Claude Desktop with your Claude account
Choose this surface when people already have Claude subscriptions they want to keep. They sign in to Claude Desktop with their own account; Harriet adds your organization's skills and connectors on top and audits the tool calls that go through its proxy.
How the split works
Harriet does not provide the Claude subscription. Anthropic supplies the app, the models, and the billing, exactly as if Harriet were not there. What Harriet manages is the configuration inside the app:
- MCP connectors. The background agent writes Harriet-managed entries into
claude_desktop_config.json:~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonon macOS and%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.jsonon Windows. Tool calls through these entries run via Harriet's MCP proxy and land in the audit log. - Skill guides. Claude Desktop does not load skill package files directly, so Harriet delivers prompt and package skills as skill-guide entries the assistant can read, alongside the connectors they use.
By default Harriet merges with the person's local configuration: it removes only its own previously managed entries before writing the current state, and user-created MCP entries survive. Admins can switch a device or the whole organization to overwrite mode instead; see how device sync works.
Because the models are Anthropic's, this surface is Anthropic-only. If you want GPT, Gemini, or EU-hosted models in Claude Desktop, use Claude Desktop without a Claude account instead.
Set it up
- Install Claude Desktop. On macOS, download from claude.ai/download, install, and sign in with the person's Claude account. On Windows, use Anthropic's official x64 installer.
- Connect the device to Harriet. Install the background agent from your enrollment invite or the console's install command; it works the same on macOS and Windows.
- Link the device. If your rollout uses device linking, enter the 9-character code shown on the machine so the device is tied to the right person — see device linking.
- Restart Claude Desktop. After the first sync, fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop once so the new MCP servers and skills load.
What each side owns
| Anthropic's | Harriet's |
|---|---|
| The Claude Desktop app and updates | Assigned skills and skill guides |
| Models and model quality | MCP connectors and their credentials |
| Subscription billing per person | Audit of every proxied tool call |
| The person's Claude account and chat history | Enrollment, sync, and device wipe |
When a device is removed or wiped, Harriet removes its managed entries from claude_desktop_config.json but leaves the person's Claude account, chats, and own MCP entries untouched. See removing a device.