Setup guide · Assistant

Formfeed in Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop starts local MCP servers from its config file. After a restart, Claude sees your workspace templates and can render them in the conversation.

Create a test key
Sign in to the app, open API keys and create a key in the test environment. Test renders are not metered, which is what you want while an agent is still learning your templates. Switch to a live key when it goes to production.
2
Add the Formfeed server
In the Claude menu of the menu bar (not the settings inside the chat window), open Settings → Developer → Edit Config. That opens claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\). Add the formfeed entry and quit and restart Claude Desktop completely.
claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.jsonJSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "formfeed": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@formfeed/mcp"],
      "env": { "FORMFEED_API_KEY": "ff_test_..." }
    }
  }
}
```
Windows
claude_desktop_config.jsonJSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "formfeed": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@formfeed/mcp"],
      "env": { "FORMFEED_API_KEY": "ff_test_..." }
    }
  }
}
```
Use this form if Windows reports spawn npx ENOENT.
Check the connection
After the restart, click “Add files, connectors, and more” at the bottom left of the message box, then Connectors → Manage connectors: formfeed is listed with its eight tools. Ask “Which Formfeed templates do I have?” to see it work.

Try it

Invoice
“Render invoice 2026-0042 for Olvarest GmbH: 8 hours of consulting at €120 and 20 hours of implementation at €110. Use the German invoice template.”
Validation
“Check whether orders/2026-0042.json fits the invoice-de template before you render anything.”
Ad-hoc HTML
“Turn these meeting notes into a one-page PDF. No template, plain HTML is fine.”

Tips

The server needs Node.js 22 or newer on the machine.
Without a local server: Claude.ai and Claude Desktop add remote servers as custom connectors (Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector; the Free plan allows one). Enter https://mcp.formfeed.dev/mcp, sign in with your Formfeed account when it asks, and choose the workspace the agent works in. A signed-in agent renders live.

The eight tools

list_templates: Templates of the workspace with slug, kind (PDF, image, Word or PowerPoint), engine and published version; filter by kind, engine, tag or search text.; free
get_template_schema: The JSON Schema of the data a template expects, with the sample data it was designed with. A template without a stored schema gets one inferred from its sample data: a guide, not a contract.; free
validate_template: Checks a template with the data without rendering: syntax, variables missing from the data, errors that only happen with this data, and the data against the template’s stored schema. Ad-hoc HTML is checked offline.; free
check_invoice: Checks the _invoice block of an e-invoice offline, as the API does before it renders one: the fields EN 16931 asks for, the totals to the cent, VAT categories and code lists, and the rules of France. Names every field and rule it breaks.; free
render: Renders a template or raw HTML to PDF, PNG, JPG or WebP (Word and PowerPoint templates also to DOCX or PPTX) and returns the download URL, page count and units. With einvoice, the PDF becomes a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X e-invoice with the validator’s report, for one unit more (live from the Starter plan).; 1 unit, PDFs per 5 pages
convert_to_pdf: Converts a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, RTF or HTML document of up to 20 MB, or the render of a Word or PowerPoint template, to PDF and returns the download URL; the document is not kept. The local server also reads a file by its path. Starter plan and above.; like a PDF
get_render: Status, download URL and error of a render: for renders the agent queued with wait: false, and for a fresh link once the old one has expired.; free
get_workspace: The workspace and organisation the server works in, the plan, the environment and the units of the period: how many renders are left.; free

Formfeed in Claude Desktop

Create a test key

Add the Formfeed server

Check the connection

Try it

Tips

The eight tools

Other setup guides

Assistants and editors

Agent frameworks

Automation

Start rendering today