Connect AI apps through the Anjal desktop app

Getting started

The Anjal desktop app (1.3 and later) runs an MCP server on your computer. Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex and other AI apps on the same computer connect to it once, work on your Anjal inboxes, and every email they want to send opens a window in Anjal first. Nothing goes out until you click Send.

How it works

The server listens at http://127.0.0.1:41417/mcp, on your computer only. Web pages can't use it.
The desktop app signs in to Anjal once, in your browser, the same way any connector does. Its key is listed under Dashboard → API Keys → Connected apps as "Anjal desktop app".
Each AI app asks to connect the first time: Anjal shows "App wants to use Anjal" and you click Allow. Each app gets its own token, listed in Anjal → AI Apps, where Remove cuts it off at once.
Send, reply, reply-all, forward, send draft and schedule draft open the approval window with From, To, Subject and the message. Send sends it. Edit in Anjal saves it to Drafts for you to change and send yourself. Don't Send tells the AI it was not sent. Tick Trust these recipients for this session to let that app write to the same people again without asking, until you quit Anjal.
Works only while the desktop app is open.

Set up

Install or update the desktop app from anjal.app/download.
Open Anjal → AI Apps (Windows: the Anjal menu in the window) and click Sign In. Sign in to Anjal in the browser and click Allow.
Add the server to your AI app as below. The first time the app connects, your browser opens and Anjal asks you to allow it.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop's Connectors screen connects from Anthropic's servers, which can't reach your computer, so add the local server to its config file instead (Settings → Developer → Edit Config, or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows). It needs Node.js.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anjal-desktop": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote", "http://127.0.0.1:41417/mcp",
        "--static-oauth-client-metadata", "{\"client_name\": \"Claude Desktop\"}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Your browser opens, and Anjal asks whether to allow "Claude Desktop".

Cursor

In ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anjal-desktop": { "url": "http://127.0.0.1:41417/mcp" }
  }
}

Cursor shows the server as needing sign-in. Click it, and allow Cursor in Anjal.

Codex

codex mcp add anjal-desktop --url http://127.0.0.1:41417/mcp
codex mcp login anjal-desktop

Apps that can't sign in

In Anjal → AI Apps, type the app's name and click Create Token. Put the token in the app's MCP config as a header, Authorization: Bearer <token>. It is shown once; remove the app in the same window to revoke it.

Good to know

The tools are the same as the hosted connector at https://mcp.anjal.app/mcp (see Connect Anjal to Claude and ChatGPT), except that issue_workspace_key is refused here: a key would let an AI send around the approval window.
If an inbox also has agent send approval turned on in Anjal, an approved send still waits for approval in the Anjal app or dashboard.
The port is fixed so configs keep working. If another app already uses it, AI Apps says so.
Coming next: adding your own Gmail, Outlook or IMAP mailbox to the desktop app, with mail that stays on your computer.