Turn on the outbound MCP server
3 min · 5 steps
One click enables the server + mints a bearer token. Copy the token + the connection snippet into your MCP host.
The outbound server is OFF by default. Turning it on is two clicks: enable the server, then paste the generated config snippet into Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code. The token is shown exactly once after enabling — copy it immediately; the only way to see it again is to rotate (which invalidates the prior one). Note: Claude Desktop's JSON config file only supports stdio-transport MCP servers — Avery's snippet bridges through the `mcp-remote` npm package so the URL still reaches Avery. The bridge runs locally on first connection (via `npx -y mcp-remote`); no installation step is required.
Steps
- Open Settings → AI → MCP Server.
Sidebar → Settings → AI tab → MCP Server sub-tab (NOT 'MCP Clients' — that's the reverse direction, where Avery calls out to other people's MCP servers).
- Click Enable.
Avery binds 127.0.0.1:19274/mcp + auto-mints a 64-character hex bearer token. The token appears in the Bearer token card, with Copy + Show/Hide buttons.
- Copy the connection snippet.
Pick the tab matching your host (Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code). Click Copy. Paste into the host's MCP config file. Replace <PASTE-TOKEN-HERE> with the actual token from the previous step. For Claude Desktop the config file is at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on Windows.
- Decide what to expose.
Tick the agents you want callable in the 'Exposed agents' card — each becomes a tool the external host can run, with the agent's name + description carried over so the host's AI knows what it does. Three resource-family toggles (Runs / Activity / KB) control read-only data visibility. Nothing is exposed by default; an enabled-but-empty server advertises zero tools. (Exposing individual capabilities standalone — e.g. messaging.send on its own — still needs a JSON edit; wrapping the capability in a one-node agent + exposing the agent is the recommended path.)
- Restart your MCP host.
Connected hosts cache their tool list, so after you tick / untick agents you must restart Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code (or start a fresh chat) for them to re-fetch. There's no Apply button — toggles save instantly; Avery just can't push live tool-list updates to already-connected hosts in this version. First connection from Claude Desktop also runs `npx -y mcp-remote` once to download the bridge (cached afterwards). Then ask the host to list Avery's tools to confirm.
Resources
Live recipes need the desktop
This article is a static preview. The in-app Help sidecar inside Avery NXR can fire each step against your live project — install the desktop to use it interactively.