Use ShotOps in Claude

Use ShotOps from a Claude chat in one of two ways. On claude.ai you add ShotOps Cloud as a custom connector, and Claude reaches it over the web. In Claude Desktop you can also install the ShotOps extension, which runs Local MCP on your computer and reads screenshots straight off your disk. Both give Claude the same tools. Claude Code has its own setup on Your computer and ShotOps Cloud.

#Choose claude.ai or Claude Desktop

You can add both. A connector on claude.ai belongs to your Claude account, so it also appears in Claude Desktop when you are signed in to that account. If both are on, tell Claude which one to use, for example “use the ShotOps extension and read the screenshots from my Desktop folder”.

#Connect on claude.ai

Custom connectors are available on every Claude plan; the Free plan allows one. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds the connector for the organization and each member then connects with their own account. Anthropic's custom connector guide covers that route.

1. Open the add dialog

   On claude.ai, open Customize → Connectors, select Add, then Add custom connector.

2. Enter the endpoint

   Name the connector ShotOps and enter https://mcp.shotops.dev/mcp as the MCP server URL. Select Continue and wait while Claude checks the server.

3. Change both authentication settings

   Claude preselects No sign-in (Detected) and Use Claude's published identity. ShotOps needs different settings. Under Authentication, choose Sign in when needed. Under OAuth client, choose Register automatically. ShotOps does not support Claude's published identity. Then add the connector.

4. Connect

   Back under Customize → Connectors, open ShotOps and select Connect. ShotOps tools stay unavailable in your chats until you connect.

Sign in when needed lets you try a preview before you have a ShotOps account: Connect connects without asking you to sign in, and Claude asks the first time a request needs an account. Choose Sign in now if you want to sign in before you use the connector. Claude does not let you change these settings after you add the connector. To change them, remove ShotOps and add it again.

The first time Claude uses each ShotOps tool, it asks for approval. Select Allow once to decide each time, or Always allow to stop the prompt for that tool. To manage approval later, open ShotOps under Customize → Connectors. Each tool there can need approval, be always allowed or be blocked. To turn ShotOps off for one chat, open the + menu, then Connectors.

#Install the Claude Desktop extension

The extension packages the same server as npx shotops-mcp. You do not need a terminal or Node.

1. Download the extension

   Download shotops.mcpb. That link always serves the latest version.

2. Install it

   In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Extensions and drag the file onto the page. Claude shows a preview of the extension. Select Install, then confirm.

3. Leave the token empty

   The extension has one optional setting, ShotOps API token. Leave it empty to preview without an account. Sign in when an operation needs it explains what a token adds.

Your organization can turn off extensions in Claude Desktop. If Extensions is missing from Settings, use the claude.ai connector.

The extension does not include the Chromium browser that draws the device mockups. Your first render downloads it once, so that render takes longer and its result says why. Offline, that first render refuses until you are back online. Chromium could not download shows the exact message.

#Sign in when an operation needs it

A preview works without a ShotOps account on both routes. Saved projects, saved looks and store-ready output need an account, and store-ready output also needs Pro or the Pro trial. Plans and output explains what each plan includes and what spends cloud credits.

On claude.ai, there is nothing to configure. When a request needs your account, Claude asks you to sign in. ShotOps opens in your browser, you approve the connection, and Claude keeps the authorization. You never paste a token into Claude.

In Claude Desktop, the extension does not open a sign-in window. You have three ways to connect it to your account:

• Claim a saved project. With no token, ask Claude to save the project. ShotOps returns a private link. Open it and sign in, and the project and its screenshots become yours. An unclaimed link expires.
• Paste a token. In Studio, open the account menu, choose API tokens…, then Create token. Copy the shotops_… value, which ShotOps shows once. Paste it into the extension's ShotOps API token setting. Claude Desktop stores it as a sensitive setting.
• Reuse a terminal sign-in. If you have run npx shotops-mcp login on this computer, the extension uses that sign-in while the token setting is empty.

A token in the extension setting takes priority over a terminal sign-in. Revoke a token from the same Studio menu.

#Check the connection

Start a new chat and ask:

Check my ShotOps account status. Tell me whether this connection is hosted or local, whether I am signed in, and whether it can preview, save a project and produce store-ready output.

Claude calls account_status. It is read-only and spends no cloud credits or anonymous preview. The answer names the connection (hosted for the connector, local for the extension), whether you are signed in, your plan and a nextStep. If Claude says it has no ShotOps tools, select Connect under Customize → Connectors, or check that the extension is enabled under Settings → Extensions.

#Get screenshots in

Files you attach to a Claude chat do not reach connector or extension tools, so do not attach the screenshots. Choose the route that matches where they are.

The project route needs nothing on your computer. Screenshots and assets owns every input form, its retention and cleanup.

#Render a preview and make one edit

With the screenshots reachable, ask for a preview in words:

Turn my five Tidebook screenshots into an App Store preview. Keep them in filename order, use these headlines: “Know the tide before you go”, “Seven days of swell”, “Every spot you surf”, “Your own session log”, and “Wake up to the right swell”. Show me the preview before making store-ready files.

Claude calls render and shows five low-resolution panels in order. It may first ask about a palette and a layout. Answer, or say “surprise me”. Check that every screenshot is in the intended panel and that the longest headline is readable.

To keep working on the design, save it and make one edit:

Save this as my Tidebook project. Then use the bleed layout to give the headlines more room and render another preview.

Claude saves with save_project, changes the saved project with edit_project and renders it again. In the extension without a token, the save returns the claim link from the previous section instead of a project. Claim it, then add a token before you edit. A preview through the connector uses the anonymous preview allowance before you sign in, and cloud credits after. A preview through the extension renders on your computer and spends none. Your first strip continues from here, and Work on a saved project covers later edits.

#Where your screenshots and credentials go

• The extension renders on your computer. An ordinary preview or export uploads no screenshot. A save, a URL you pass or a project stored on your account reaches the network, and What leaves your machine lists each case.
• The connector renders on ShotOps servers. Screenshots you import are stored by ShotOps until a project keeps them or they expire. Screenshots and assets has the retention.
• Claude is the only AI in the conversation. Anthropic processes what you send in the chat, including tool results, under your Claude plan's terms. ShotOps runs no AI model on the connector or the extension. Its tools apply the edits Claude requests and render.
• ShotOps never holds an Apple or Google Play credential. Store-ready output is a bundle you upload with your own fastlane. Your ShotOps sign-in is the only credential involved: Claude keeps the connector's authorization, and Claude Desktop keeps the extension's token.

What ShotOps stores and for how long is in Privacy. Troubleshooting maps each refusal to its remedy.