Set up Claude Desktop

Run Claude Desktop on the account and model you pick in Moxie.

Claude Desktop can send its requests to an inference gateway instead of claude.ai. Desktop calls this third-party mode. Moxie is a gateway that runs on your Mac, so once Desktop points at it, Desktop runs on whichever account and model is active in Moxie, just like Claude Code does.

Desktop keeps third-party mode in its own data folder, separate from your claude.ai chats and sign-in. Switching back to claude.ai later brings those back as they were.

Before you start

Moxie is running and the proxy is on.
You know Moxie’s port. It’s under Settings › Server › Local port and is 8060 unless you changed it.
Claude Desktop is installed.

Set up from Moxie

Open Moxie’s Settings and choose Server.
Turn on Configure Claude Desktop.
Quit Claude Desktop with ⌘Q and open it again. Desktop reads this setting only when it launches.

That’s it. Desktop’s model picker now lists the models of your active Moxie account.

Moxie adds its own configuration named Moxie to Desktop and selects it. Any configuration you already had is kept, and turning the switch off selects your previous one again.

A few things to know:

Switching accounts or models in Moxie takes effect on Desktop’s next request. No relaunch needed.
Switching between a Claude account and another provider changes which models Desktop should list, so relaunch Desktop to refresh its model picker.
Changing Moxie’s port needs a relaunch of Desktop too. If you use Random port, the port changes every time the proxy starts, so turn Random port off if you use Desktop regularly.
Claude Code inside Desktop uses the same Moxie connection. Claude Code in your terminal keeps using Moxie’s own setup and isn’t affected.

Set up manually

If you’d rather not let Moxie change Desktop’s files, you can enter the same settings yourself, either in Desktop’s setup window or by writing the files directly. Both need Moxie’s port, shown here as the default 8060.

In Desktop’s setup window

In Claude Desktop, choose Help › Troubleshooting › Enable Developer Mode… and confirm. This adds a Developer menu.
Choose Developer › Configure Third-Party Inference… to open the setup window.
Click New configuration and name it Moxie.
Fill in the connection settings:

Setting Value
Inference provider The gateway option
Gateway base URL http://localhost:8060
Credential kind Static API key
Gateway API key local-proxy
Gateway auth scheme x-api-key
Turn on Model discovery and click Test model discovery. It should find the models of your active Moxie account. If it finds none, check that Moxie’s proxy is running on that port.
Click Apply Changes, then Relaunch now.

Setting	Value
Inference provider	The gateway option
Gateway base URL	`http://localhost:8060`
Credential kind	Static API key
Gateway API key	`local-proxy`
Gateway auth scheme	`x-api-key`

The API key can be any non-empty text. Moxie ignores it and signs each request with your active account’s credentials instead. Either auth scheme works.

By editing the files

Desktop stores its third-party configurations as JSON files in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude-3p/configLibrary/:

File	What it holds
`_meta.json`	The list of configurations, and which one is applied
`<id>.json`	One configuration, named by its id

Quit Claude Desktop with ⌘Q. It reads these files only when it launches.

Create the Moxie configuration. In Terminal, run:

mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude-3p/configLibrary
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude-3p/configLibrary
ID=$(uuidgen | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z')
cat > "$ID.json" <<'EOF'
{
  "inferenceProvider": "gateway",
  "inferenceCredentialKind": "static",
  "inferenceGatewayBaseUrl": "http://localhost:8060",
  "inferenceGatewayApiKey": "local-proxy",
  "inferenceGatewayAuthScheme": "x-api-key",
  "modelDiscoveryEnabled": true
}
EOF
chmod 600 "$ID.json"
echo "$ID"

The last line prints the new configuration’s id. You need it in the next step.

Apply it in _meta.json. Add an entry for the id, and set appliedId to the same id. If the file doesn’t exist yet, create it with only the Moxie entry:
```
{
  "appliedId": "<your id>",
  "entries": [
    { "id": "<your id>", "name": "Moxie" }
  ]
}
```
If it already lists other configurations, keep them and add yours after them.
Open Claude Desktop.

What each setting does:

Key	Value	Why
`inferenceProvider`	`gateway`	Sends requests to a gateway, which turns on third-party mode
`inferenceCredentialKind`	`static`	Uses the fixed key below
`inferenceGatewayBaseUrl`	`http://localhost:8060`	Moxie’s address. Desktop accepts plain `http` for `localhost`
`inferenceGatewayApiKey`	`local-proxy`	Any non-empty text. Moxie replaces it with your account’s credentials
`inferenceGatewayAuthScheme`	`x-api-key`	Header the key travels in. Moxie accepts `bearer` too
`modelDiscoveryEnabled`	`true`	Fills Desktop’s model picker from Moxie at each launch

Check that it works

With Moxie’s proxy running, this lists the models Desktop will see:

curl -s http://localhost:8060/v1/models -H 'x-api-key: local-proxy'

If it prints a list of models, Moxie is ready, and any remaining problem is on Desktop’s side. Then open Desktop, pick one of those models, and send a message.

Switch back to claude.ai

If Moxie set it up: turn off Configure Claude Desktop in Moxie, then relaunch Desktop. Moxie empties its configuration and selects your previous one again.
If you set it up yourself: in Desktop’s setup window, apply a configuration with no inference provider, or set appliedId in _meta.json to such a configuration (its file is just {}). Then relaunch Desktop.

Troubleshooting

Desktop still opens to claude.ai. Desktop only reads its configuration at launch, so make sure you quit it fully with ⌘Q rather than closing the window. If it still opens to claude.ai, you probably chose claude.ai on Desktop’s sign-in screen earlier, and that choice wins. Quit Desktop, open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude-3p/claude_desktop_config.json, set "deploymentMode" to "3p", and open Desktop again.

Desktop says it can’t reach your inference provider. Moxie’s proxy isn’t running, or it’s on a different port than the configuration says. Start the proxy in Moxie and check the port under Settings › Server.

The model picker is empty or shows the wrong models. Desktop asks Moxie for its models only at launch. Relaunch Desktop after switching between a Claude account and another provider, or after the proxy was off when Desktop started.

Still stuck? Email [email protected] with your Moxie and Claude Desktop versions.