Documentation

Using rinkata with Claude Code and Claude Desktop

Connect Claude from Settings. About two minutes. Nothing to install, Claude talks to rinkata over the web.

Once connected, ask Claude for what's on Work, capture ideas, or update tickets, the same project you see on screen.

Three ways in, by where you use Claude:

Claude Desktop chat (or claude.ai): add rinkata as a connector. No terminal, no key.
Claude Code, or the Code tab: sign in from a terminal. No key.
CI, or a machine with no browser: the key-based flow at the end.

Claude Desktop chat: add rinkata as a connector

Using the chat side of Claude Desktop, or claude.ai in a browser? rinkata is a custom connector there:

In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
Paste this URL and click Connect:

https://api.rinkata.dev/mcp

No key exists anywhere in this flow. To check it worked, ask Claude: "List my rinkata projects." (Settings → API keys → Claude Desktop has this URL and a ready-made connection check to copy.)

Claude may warn that custom connectors are unverified, that's Anthropic's blanket label for any server it hasn't reviewed. Only add servers you trust.

To disconnect later, revoke the connector's row in Settings → Connected apps. That is the durable cut-off; removing the connector inside Claude alone is not a server-side revoke.

In rinkata, click your name (top-right) → Settings → API keys.
Find the Claude Code section, before any key is created.
Copy the filled-in terminal setup (the first copy button), paste it into your terminal, and press Enter.
Your browser opens rinkata's sign-in. Approve the connection.
The terminal reports: Authenticated with "rinkata-hub".

That's it, no key exists anywhere in this flow. The setup registers the connection at user scope, so the Claude Desktop Code tab picks it up too after a restart.

To check it worked, click Copy connection check in the same section and paste it into Claude Code. You should get your workspace's projects back.

Already inside a Claude Code session? Run /mcp, pick rinkata-hub, and choose Authenticate, same sign-in, no terminal command needed.

To disconnect later, revoke the connection in Settings → Connected apps. That is the durable cut-off; a leftover local registration can't reconnect without a fresh sign-in.

The key-based way (CI, no browser)

Use this only when the sign-in flow can't run: CI, or a remote box with no browser. The key never needs to be pasted into Claude itself, it goes into a terminal, and the check you paste into Claude afterwards carries no credential.

Step 1: Mint a key and copy the command

In rinkata, click your name (top-right) → Settings.
Find API keys.
Type a name, anything that reminds you which machine it's for, like ci-bot. A name is required; skip it and Create key errors.
Click Create key.

rinkata shows the key and, underneath it, the connect command already filled in, under Claude Code (API key), use the first copy button.

Don't dismiss that panel until you've copied. The key is shown once, and the command contains it. If you lose it, mint another.

(One key works for every project in your workspace.)

Step 2: Run it on the target machine

Paste the copied command into a terminal on the machine that needs the connection, and press Enter.

The key lands in Claude's private per-user settings there. It never goes into the repo, and it never has to appear in a conversation.

Then keep going, Step 3 is not optional. A running Claude won't pick up the new connection until you restart it.

#### If you no longer have the copied command

Mint a fresh key (Step 1). That's faster than reconstructing anything by hand, and it hands you the filled-in command again.

Step 3: Restart and check

Quit and reopen Claude so it loads the new connection.
Send Claude a message, the connection only starts once you do. An empty / menu before that is not a failure.
Click Copy connection check in the same Settings section and paste it into Claude, it asks Claude to list your rinkata projects, and contains no credential. You should get your workspace's projects back.
Then try: "What's on Work for <your project name>?"

Using it

Talk in plain language, "what's ready to start on <your project>?", "capture an idea called X", "what's on Needs attention?" Claude looks up the project by name.

You can read and change the same things you can on screen: Ideas, Work, Complete, decisions, and tickets.

If something's not working

What you see	Fix
Claude doesn't have rinkata tools after setup	Fully quit and reopen Claude, then send a message
"Not authenticated" / 401	The key is wrong or was revoked, mint a new one, run the freshly copied command, then quit and reopen Claude
"The name already exists in user config"	You already have a rinkata connection. That's fine, the copied command replaces it
Claude warns that your key is exposed	A key was pasted into a conversation. Keys belong in a terminal, never in chat, or skip keys entirely with the sign-in flows above
"Which project?"	Tell Claude the project by name, or ask it to list your rinkata projects first
Sign-in never opens, or authentication stalls	Run `claude mcp login rinkata-hub` again, it reopens the browser step

Replacing your key

Mint a new key and run the freshly copied command on that machine. It removes the existing connection first, then adds the new one.

A running Claude keeps the old key. Quit and reopen Claude, then send a message. This is the step people miss.

To cut a key off entirely, revoke it in Settings → API keys.