--- title: "Connect ToolPiper on Mac: AI Editors, Cloud Accounts, and Scripts" description: "ToolPiper exposes over 300 local AI tools to AI editors over MCP, to Google accounts over OAuth, and to scripts over a local HTTP API." date: 2026-05-08 author: "Ben Racicot" tags: ["MCP", "OAuth", "Integrations", "Privacy", "macOS", "Claude Code", "Cursor", "Developer Tools", "Apple Silicon"] type: "article" canonical: "https://modelpiper.com/blog/connect-toolpiper/" --- # Connect ToolPiper on Mac: AI Editors, Cloud Accounts, and Scripts > ToolPiper exposes over 300 local AI tools to AI editors over MCP, to Google accounts over OAuth, and to scripts over a local HTTP API. ## TL;DR ToolPiper exposes its over 300 local AI tools to other apps through three connection surfaces. MCP for AI coding editors like Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, and Windsurf. OAuth for cloud accounts, starting with Google Search Console. A local HTTP API for your own scripts, macOS Shortcuts, hotkeys, and the browser extension. Everything runs on your Mac. Each connection takes one command or one paste. You've installed ToolPiper. Your editor, your cloud account, your scripts. None of them know it exists yet. Three connection surfaces handle the introduction. **MCP** wires it into AI coding tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf. **OAuth** lets ToolPiper talk to your cloud accounts, starting with Google Search Console. **A local HTTP API** covers everything else - your own scripts, macOS Shortcuts, hotkey triggers, the browser extension. All three live on `localhost`. The data doesn't go through a relay, doesn't leave your machine, doesn't show up in our logs. Even the OAuth flow proxies through your own browser, not ours. ## What can ToolPiper connect to? ToolPiper exposes three connection surfaces from a single local app. MCP for AI editors. OAuth for cloud accounts. A local HTTP API for scripts, Shortcuts, hotkeys, and the browser extension. The 300+ tools inside ToolPiper - local language models, browser automation, system control, web scraping, video production, vision, audio, testing - are the same set regardless of which surface you use. The surface just decides who's asking and how the request arrives. **MCP (Model Context Protocol)** is the standard interface for AI coding tools. If you use Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, Zed, Aider, or VS Code with Cline or Continue, your editor already knows how to talk to MCP servers. One-line registration and ToolPiper shows up as a tool source. **OAuth** is for the cloud accounts ToolPiper needs to read your data from. Search Console, when you want your AI to answer questions about your site's organic traffic. Future Google services roll in here too. The OAuth flow runs locally. ToolPiper opens your browser, you sign in to Google, the token comes back to your Mac. **The local HTTP API** at `http://127.0.0.1:9998` is what powers everything else. A shell script that calls `POST /chat` to talk to a local model. A Shortcut that calls `POST /audio/transcribe` to caption an audio file. A keyboard hotkey that runs a tool through the same endpoint. The browser extension uses it. Your own apps can too. ## How do I connect ToolPiper to my AI editor? Most AI editors speak MCP. Point them at `http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp` with whatever registration command or JSON config the editor uses, then restart the editor. ToolPiper's over 300 tools show up the next time you start a chat. Four editors cover most of the audience. The full setup guides cover restart steps, verification, and the surprises specific to each editor. Here are the bare commands. ### Claude Code ``` claude mcp add --transport http toolpiper http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp ``` Add `-s user` if you want the registration to apply across every project, not just the current one. [Full Claude Code guide](/blog/claude-code-mcp-setup-toolpiper). ### Cursor Add this to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for global coverage, or to `.cursor/mcp.json` in a specific project: ``` { "mcpServers": { "toolpiper": { "type": "http", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp" } } } ``` [Full Cursor guide](/blog/cursor-mcp-setup-toolpiper). ### Claude Desktop Edit `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`, add the same JSON snippet as Cursor, then quit and relaunch Claude Desktop. A window close isn't enough. [Full Claude Desktop guide](/blog/claude-desktop-mcp-setup-mac). ### Windsurf Same JSON shape as Cursor, lives at `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`. [Full Windsurf guide](/blog/windsurf-mcp-setup-toolpiper). For VS Code with Cline or Continue, Zed, and Aider, see the editor-specific guides linked in the related section below. ## How do I connect ToolPiper to my Google account? ToolPiper bundles a Google OAuth client. Open the OAuth pane in ToolPiper, click Connect on Google, and sign in. Search Console tools can then read your data on demand. More Google services are rolling out. Google Search Console is the first integration to ship end-to-end. Four MCP tools (`gsc_site_list`, `gsc_analytics`, `gsc_inspect`, `gsc_sitemap_list`) let an AI editor ask questions like "which of my pages dropped impressions last week" or "is this URL indexed" without leaving your editor. The OAuth handshake itself stays on your Mac. ToolPiper opens your default browser, Google's consent screen appears, and the access token lands back in ToolPiper through a localhost callback. We're not in the middle of that exchange. The full [Search Console guide](/blog/gsc-search-console-mcp-toolpiper) covers what each tool returns, the scope ToolPiper requests, and how to revoke the token if you change your mind. ## How do I connect ToolPiper to my own scripts or Shortcuts? ToolPiper serves a JSON HTTP API on `http://127.0.0.1:9998`. Any script, macOS Shortcut, hotkey-launched binary, or browser extension running on the same Mac can call it directly. Every request stays on the loopback interface. The API is loopback-only and token-authenticated. A request from a different machine on your LAN won't reach it. A request from your own scripts authenticates with the `tp_lan` token ToolPiper issues when you enable LAN access. Three ways to use it. Custom scripts (shell, Python, Node, anything that can run an HTTP request) call `POST /chat`, `POST /audio/transcribe`, `POST /scrape`, or any of the 300+ tools directly. The [HTTP API guide](/blog/toolpiper-http-api) has the full reference. macOS Shortcuts and hotkeys hit the same API through Shortcuts.app's Get Contents of URL action. ToolPiper's push-to-talk dictation already takes this path internally. See the [Shortcuts and hotkeys guide](/blog/toolpiper-shortcuts-hotkeys). And the MediaPiper browser extension uses the API to feed page content from your browser to ToolPiper. The [extension guide](/blog/toolpiper-browser-extension) covers that path. ## Which connection method should I use? Use MCP for AI editors, OAuth for cloud accounts, and the local HTTP API for everything else. The right surface depends on who's calling. An AI editor wants tools. A cloud account wants OAuth. A script wants HTTP. The table below sketches the differences. Pick the row that matches the caller, then click through to the matching guide. ## Does ToolPiper need to be running for connections to work? Yes. Every connection method (MCP, OAuth, the local HTTP API) depends on the ToolPiper app being open. If you quit ToolPiper, MCP servers disappear from your editor's tool list, OAuth-backed tools return errors, and HTTP calls connect-refuse. This is the most common gotcha in setup. An editor shows the MCP server as "failed to connect" and the user assumes the registration is wrong. Nine times out of ten, ToolPiper just isn't running. Two quick checks. Run `curl http://127.0.0.1:9998/health`. If you get a JSON response with `"status": "ok"`, ToolPiper is alive. If you get connection refused, launch the app. ToolPiper also lives in the menu bar by default, so the icon's presence is a faster visual check. ## What's in each setup guide? Each guide covers install, verification, and troubleshooting steps for one specific editor or connection surface. Pick the target that matches what you're trying to wire up. - **AI editors:** [Claude Code](/blog/claude-code-mcp-setup-toolpiper) · [Cursor](/blog/cursor-mcp-setup-toolpiper) · [Claude Desktop](/blog/claude-desktop-mcp-setup-mac) · [Windsurf](/blog/windsurf-mcp-setup-toolpiper) · [VS Code](/blog/vscode-cline-continue-mcp-toolpiper) · [Zed](/blog/zed-editor-mcp-setup) · [Aider](/blog/aider-mcp-setup) - **Cloud accounts:** [Google Search Console](/blog/gsc-search-console-mcp-toolpiper). More Google services rolling out. - **Custom scripts and system triggers:** [HTTP API](/blog/toolpiper-http-api) · [Shortcuts and hotkeys](/blog/toolpiper-shortcuts-hotkeys) · [Browser extension](/blog/toolpiper-browser-extension) Start with whichever surface matches the caller you're trying to wire up. The architecture's the same underneath. ## FAQ ### Does ToolPiper send any data to ModelPiper's servers? No. Every connection method runs on your Mac. MCP and the HTTP API are loopback-only. The OAuth flow proxies through your own browser to the cloud provider (Google), not through us. We don't operate a relay and we don't log your requests. ### Can I use ToolPiper offline? Local tools work fully offline. MCP and the HTTP API don't need an internet connection. The OAuth flow needs network for the initial sign-in, and OAuth-backed tools (like Search Console) need network to reach the cloud service. Once the OAuth token is cached, ToolPiper only contacts the provider when an OAuth tool actually fires. ### Can I use multiple connection methods at the same time? Yes. They share the same tool catalog and the same ToolPiper process. Claude Code can call MCP while a Shortcut hits the HTTP API while an OAuth-backed tool queries Search Console. Same over 300 tools, served three ways concurrently. ### Is the local HTTP API authenticated? Yes. ToolPiper issues tp\_lan tokens that clients present on every request. The token is bound to your machine, scoped to LAN access, and rotates on demand. Loopback-only by default, so requests from other machines on your network don't reach the API unless you explicitly enable LAN binding. ### My AI editor isn't in the list. Can I still connect it? If the editor speaks MCP, yes. The wire format is the same regardless of the client. Point the editor at `http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp` with whatever registration mechanism it uses (CLI command, JSON config file, settings UI), and ToolPiper's tools show up. The setup guides cover the editors we've tested directly. For anything else, follow the same pattern.