Archestra

Desktop MCP Servers

Alpha feature. Turn on beta features with ARCHESTRA_BETA=true.

Let Archestra use MCP servers running on your device. A desktop MCP server runs on each person's device, and agents reach it through the MCP bridge.

Link Your Device

A desktop MCP server runs on a device that is linked to your account. Link your device first, in Personal Settings.

  1. Go to Personal Settings → Device, and click Set up the MCP bridge.
  2. Copy the command, and paste it in a terminal on your device. On Windows, click Use the Windows command and paste it in PowerShell.
  3. Back in Archestra, make sure your terminal shows the same code, and click Approve.

The Device tab then shows your device as Online.

The Device tab of Personal Settings with a linked device that is online

  • The command installs the MCP bridge, the program that starts MCP servers on your device. It runs in the background, and starts again each time you log in.
  • To stop, update, or remove the MCP bridge, see the Archestra CLI.
  • You have one device. Linking another one replaces it.

Add a Desktop MCP Server

The command you enter here is the command that runs on your device. You need mcpRegistry:create.

  1. Go to MCP Registry, click Add MCP Server, then Start from scratch.
  2. Enter a Name, and under Hosting pick Desktop.
  3. Under Command, enter the command that starts the MCP server.
  4. Click Add Server.

The Add MCP Server form with Desktop hosting and a command

The program that the command starts must already be installed on the device. Archestra does not install it.

  • The same command runs on each person's device. Write $USER and $HOME for the user name and the home folder of that device.
  • No shell runs the command, so ~ and pipes do not work.

Connect the Server

Connecting starts the MCP server on your linked device. After Add Server, you are on Test Connection.

  1. Click Connect.
  2. To add your own arguments to the command, enter them under Arguments (one per line). Then click Connect.
  3. When the dialog says that the server is connected, click Open chat.

Example: MATLAB

Ask an agent for a plot, and MATLAB draws it on your device. This example uses the MATLAB MCP Server from MathWorks.

  1. Add a desktop MCP server named MATLAB with this command. Change the paths to where the MATLAB MCP Server is already installed on your device:

    text
    $HOME/matlab-mcp/matlab-mcp-server --initial-working-folder=$HOME/matlab-mcp/project

  2. Click Connect, then Open chat.

  3. Send this message:

    text
    In MATLAB, plot sin(x) from 0 to 2π and tell me its maximum value.

MATLAB opens the figure on your device, and the agent answers with what MATLAB found.

A chat that asks MATLAB for a sine plot, next to the MATLAB figure it produced

Fix a Server That Does Not Connect

Find what you see in MCP Registry or in the dialog, then fix it on your device.

You seeDo this
Device not linkedClick it, and link your device.
Waiting for your deviceClick it to open Personal Settings → Device. If the device is Offline, wake it, or run archestra bridge start on it.
The program … was not found on this device.Install the program that the command starts, or put it on your PATH. The MCP bridge picks it up automatically.

On any other error, run archestra bridge status to find the log file, and read the server's errors there.