Summary
Helping you navigate complex tasks on apps is one of the many things Claude AI can do! In fact, because of the way LLMs work, the instructions you get for doing something or fixing an issue are more effective than other methods. However, most people don’t realize that Claude — Claude Cowork and Claude Code — can do more than explain apps. Recently, I’ve been testing quite a few connectors that allow Claude to actually see how this works, and MCP servers have been a game-changer, to say the least. Here are five such desktop apps Claude can control instead of explaining. Blender Claude renamed my messy layers, thanks to the official connector Blender is one of the best free apps out there, and Claude can control it for you, thanks to the official MCP server. It also lets you connect to and configure the MCP server using the official Claude app. Once that is done, you can use Claude Cowork or Claude Code to do things in Blender. All you need is the ability to explain the task with clear prompts. Among the many things it can do, the MCP can rename layers for easier recognition, and it’s been a real time-saver. You can also ask Claude to explain other Blender projects. In that way, this MCP server makes Blender more accessible to beginners. For example, you could ask Claude to find elements that slow down rendering times and remove them. GIMP A plugin nobody at GIMP built, and the DIY setup to prove it GIMP is another desktop app that Claude can easily control. However, unlike Blender, the GIMP MCP server is community-made, so the setup process may take a minute. Since multiple MCP servers are available, you may need to test which one works. I tested this GIMP MCP server on my Mac, and it worked decently. In terms of capabilities, Claude can do some great things in GIMP. For instance, you can ask Claude to create a new canvas, create new layers, and add shapes. This universal MCP enhances editing features using iterative workflows, which reduce friction by a long shot. For instance, it allows a command like “remove background until only the character remains” to work without interruption. Affinity A free beta connector doing real production work Affinity also offers an official connector for Claude that lets the AI tool control the Affinity desktop apps. The MCP for this tool is great because Affinity is one of those apps you wonder how it remains free. This Canva-owned tool has been one of my go-tos for photo editing, content creation, and other design requirements. Setting up the Affinity MCP doesn’t take much time. The Affinity app also gives you ample control over what the MCP can do, including the permissions you want it to use. For instance, if you have a paid Canva subscription, you can also grant the MCP access to Canva AI features. This structure alone expands possibilities, as with anything, and Affinity’s built-in tools are powerful enough. Darktable A command-line trick most users of this app don’t know exists Darktable is another impressive app that offers an MCP server Claude AI can use! Given how powerful this RAW and photo editor is, you can easily use Claude to complete bulk tasks. Keep in mind that Darktable doesn’t offer an official MCP server, but community-built MCPs work just fine. Because there’s no official connector from Claude, setting up the darktable MCP server takes a minute. Or, you can ask Claude Code to set it up for you. You will also need to enable some settings in the Darktable app, as you did with GIMP. Once that’s done, you can call Darktable from Claude Code to run bulk tasks with ease. The MCP doesn’t offer many precision-focused controls, though. Obsidian No more copy-pasting between chat and my second brain Obsidian is another place where you could use the power of Claude AI. Again, Obsidian hasn’t released an official MCP server, but the community-built MCP server works just fine. This MCP server essentially exposes your Obsidian vault and other data to Claude Code and Cowork. Thanks to this MCP server, I don’t do that slow-dancing of opening Obsidian and copy-pasting the content between many windows. Instead, regardless of whether I have Claude Desktop or Claude Code open, I can use natural language to query the Obsidian vault. Because everything runs locally, you can access all this data as long as Obsidian is open on your device. Five apps in, official beats community every time There’s no doubt control these apps! Before you ask, Claude’s computer-use feature is decent, but it burns through tokens and is annoyingly slow at times. Yet MCP servers aren’t perfect, especially when you’re using community-built servers. For instance, I’ve noticed a notable performance boost on official MCP servers compared to community ones. Fortunately, we can expect more MCP servers as more apps embrace AI.