Quickstart 1: Connect the server in Claude Desktop
By the end of this tutorial, Claude Desktop will be connected to the Zenskar MCP Server and able to respond to prompts about your Zenskar data.Prerequisites:
- Claude Desktop installed
- A Zenskar account with API access
- Node.js 18 or later installed (
node --versionto check) - Your Zenskar Organization ID and API token (see How to set up authentication)
Step 1: Open your Claude Desktop config file
On macOS, open a terminal and run:Step 2: Add the Zenskar server entry
Paste the following into the config file, replacing the placeholder values with your real credentials:Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop
Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. The server starts automatically on launch.Step 4: Verify the connection
In Claude Desktop, type:listCustomers and return results from your account. If you see an error, check the Authentication Reference to confirm your credentials are correct.
Quickstart 2: Your first Zenskar workflow
This tutorial walks through a complete, realistic workflow: finding a customer, checking their contracts, and listing their unpaid invoices. Prerequisite: Complete Quickstart 1 first.Step 1: Find a customer
Ask Claude:listCustomers and returns a paginated list. Note the ID or name of a customer you want to explore.
Step 2: Get the customer’s contracts
Ask Claude:listContracts with a customer filter. You’ll see contract IDs, statuses, and date ranges.
Step 3: Check for unpaid invoices
Ask Claude:listInvoices filtered by customer and status. You now have a clear picture of what’s outstanding.
Step 4: Approve an invoice
Pick one of the unpaid invoices and ask:approveInvoice. The invoice status changes to approved and is ready for payment collection.
The same pattern applies to any domain: contracts, payments, products, accounting.