# Connect Chatcut Desktop > Install, open, connect, or repair ChatCut Desktop when the chatcut_desktop MCP tools are missing or unavailable. Do not use from a managed agent already running inside ChatCut Desktop, or when chatcut_desktop tools are already available. - Skill: `chatcut-inc/connect-chatcut-desktop` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add chatcut-inc/connect-chatcut-desktop` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/chatcut-inc/connect-chatcut-desktop/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: chatcut-inc (https://skillmd.com/u/chatcut-inc) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/chatcut-inc/connect-chatcut-desktop --- # Connect ChatCut Desktop Use the signed production Desktop app as the only source of the local MCP server and editing skills. This plugin contains instructions only, not an installer or MCP configuration. If `chatcut_desktop` tools are already available, call `get_active_project` and continue with the user's editing request. Do not reinstall the app or change MCP configuration. If the current host is ChatCut Desktop's managed Codex agent, stop; its project-pinned MCP and built-in skills are already authoritative. ## Download Use only the matching official URL: - macOS Apple Silicon: `https://api.chatcut.io/desktop/download/macos` - macOS Intel: `https://api.chatcut.io/desktop/download/macos-x64` - Windows x64: `https://api.chatcut.io/desktop/download/windows` ChatCut Desktop supports macOS 13 or newer on Apple Silicon or Intel and Windows on x64. Linux is unsupported. Do not substitute a search result, third-party mirror, hosted ChatCut MCP, or historical `chatcut@chatcut-inc` plugin. ## Install or repair Try to complete the ordinary platform installation for the user with the host's narrow command approval: 1. Detect the operating system and architecture and choose the URL above. 2. Download the official artifact to a temporary directory. If ChatCut is already installed but will not open, inspect it before replacing it. 3. On macOS, follow the verified, non-merging installation procedure below. On Windows, open the downloaded installer and let the visible installer finish. 4. Open ChatCut Desktop. It registers `chatcut_desktop` and synchronizes its editing skills into Codex automatically. Installing outside the project sandbox or opening an installer may require host approval. Request only the scoped operation needed for that step; never ask the user to enable persistent Full access. ### Verified macOS installation Treat the mounted app, the copied staging app, and the installed app as three different artifacts. Checking each boundary prevents a failed or merging copy from being misreported as a bad official signature. 1. Download the matching DMG into a newly created temporary directory. Verify it with `hdiutil verify`, then attach it read-only and non-browsing at a unique temporary mount point. Do not reuse an existing `/Volumes/ChatCut*` mount or infer which numbered mount belongs to this download. 2. Before changing an installed app, validate the mounted `/ChatCut.app` itself: ```sh /usr/bin/codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=4 "/ChatCut.app" /usr/sbin/spctl --assess --type execute --verbose=4 "/ChatCut.app" /usr/bin/codesign -d --verbose=4 "/ChatCut.app" ``` A valid production app reports bundle identifier `io.chatcut.desktop` and Team ID `7WK2VURFPK`. Its authority is `Developer ID Application: ChatCut Inc. (7WK2VURFPK)`. Its Gatekeeper source is `Notarized Developer ID`. Preserve the commands' real exit codes and relevant stderr; do not infer failure from a missing or translated summary line. 3. Choose `/Applications/ChatCut.app` when the host can obtain narrowly scoped approval, otherwise use `$HOME/Applications/ChatCut.app`. Inspect any existing app first. Never copy on top of an existing bundle: `cp -R` or `ditto` into an existing destination can merge old and new bundle contents and make the result fail signature validation. 4. Use `/usr/bin/ditto` to copy the mounted app to a new, absent staging path on the same destination volume, such as `.ChatCut.install-.app`. Run the same `codesign` and `spctl` checks against that staging path. If this check fails while the mounted source passed, discard only the staging copy and retry the copy once; do not re-download or blame the official signature. 5. Quit ChatCut if it is running. Move an existing destination aside as a uniquely named backup, rename the verified staging app to the final `ChatCut.app` path, and validate the final path again. If promotion or final validation fails, restore the backup. Remove or trash the backup only after the final app validates and opens successfully. 6. Detach the exact temporary mount and remove only the temporary files created for this attempt. Cleanup failure must not replace the installation result. For macOS launch or code-signing failures, identify which of the three paths failed. `codesign` failure means the bytes or bundle structure at that exact path are invalid; `spctl` failure with a successful `codesign` check is a Gatekeeper, notarization, policy, quarantine, or network diagnosis and must not be summarized as an invalid code signature. Inspect permissions and quarantine state separately. Clear stale quarantine only after the official mounted app passes both signature and Gatekeeper validation. Never modify or ad-hoc sign the app, disable Gatekeeper, or bypass an invalid signature. On Windows, do not bypass an invalid or unknown Authenticode publisher warning. Retry one fresh official download only when the downloaded DMG is incomplete or corrupt, is for the wrong architecture, or the mounted source app itself fails validation. A staging or destination failure calls for repairing that local copy step, not downloading the same verified bytes again. Do not loop. When stopping, report evidence rather than a synthesized diagnosis: name the failing path (`mounted source`, `staging copy`, or `installed destination`), the command that failed, its relevant output, and whether the mounted source passed. Do not say “macOS reported an invalid code signature” unless `codesign` failed on the mounted source app after the one permitted clean re-download. ## User handoff If the host cannot download, mount, extract, copy, approve, repair, or run the installer, stop trying. Tell the user what blocked automation and give them the exact matching official URL above so they can install and open ChatCut with the visible operating-system flow. After ChatCut opens, ask the user to sign in there if needed. Do not handle their credentials or add `chatcut_desktop` to `config.toml` manually. Because Codex loads MCP tools and skills when a task starts, tell the user to start a new task after Desktop finishes connecting.