How do I connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop to Applane?

Who

Builder with Node.js installed; the Applane admin must have the MCP bridge turned on

Time

5 minutes

Claude Code and Claude Desktop can drive the Applane builder through an MCP bridge. The bridge is a small local server that Claude Code or Claude Desktop starts; the extension’s workspace tab connects to it over loopback. The agent’s calls go through the same validator, the same preview and the same token as when you type, and the panel shows what the agent is doing.

Nothing new is installed in your Google, and no extra permission is granted: the agent uses your existing sign-in.

1. Get the bridge

applane-mcp ships in the Applane repository as packages/mcpb. Your admin or IT will tell you where it is checked out. It needs Node.js 22 or newer and nothing beyond the repository’s own dependencies.

2. Register it with Claude

Add to Claude Code or Claude Desktop’s MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "applane": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "--experimental-transform-types",
        "<PATH_TO_APPLANE>/packages/mcpb/src/main.ts",
        "--extension-id", "<APPLANE_EXTENSION_ID>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

--extension-id is the id from chrome://extensions. Without it the bridge refuses every connection.

Flag or variable	Meaning
--extension-id, APPLANE_EXTENSION_ID	Which extension may connect. Required.
--port, APPLANE_BRIDGE_PORT	Pin one port instead of trying 8765 to 8774.
APPLANE_BRIDGE_CALL_TIMEOUT_MS	How long one forwarded call may run. Default 120000.

3. Pair

1. Start Claude Code or Claude Desktop. The bridge prints a six-digit pairing code to its terminal (Claude Desktop: the MCP server log).
2. In the Applane panel, open the app you want the agent to work on and choose Connect agent from the ⋮ menu in the top bar.
3. Type the code. The panel finds the bridge on the local port range and connects.

The code lives only in the bridge’s memory and dies with the session. Typing it is the authorisation step: no code, no connection.

4. Work

The panel shows a bar naming the connected agent and locks the composer while the agent is driving. The agent can read the app, propose changes, deploy to dev and read advisories. It cannot publish, share, change permissions, run a BigQuery query above the cost limit or act outside the one app you paired it on; for those it raises a card that you approve or carry out yourself in Google’s own dialog.

Disconnect in the bar ends the session. Closing Claude does too.

If it does not connect

• “no tab is paired”: the panel is not connected yet. Type the pairing code.
• The panel finds no bridge: check Claude is running and, if you pinned --port, that it matches.
• The composer stays locked after Claude closed: click Reconnect or Disconnect in the bar.