Claude Desktop¶

Claude Desktop launches local MCP servers over stdio from its configuration file and connects to remote streamable-HTTP servers as custom connectors.

Local server (stdio)¶

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openvas": {
      "command": "/path/to/gvm-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GVM_GATEWAY_URL": "http://localhost:8080",
        "GVM_USERNAME": "admin",
        "GVM_PASSWORD": "secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The tools appear under the connector icon in the chat input; the env block is the fallback identity every call runs as. Add "args": ["--read-only"] for a reporting-only assistant, or "args": ["--toolsets", "targets,tasks,reports"] to narrow the surface.

Shared server (streamable HTTP)¶

Start the server with the Docker image or --transport streamable-http, then add it in Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector with the URL http://<host>:8000/mcp. Claude Desktop sends no gvmd credentials itself, so the server’s fallback identity is used; keep the endpoint on a trusted network.

Verify¶

Ask: “Run the OpenVAS connection test.” The openvas_test_connection result reports gateway liveness and readiness, the gvmd version and whether the identity was accepted.