Skip to Content
How-to guidesHow-to guidesRegister an agent (Claude Desktop / MCPB)

Register an agent (Claude Desktop / MCPB)

The MCPB path is the right choice when you’re using Claude Desktop on a personal machine and want a one-file install. (The .mcpb bundle is a Claude Desktop extension; for Claude Code use the CLI.)

Step 1 — Install the extension

  1. Download agentvalet-latest.mcpb.
  2. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions.
  3. Drag the .mcpb file into the extensions window.

If drag-and-drop doesn’t work (Windows 11 Store builds sometimes block it), use Settings → Extensions → Advanced settings → Install extension and pick the file from disk.

If neither path works, you can register from a terminal instead — see Register an agent (CLI). The CLI flow produces the same result and is a reliable fallback on locked-down corporate machines.

Step 2 — Register the agent in the dashboard

  1. Open Agents in the dashboard and find Register new agent.
  2. Type a name (for example My MacBook), pick Claude Desktop (MCPB) as the host, and click Register.

The agent is created active, with no platform access yet. Its keypair is generated on our side and the private key is shown once.

Step 3 — Paste the credentials into the extension

The dashboard shows four values. Paste each into the install dialog Claude Desktop shows for the AgentValet extension:

  • Agent ID (starts with agt_)
  • Owner ID (UUID)
  • Proxy URL — leave as https://api.agentvalet.ai unless self-hosting
  • Agent Private Key (base64)

Restart Claude Desktop. The agent is now live.

Step 4 — Grant platform access

The new agent starts deny-by-default. Open it under Agents and configure its permissions: tick the platforms and scopes it should reach (only platforms you’ve already connected appear), and turn on approval for any grant where you want to approve each call.

Note: Claude can also ask to be registered with the agent_register MCP tool, passing your owner ID. That request waits in Agents → Pending Approval (see Approve a pending registration), but approving it does not hand the private key back to the extension. For Claude Desktop, register from the dashboard as above.

Step 5 — Confirm it works

Ask Claude to call list_platforms. It should return the list of platforms you just granted. An empty list is fine if you didn’t grant any platforms yet; an error here means the credentials didn’t paste correctly.

Using AgentValet on more than one machine

Each Claude Desktop install is a separate agent. If you work from a laptop and a workstation, repeat Steps 1–4 on each machine and give the agents distinct names (“Edwin — MacBook”, “Edwin — Workstation”). They share the same owner (you), but have their own private keys and their own audit trails. Do not copy the private key between machines — re-register instead, so a lost laptop can be revoked without cutting off the other machine.

If something went wrong

  • list_platforms returns 401 — check the agent ID, owner ID, and private key are all pasted with no extra whitespace. Pasting from a PDF or email is the usual cause of trailing newlines you can’t see; re-copy the values. The private key is shown only once, so if you no longer have it, re-key the agent from the dashboard to get a new one.
  • Extension shows “Credentials missing” on Claude restart — Claude Desktop’s secure storage occasionally drops MCPB credentials. Reopen the extension settings and re-paste the values (re-key the agent from the dashboard if you no longer have the private key). This is a Claude Desktop quirk, not an AgentValet problem.
  • list_platforms returns “Network error: cannot resolve…” or “connection refused” — the proxy can’t be reached. Most common causes:
    • A corporate VPN or proxy is blocking api.agentvalet.ai. Ask IT to allow it.
    • A man-in-the-middle TLS proxy (Zscaler, Netskope, etc.) — the error message will mention “TLS” or “cert”.
    • The proxy is actually down — curl https://api.agentvalet.ai/health should return {"status":"ok"}. There is no public status page yet.
  • list_platforms returns “request timed out” — usually a slow corporate proxy. Retry; if persistent, ask IT to whitelist api.agentvalet.ai with no buffering.

Next

Last updated on
The dashboard tourRegister an agent (CLI)