A remote server

This page is for the reader who was given a URL: someone runs Markdown Vault MCP over HTTP, and you want your client to use it. It is also the operator's checklist for connecting the first client; Deploy covers running the server itself.

Over HTTP, authentication is the only boundary: every caller the server accepts has every tool it exposes, and whoever runs the server decides who gets a credential. The security model states it in full.

What you need

• The URL. The server answers MCP requests at https://<host>/mcp unless the operator changed the path. https://<host>/health answers without a credential, so opening it in a browser tells you the server is up before you configure anything.
• A credential. Either a bearer token the operator hands you, or a sign-in with the operator's identity provider. Which one depends on how the server is configured; Authentication is the operator's side of it.

claude.ai and Claude Desktop

Claude on the web and Claude Desktop reach a remote server through a custom connector:

1. In your settings, open Customize › Connectors, choose + Add, then Add custom connector.
2. Enter a name and the server's URL, then Continue.
3. Review the authentication settings Claude detected and change them if the server needs something else. Under Authentication, choose when to sign in:
   • Sign in now;
   • Sign in when needed;
   • No sign in.
4. For a server that takes a bearer token instead of a sign-in, add it as a fixed credential: a request header Authorization: Bearer <token> that Claude sends on every request.
5. Choose Add.

In a chat, click +, open Connectors, and switch the server on for that conversation. On a Team or Enterprise plan an organization owner adds the connector under Organization settings › Connectors first; members then connect it under Customize › Connectors.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http markdown-vault-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp

For a bearer token, add --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>". The entry is stored for the current project; --scope user makes it available in every project. /mcp shows the connection.

Another client

Any client that speaks the MCP streamable HTTP transport connects with the same URL. A bearer token travels in the Authorization: Bearer <token> header of every request.

Ask Claude one question

Which version of Markdown Vault MCP is running?

Claude calls the server's get_server_info tool, which reads the server's version and the protocol revision in use and changes nothing: a safe first check that the credential works.

What to know about this server

A first task that changes nothing:

Search the vault for notes about , and summarize what they say.

Whether Claude can also write is the operator's choice: a server in read-only mode lists none of the tools that change files. Some tools depend on the client or the operator:

• browse_vault and show_context open an interactive view in clients that render MCP Apps; other clients get the same data as text.
• create_download_link and create_upload_link return a one-time URL for moving a file out of or into the vault, which works without your credential. See Transfer links.
• summarize appears only when the operator configured a language model for it.

Next

• Deploy: run a server like this one yourself.
• Use: what the server does for real tasks.