# Integrating with Claude Desktop
Adaptive Graph of Thoughts is designed to work with Claude Desktop through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This allows Claude 3.7 Sonnet to use the Graph of Thoughts reasoning process when answering complex scientific questions.
## Getting Started
1. **Start the Adaptive Graph of Thoughts Server**:
```
docker-compose up -d
```
2. **Run the Setup Helper**:
```
./setup_claude_connection.py
```
This script will:
- Check if the server is running
- Test the MCP endpoint
- Verify the configuration file
- Display instructions for connecting
3. **Connect Claude Desktop**:
- Open Claude Desktop
- Go to Settings → Integrations
- Add a new integration by importing the `config/claude_mcp_config.json` file
4. **Test the Integration**:
- Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop
- Enable the Adaptive Graph of Thoughts integration
- Ask a scientific question
- Claude will use the Graph of Thoughts process to analyze and answer your question
## What Happens Behind the Scenes
When you ask a question with the Adaptive Graph of Thoughts integration enabled:
1. Claude Desktop sends your question to the Adaptive Graph of Thoughts server
2. The server processes your query through several stages:
- Initialization and understanding
- Question decomposition
- Hypothesis generation
- Evidence gathering
- Pruning and merging hypotheses
- Creating coherent thinking subgraphs
- Composing the final answer
- Reflecting on confidence
3. The server returns:
- A comprehensive answer
- A reasoning trace showing the Graph of Thoughts process
- The graph state (for visualization or further analysis)
4. Claude Desktop presents this information to you
## Configuration Options
The `config/claude_mcp_config.json` file defines how Adaptive Graph of Thoughts registers itself with MCP clients like Claude Desktop. It typically includes:
- `name`: A short name for the integration (e.g., "adaptive-graph-of-thoughts").
- `description`: A brief description of what Adaptive Graph of Thoughts does.
- `version`: The version of Adaptive Graph of Thoughts.
- `endpoints`: The URL for the MCP endpoint (e.g., `http://localhost:8000/mcp`).
- `capabilities`: A list of capabilities the server offers (e.g., "scientific_reasoning").
Runtime behaviors, such as whether to include the reasoning trace or full graph state in responses, are typically controlled by parameters sent by the client in the `asr_got.query` request (see the `MCPASRGoTQueryParams` schema in `src/adaptive_graph_of_thoughts/api/schemas.py` for details like `include_reasoning_trace` and `include_graph_state`). These are not configured in `claude_mcp_config.json`.
## Status Page
A status page is available to check the connection and test queries:
```
open status.html
```
For more detailed instructions, see the [Claude Desktop Integration Guide](claude_desktop_integration.md).
