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Connect HippoKit to Claude Desktop (MCP)

Claude Desktop is the easiest host to connect — Anthropic ships an MCP connector UI in the app settings, and HippoKit plugs straight into it as a remote MCP server. This guide walks you through the connect flow, troubleshoots common issues, and answers the questions you'll have once HippoKit is live in Claude Desktop.

Claude DesktopGAmacOS and Windows. The mobile and web Claude apps do not yet support custom MCP connectors.

Claude Desktop is the easiest host to connect — Anthropic ships an MCP connector UI in the app settings, and HippoKit plugs straight into it as a remote MCP server. Once connected, you can ask Claude things like "make me a flashcard deck on photosynthesis and quiz me on it" and Claude will call HippoKit's tools to generate the kit and run the review session, all in one conversation.

What you can do once connected

Once Claude Desktop can call HippoKit, you can ask it to:

  • Generate a study kit from any topic — flashcards, quiz, ebook, audience-themed slide deck, or AI-narrated audio. Each format obeys your HippoKit plan's quotas and feature gating.
  • List or search your library — the host can look up kits you've already generated and pull them into the conversation by topic, audience, or recency.
  • Run a review session — call get_due_cards and review_card to walk through the flashcards your spaced-repetition queue has surfaced for today.
  • Run a quiz — call start_quiz on any kit you own and answer each question conversationally.
  • Claim an anonymous preview — if a teammate sent you a preview kit URL, HippoKit can claim it into your library straight from the chat.

Connect HippoKit in 5 steps

Total time: about two minutes. You only need to do this once per device.

  1. Generate a HippoKit personal access token (PAT)

    Open https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp while signed in to HippoKit. Click "Create token", name it for the host you're connecting (e.g. "Claude Desktop on laptop"), and copy the token — you only see it once. The token inherits your plan's daily quota and format gating.

  2. Open Settings → Connectors

    In the host you want to connect, navigate to Settings → Connectors. This is where MCP servers (sometimes labelled "connectors", "extensions", or "tools") are managed.

  3. Add HippoKit as a new MCP server

    Add a new MCP server / connector using the URL https://mcp.hippokit.ai/mcp. When you save it, your host opens HippoKit in a browser to authorize the connection. That browser screen is where you'll paste your token in the next step.

  4. Approve the connection

    On the HippoKit authorization screen, paste the personal access token you created in step 1, then approve. Claude shows a one-time approval modal listing every HippoKit tool. Read the list, choose "Approve for this conversation" or "Always approve", and the connection is live. You can revisit and revoke from Settings → Connectors at any time.

  5. Test it

    Start a new conversation and ask the host: "Generate flashcards on photosynthesis using HippoKit". The host should call HippoKit's `generate_kit` tool, then return a shareable kit URL. If you see the kit, the connection is wired up correctly.

Quick reference

MCP server URL

https://mcp.hippokit.ai/mcp

Where PATs live

hippokit.ai/settings/mcp

Settings location

Settings → Connectors

Smoke-test prompt

“Generate flashcards on photosynthesis using HippoKit”

60-second video walkthrough

A short screencast of the Claude Desktop connect flow is coming soon. For now, the five steps above are everything you need.

Troubleshooting

If something isn't working, walk this list top to bottom — common issues are listed first.

The host says HippoKit is unreachable or returns a 401.

Your PAT may have been revoked or rotated. Open https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp, revoke any stale tokens, generate a fresh one, and update the host's saved credential.

The host refuses to call HippoKit tools mid-conversation.

Most hosts ask the user to approve each tool the first time it runs. Look for an inline approval prompt in the conversation transcript — sometimes it lives below the input box rather than inline with the assistant turn.

You hit a daily quota error.

MCP usage counts against the same daily generation quota as the web app. Free is 3 generations / day; Plus is 25; Premium is 100. See /pricing for the current numbers, or upgrade from /settings.

A specific format (e.g. audio) is rejected with an "unavailable" message.

Format gating mirrors the web app. Audio requires Plus or higher; the full 5-format kit requires Plus. Upgrade from /pricing or call `generate_kit` with a subset of formats your tier supports.

Settings → Connectors is missing from your Claude Desktop menu.

You're likely on an older build. Update Claude Desktop from anthropic.com/download — custom MCP connectors require a recent build. Restart the app after updating.

FAQ

Is HippoKit's MCP server free to use?

Yes — MCP usage is included in every HippoKit plan, including Free. There is no separate "API" tier. MCP calls count against the same daily generation quota you see in the web app, so a flashcard set generated through Claude Desktop costs you the same as one generated on hippokit.ai.

What can HippoKit do once connected?

The MCP server exposes nine tools: generate_kit, list_my_kits, get_kit, search_public_kits, claim_preview_kit, get_due_cards, review_card, start_quiz, and answer_quiz_question. Hosts can use these to generate new study content, list your existing library, look up specific kits, browse the public gallery, and run review sessions over your flashcard decks and quizzes.

Can I revoke access?

Yes — revoke any time from https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp. Revocation is immediate; the host's next request gets a 401 and you can re-issue a fresh token whenever you want.

Does HippoKit see my host conversations?

No. The host only sends HippoKit the structured arguments for the tool calls it makes (e.g. "topic: photosynthesis, formats: flashcards"). The rest of your conversation stays inside the host. We never receive transcripts of your prompts to Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini / Cursor.

Will HippoKit work in Claude mobile or web?

Not today. Anthropic ships the MCP connector UI in Claude Desktop only (macOS + Windows). Mobile and the claude.ai web app rely on Anthropic's curated connector list, which HippoKit is not on yet; if that changes we'll update this page. In the meantime, Claude Desktop is the supported way to use HippoKit with Claude.

Can a Claude conversation see my private kits?

Yes — the PAT is scoped to your HippoKit account, so list_my_kits and get_kit return your full library. If you don't want a particular conversation to see your library, generate a separate PAT for that session and revoke it when you're done.

Connecting a different host?

HippoKit's MCP server works the same way across every host. Pick yours from the apex docs page.

All MCP hosts

Last reviewed . Found something out of date? Email hello@hippokit.ai and we'll fix it.