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Connect Claude to Vaulken

Claude supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) natively across all its interfaces: claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and Claude Code. This guide covers how to connect each one to your Vaulken vault.

Prerequisites

  • A Vaulken account with at least one vault (create one here)
  • Your vault's MCP URL (found on the vault detail page in the dashboard)

Each vault has two MCP URLs:

  • Read-Write (/mcp/vk_...): full access to read, write, search, and modify files
  • Read-Only (/mcp/vk_...): read and search only, no write access

Claude.ai

The fastest way to get started. No local setup required.

  1. Open claude.ai
  2. Go to Settings > Integrations
  3. Click Add integration
  4. Paste your Vaulken MCP URL
  5. A browser popup will ask you to authorize access. Click Authorize
  6. Your vault is now available in all your Claude conversations

When to use: everyday conversations, quick lookups, sharing vault access across devices.

Tips for Claude.ai

  • You can add multiple vaults as separate integrations
  • Each integration appears as a tool Claude can use in any conversation
  • Ask Claude to "list files in my vault" to verify the connection works

Claude Desktop

For power users who want MCP access in the desktop app.

Setup

  1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

  2. Add your vault to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-vault": {
      "url": "https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_yourVaultId"
    }
  }
}
  1. Restart Claude Desktop
  2. On first use, Claude Desktop will open your browser for OAuth authorization
  3. Click Authorize in the Vaulken consent screen

Multiple vaults

You can add multiple vaults with different names:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "work-notes": {
      "url": "https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_abc123"
    },
    "personal-vault": {
      "url": "https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_def456"
    }
  }
}

Tips for Claude Desktop

  • Use descriptive server names (e.g., "work-notes", "project-docs") so Claude knows which vault to use
  • If authorization fails, delete the cached credentials and restart Claude Desktop
  • Claude Desktop reconnects automatically when you restart the app

Claude Code

For developers who work from the terminal.

Setup

claude mcp add my-vault https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_yourVaultId

Claude Code handles the OAuth flow automatically. On first use, it opens your browser for authorization.

Verify the connection

claude mcp list

You should see your vault listed with a green status.

Usage examples

Once connected, you can reference your vault in any Claude Code session:

  • "Search my vault for files about authentication"
  • "Read the project roadmap from my vault"
  • "Save this implementation plan to my vault as docs/auth-plan.md"
  • "Find all markdown files modified this week"

Multiple vaults

claude mcp add work https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_abc123
claude mcp add notes https://vaulken.dev/mcp/vk_def456

Tips for Claude Code

  • Vault tools are available alongside your local file tools. Claude will use the right tool based on context
  • Use read-only URLs for reference vaults you don't want modified
  • Claude Code persists MCP configurations across sessions

Troubleshooting

"Authentication successful, but server reconnection failed"

This usually means the MCP server restarted during authorization. Restart your Claude client and try again.

"Authorization failed" or blank consent screen

Make sure you're logged in to your Vaulken dashboard in the same browser. The OAuth flow requires an active session.

Claude doesn't use vault tools

Try being explicit: "Use the Vaulken vault to search for..." or "Read the file X from my vault". Claude will learn to use vault tools proactively as you use them.

Token expired

Access tokens last one hour and are refreshed automatically. If you see token errors, restart your Claude client to trigger a fresh OAuth flow.

What Claude can do with your vault

Once connected, Claude has access to these tools:

Tool Description Scope
list_files List files and directories Read
read_file Read file contents (including PDFs via OCR) Read
search_text Full-text search across all files Read
semantic_search Meaning-based search using embeddings Read
get_metadata File size, type, modification date Read
list_recent_files Recently modified files Read
write_file Create or overwrite a file Write
append_file Append content to a file Write
patch_file Apply targeted edits to a file Write
move_file Move or rename a file Write
delete_file Delete a file Write

Read tools are always available. Write tools require a read-write MCP URL.

Next steps