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DeskLink

by sam-14uel
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TypeScript
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DeskLink (JavaScript)

Turn your local computer into a remotely accessible MCP endpoint for cloud AI agents.

DeskLink is a thin authenticated bridge: it loads local MCP servers (especially STDIO servers defined in a standard mcp.json), discovers their tools, and exposes all of them through a single Streamable HTTP URL (optionally tunnelled with ngrok).

Quick start

npm install -g desklink
# Optional: export NGROK_AUTHTOKEN=your_token

# Option A: use a standard mcp.json (recommended)
desklink start --mcp-config ./mcp.json

# Option B: no config → default official filesystem server (home directory)
desklink start

# Or specify directories
desklink start --dir ~/Documents --dir ~/Projects

Related MCP server: Levitate

Adding MCP servers

DeskLink supports any STDIO MCP server. Define them in a standard mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/Documents"]
    },
    "git": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-git", "--repository", "/path/to/repo"]
    },
    "custom": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["my_server.js"],
      "env": { "DEBUG": "1" },
      "cwd": "/path/to/workdir"
    }
  }
}

Then:

desklink start --mcp-config ./mcp.json

If no mcp.json is found, DeskLink automatically starts the official @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem (controlled by --dir or home).

Tool names are namespaced as servername__toolname (e.g. filesystem__list_directory).

Listing and testing tools

# List all discovered tools (no tunnel started)
desklink tools
desklink tools --mcp-config ./mcp.json

# Call a tool with arguments (for testing)
desklink call filesystem__list_directory --args '{"path":"/tmp"}'
desklink call filesystem__read_file --args '{"path":"/tmp/test.txt"}'

Configuration: desklink.config.json

Create desklink.config.json (or ~/.desklink/config.json) for DeskLink settings:

{
  "logging": {
    "level": "info"
  },
  "tracing": {
    "enabled": true,
    "level": "basic",
    "redact_sensitive": true
  },
  "auth": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "approvals": {
    "default": "auto",
    "tools": {
      "filesystem__write_file": "prompt",
      "filesystem__create_directory": "prompt",
      "git__commit": "prompt"
    }
  },
  "server": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 8765,
    "mcp_path": "/mcp"
  },
  "tunnel": {
    "provider": "ngrok"
  }
}

Full config options

Section

Key

Values

Description

logging

level

debug, info, warning, error

Log verbosity

tracing

enabled

true / false

Enable tool-call tracing

tracing

level

none, basic, full

basic = name + duration + error; full = + args + truncated result

tracing

redact_sensitive

true / false

Mask keys like password/token/secret/key

auth

enabled

true / false

Require Bearer token

auth

token

string

Override auto-generated token

approvals

default

auto / prompt

Default policy for all tools

approvals

tools

map of namespaced_tool → auto/prompt

Per-tool override

server

host, port, mcp_path

Local bind settings

tunnel

provider

ngrok, none

Tunnel provider

Approval policies:

  • auto — tool calls execute immediately.

  • prompt — DeskLink asks for confirmation in the terminal before executing the tool.

Environment variables (NGROK_AUTHTOKEN) and CLI flags override the config file.

Security

  • Bearer token required (generated and stored in ~/.desklink/token by default).

  • Optional per-tool approval prompts before execution (auto or prompt).

  • Access is controlled by the underlying MCP servers you configure.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm run dev -- start --tunnel none
npm run dev -- tools
npm run dev -- call filesystem__list_directory --args '{"path":"/tmp"}'

Package name on npm is desklink.

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