Connect Claude

Checked on 2026-10-07. Applies to new Beav releases that include Claude support. The Claude Desktop, Cowork, and Claude Code steps below were checked against the source but have not yet been tested in each real host.

Beav prepares three packages for Claude, one for each place you use it. All three connect to the same local Beav and share one authorization you can revoke in Beav.

Where	Package	How
Claude Desktop chat	beav-creator.mcpb	Double-click to install as an extension
Cowork	beav-creator-plugin.zip	Upload as a plugin
Claude Code	Local plugin marketplace	Install with claude plugin commands

A Claude plugin's local MCP server runs in Cowork and Claude Code only. For ordinary Claude Desktop chats, install the .mcpb extension.

1. Prepare the packages

On the computer where Beav is installed, open a terminal and run the Beav program bundled with the desktop app (the standard macOS location is shown; use the actual install location on other systems):

"/Applications/Beav.app/Contents/MacOS/beav" extension prepare claude

The command starts Beav if needed, creates a local authorization for Claude, and prints where the three packages are. On macOS they are in:

~/Library/Application Support/Beav/claude-marketplace/

The packages contain the location of Beav on this computer, so they only work here; don't share them. The credential stays in Beav's private folder and the packages only record its path. Never send the credential to any AI.

2. Install into Claude

Claude Desktop chat: double-click beav-creator.mcpb and confirm in the window Claude shows, or choose the file under Extensions in Claude's settings. The extension runs on the Node runtime bundled with Claude Desktop.

Cowork: upload beav-creator-plugin.zip in Cowork's plugin settings.

Claude Code: run these in a terminal, replacing the path with the one the prepare command printed:

claude plugin marketplace add "<marketplace path printed by the prepare command>"
claude plugin install beav-creator@beav-local

Then restart Claude Code or start a new session.

3. Verify the connection

Ask Claude to call creator_status, creator_capabilities, and workspace_list. When all three return normally, Claude is connected to your local Beav. From there Claude can search your knowledge base, read and write manuscripts, and use image, video, and other tools directly, or hand the whole job to the Beav Agent. When you want to browse materials yourself, ask Claude to open the local library page.

After upgrading Beav, run the prepare command again and update the packages the same way. Preparing keeps the existing authorization; add --reauthorize only when you explicitly want to replace a revoked one.