preview-reader-mcp

MCP server for Claude Code and Claude Desktop. Lets the assistant read, edit, and manage documents on a Preview Reader portal via the same REST API used by the web UI.

• Transport: stdio (Claude Code / Claude Desktop spawns this as a subprocess)
• Auth: Bearer API token (generate at <server>/settings → API Tokens)
• License: MIT

Install

npx preview-reader-mcp setup            # Claude Code (auto-register via `claude mcp add`)
npx preview-reader-mcp setup --desktop  # Claude Desktop (write claude_desktop_config.json)
npx preview-reader-mcp setup --desktop --dry-run  # preview the JSON without writing

The wizard prompts for:

1. Server URL — e.g. https://docs.sielay.cloud
2. API token — issued by the portal under Settings → API Tokens

It validates the token against /api/auth/me, then either runs claude mcp add ... (Claude Code) or writes the appropriate JSON into the Claude Desktop config (per-platform, see below).

Claude Desktop config location

| Platform | Path | | --- | --- | | macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | | Windows | %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json | | Linux | ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json |

If a config file already exists, the wizard writes a .bak copy alongside it before merging — so existing mcpServers entries are preserved.

Manual config (Claude Desktop)

If you prefer to edit the file by hand, add this entry under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "preview-reader": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "preview-reader-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "PREVIEW_READER_URL": "https://docs.sielay.cloud",
        "PREVIEW_READER_TOKEN": "pr_xxx_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop.

Env vars

| Variable | Required | Default | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | PREVIEW_READER_URL | yes | http://localhost:3457 | No trailing slash. | | PREVIEW_READER_TOKEN | yes | — | Bearer token. Get one at <server>/settings → API Tokens. |

Tools (11)

Read-only:

• preview_list_projects — list projects you can access
• preview_list_files — list files/folders within a project (optional subpath)
• preview_read_file — fetch raw content of a .md or .txt file
• preview_search — full-text search across accessible projects

Write:

• preview_upload_file — upload a new .md/.txt (optional folder)
• preview_upload_html — upload a self-contained HTML artifact (spec/review/design/report/playground); returns a shareable viewer URL
• preview_edit_file — overwrite an existing .md/.txt
• preview_move_file — move a file/folder within or across projects
• preview_rename_file — rename a file/folder
• preview_delete_file — delete a file/folder (recursive)
• preview_create_folder — create a subfolder

Versions

• 1.2.0 — setup --desktop flag for Claude Desktop config, JSON merge with backup, --dry-run preview.
• 1.1.0 — preview_upload_html tool for HTML artifacts.
• 1.0.x — initial 10-tool stdio server.

Issues & feedback

Open an issue at https://github.com/emiliovt3/preview-reader/issues.