Exode MCP in Claude Desktop: Config File and First Prompt

Add the server to the config file

Open claude_desktop_config.json on the machine that runs Claude Desktop. On macOS it lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ and on Windows at %APPDATA%\Claude\. If the file does not exist yet, create it, and make sure it is valid JSON: Claude Desktop ignores a file it cannot parse without saying much.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exode": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "claude-exode-mcp"],
      "env": { "WORKSPACE_ROOT": "/Users/you/projects/motion" }
    }
  }
}

Restart, then check the tools

Claude Desktop reads the config at startup, so a full restart is required. After it reopens, the connected server and its tools are listed in the composer under the tools icon. If exode is missing, the process failed and the reason is usually Node.js or npx.

A first prompt to try

Start with a read-only request. It proves the connection and shows you what the agent can see, without changing a file.

Use the exode server to list the .exode files in the workspace,
then summarise artboards/save-button.exode: its states, inputs and transitions.
Do not change anything yet.

Once that works, ask for a change with the same prompt shape used in the other guides: object, states, inputs, transitions, feel, and what must stay the same.

What Claude Desktop cannot do

It cannot read your repository, so it cannot match an existing component or an existing motion vocabulary unless you paste the relevant part into the conversation. Claude Code can, because it runs in the project.

The live editor tools need the ExodeUI desktop app running on the same machine. When it is running, Claude Desktop can push changes into the editor you have open; when it is not, only the file tools work.

When it will not connect

Work through the layers in order. A malformed JSON file is read as no config at all. A valid file with a failing command leaves the entry visible but empty. A running server with the wrong workspace root answers every path with an error.

On Windows, the command has to be available to the app, not only to a shell you opened. If npx works in a terminal but not in Claude Desktop, that difference is the cause.

• Nothing listed: the JSON is invalid or the app was not restarted.
• Listed with no tools: npx or Node.js is missing for the app process.
• Tools fail on paths: WORKSPACE_ROOT is not set or points elsewhere.