:

Line #	Required change
4	Replace yourname with your username associated with your computer's home directory - e.g. janesmith.
7	Replace yourname with your username associated with your computer's home directory - e.g. janesmith.
14	Replace XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX with your Patchworks API key (leave the quotes in place).

3

Create a config file

In a terminal window, run the following command:

nano $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

4

Add your content to the config file

Paste all content from step 2, above.

5

Exit and save

Press CTRL+X to exit. When prompted, enter Y to save changes, then press Enter to confirm the filename.

6

Relaunch your MCP client

If running, quit and restart your MCP client (in this case, Claude Desktop).

7

Test the connection

Open your MCP client and type the following prompt:

“Get a list of my Flows”

Claude prompts you to confirm the use of this integration - for example:

You can allow once or always allow, as preferred. A list of process flows for the account associated with your API key is returned.