Connect a desktop client.

A local stdio server

The client launches the server itself. Give it the command & an absolute path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rack-status": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Restart the app; the tools appear in its tool list. If they do not, run the same command in a terminal first & check that nothing is printed to stdout before the first protocol message, since stdout is the wire.

A fabric endpoint

For a server deployed on NodeMode Dev, point the client at the Streamable HTTP URL from the server's dashboard page. Clients that support remote servers take a URL instead of a command; the fabric's auth helpers negotiate the rest.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rack-status": {
      "url": "https://rack-status.your-org.nodemode.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Configuration keys vary by client. The mcpServers object with command & args is the shape published for desktop apps; check your client's documentation for the remote-server form it expects.