How do I install Open Cowork MCP Server?

Follow the setup instructions on the Open Cowork GitHub repository, then add the server configuration to your AI client.

What category is Open Cowork MCP Server?

Open Cowork is categorized under Developer Tools. Browse more servers in these categories on MCPgee.

Open Cowork

Name: Open Cowork MCP Server
Author: OpenCoworkAI

v1.0.0•Developer Tools•stable

Open-source AI agent desktop app for Windows & macOS. One-click install Claude Code, MCP tools, and Skills — with sandbox isolation, multi-model support, and Feishu/Slack integration.

ai-agentai-codingai-toolsanthropicclaude-code

1,396

Stars

Downloads

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0/5

View on GitHub

What is Open Cowork?

Open Cowork is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to open-source ai agent desktop app for windows & macos. one-click install claude code, mcp tools, and skills — with sandbox isolation, multi-model support, and feishu/slack integration.

Open-source AI agent desktop app for Windows & macOS. One-click install Claude Code, MCP tools, and Skills — with sandbox isolation, multi-model support, and Feishu/Slack integration.

This server falls under the Developer Tools category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.

Features

Open-source AI agent desktop app for Windows & macOS. One-cl

Use Cases

Desktop AI agent app for Windows & macOS

One-click MCP tools and skills setup

OpenCoworkAI

Maintainer

LicenseMIT

Languagetypescript

Versionv1.0.0

UpdatedMay 22, 2026

Statushealthy

Maintenanceactive

Works with

ClaudeOpenAIwindowsmacoslinux

View Source Browse All Servers

Installation

Manual Installation

npx open-cowork

Configuration

Configuration Details

Config File

claude_desktop_config.json

Performance

Response Metrics

Response Time< 200ms

ThroughputMedium

Resource Usage

Memory UsageLow

CPU UsageLow

How to Set Up and Use Open Cowork

Open Cowork is an open-source desktop AI agent application for Windows and macOS built on Electron, providing a full GUI environment for running Claude and other LLMs as autonomous coding and productivity agents. It ships with built-in sandbox isolation (WSL2 on Windows, Lima VM on macOS), one-click MCP tool setup, multi-model provider support including Anthropic, OpenRouter, Kimi, and GLM, and native integration with Feishu and Slack for remote agent control. Teams and individual developers use it as a self-hosted alternative to cloud AI desktops, with document generation skills (PPTX, DOCX, XLSX, PDF), GUI automation, and browser MCP connectors all available out of the box.

Prerequisites

macOS or Windows 10/11 desktop operating system
An AI provider API key: Anthropic (console.anthropic.com), OpenRouter, Kimi, GLM (bigmodel.cn), or MiniMax
Homebrew on macOS for the recommended cask install, or Node.js 18+ if building from source
Optional: Lima (macOS) or WSL2 (Windows) for enhanced sandbox isolation

Install Open Cowork via Homebrew (macOS)

The fastest way to install on macOS is through the official Homebrew tap. The --no-quarantine flag is required because the app is not notarized through the Mac App Store.

brew tap OpenCoworkAI/tap
brew install --cask --no-quarantine open-cowork

Build from source (Windows or alternative)

On Windows or if you prefer a source build, clone the repository, install Node.js dependencies, and run the development server or build a distributable installer.

git clone https://github.com/OpenCoworkAI/open-cowork.git
cd open-cowork
npm install
npm run rebuild
npm run dev

Configure your AI provider

On first launch, open Settings and enter your API key, provider base URL, and model name. For Anthropic, use the default base URL; for OpenRouter use https://openrouter.ai/api. Set the workspace folder where the agent will read and write files.

Enable sandbox isolation (recommended)

For enhanced security, install Lima on macOS so Open Cowork can run agent operations inside an isolated VM. The app manages the 'claude-sandbox' VM automatically after Lima is installed.

brew install lima

Add MCP connectors and skills

From the MCP panel in the app, enable browser automation, Notion, or custom MCP servers with a single toggle. Built-in skills for PPTX, DOCX, XLSX, and PDF generation are available immediately without extra configuration.

Connect Feishu or Slack for remote control

To trigger agent tasks remotely, configure the Feishu or Slack integration in settings by providing your bot token and channel. You can then send messages to the bot from your phone or any device to start agent workflows.

Open Cowork Examples

Client configuration

Open Cowork is a standalone desktop app and does not require a separate MCP client config file. The equivalent settings in the app UI map to these conceptual parameters.

{
  "provider": "anthropic",
  "apiKey": "sk-ant-your-key-here",
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-5",
  "workspaceFolder": "/Users/you/projects/my-project",
  "sandboxLevel": "enhanced"
}

Prompts to try

Example prompts you can type into Open Cowork's agent chat to demonstrate its capabilities.

- "Read the financial_report.csv in my workspace and create a PowerPoint summary with 5 slides."
- "Organize the files in my Downloads folder by file type and move them into dated subfolders."
- "Generate an Excel spreadsheet from the data in report.json with charts."
- "Open Chrome, navigate to our staging site, take a screenshot, and save it as screenshot.png."
- "Clone the repo at https://github.com/example/app, run the tests, and summarize any failures."

Troubleshooting Open Cowork

macOS Gatekeeper blocks Open Cowork from opening

Re-install using 'brew install --cask --no-quarantine open-cowork'. If already installed, run 'xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Open\ Cowork.app' in Terminal to remove the quarantine flag.

API key is accepted but the agent returns authentication errors at runtime

Double-check the Base URL in settings matches your provider. For OpenRouter use https://openrouter.ai/api; for Kimi use https://api.kimi.com/coding/; for Anthropic leave it as the default. Mismatched base URLs cause auth failures even with a valid key.

Lima sandbox VM fails to start on macOS

Run 'limactl start claude-sandbox' manually in Terminal to see the full error. Common causes are insufficient disk space or a conflict with Docker Desktop's VirtioFS driver. Ensure Docker Desktop is not set to use VirtioFS if Lima also needs the hypervisor.

Frequently Asked Questions about Open Cowork

What is Open Cowork?

Open Cowork is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that open-source ai agent desktop app for windows & macos. one-click install claude code, mcp tools, and skills — with sandbox isolation, multi-model support, and feishu/slack integration. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.

How do I install Open Cowork?

Follow the installation instructions on the Open Cowork GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.

Which AI clients work with Open Cowork?

Open Cowork works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.

Is Open Cowork free to use?

Yes, Open Cowork is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.

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Set Up Open Cowork in Your Editor

Choose your AI client for step-by-step setup instructions.

🖥️

Claude Desktop

macOS & Windows app

⌨️

Claude Code

CLI & terminal

📝

Cursor

AI-first code editor

💻

VS Code

GitHub Copilot MCP

🏄

Windsurf

Codeium AI editor

🔌

Cline

VS Code extension

Quick Config Preview

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-cowork": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "open-cowork"]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json

Read the full setup guide →

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