Quickstart guides

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.

What you'll need:

• Claude Desktop installed
• A Zenskar account with API access
• Node.js 18 or later installed (node --version to check)
• Your Zenskar Organization ID and API token (see Authentication Reference)

Step 1: Open your Claude Desktop config file

On macOS, open a terminal and run:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

If the file doesn't exist yet, create it:

mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude
touch ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

On Windows, the config file is located at:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Add the Zenskar server entry

Paste the following into the config file, replacing the placeholder values with your real credentials:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zenskar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-zenskar"],
      "env": {
        "ZENSKAR_ORGANIZATION": "your-org-id",
        "ZENSKAR_AUTH_TOKEN": "your-bearer-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Note: If you already have other MCP servers configured, add the "zenskar" entry inside the existing "mcpServers" object, don't replace it.

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:

Show me my Zenskar customers.

If the connection is working, Claude will call 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:

List my Zenskar customers.

Claude calls 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:

Show me all contracts for [customer name].

Claude calls listContracts with a customer filter. You'll see contract IDs, statuses, and date ranges.

Step 3: Check for unpaid invoices

Ask Claude:

List all unpaid invoices for [customer name].

Claude calls 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:

Approve invoice [invoice ID].

Claude calls approveInvoice. The invoice status changes to approved and is ready for payment collection.

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The same pattern applies to any domain: contracts, payments, products, accounting.