Claude Desktop is where a lot of people do their AI work. When the conversation produces a URL you want to share — a document, a project, a result — you hit the familiar chore of turning a long URL into a short one.
An MCP server turns that chore into a tool.
Add KooLink to Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop is MCP-native. In the Claude Desktop app, go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config, and this opens or creates claude_desktop_config.json. Add the block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"koolink": {
"url": "https://mcp.kool.ink",
"type": "streamable-http"
}
}
}
Restart Claude Desktop. KooLink is loaded. The assistant now has a shorten_url tool.
No API key to mint, no account to create, no free-tier cap. Free and unlimited.
What it looks like in practice
In a Claude Desktop conversation, wherever you are working:
Shorten this for me: https://example.com/some/very/long/path Generate a clean kool.ink link for the doc I linked above.
The assistant calls shorten_url and hands you back a kool.ink/xyz link. You stay in the conversation, in the same context.
Why an MCP server fits Claude Desktop
- Context. You are already talking to the assistant. A browser tab is a context break. A tool the assistant has is not.
- Speed. A
shorten_urlcall is under a second. - No state. No API key to store or rotate.
Where else it works
The same https://mcp.kool.ink works in any MCP-native client:
- Claude Code — terminal agent
- Cursor, Windsurf, Zed — IDE agents
- VS Code with Continue — extension
- Any MCP client that supports streamable-http transport
And in your terminal:
npx @koolink/koolink https://example.com/very/long/path
# → https://kool.ink/xyz
Bottom line
Claude Desktop is MCP-native, and KooLink is the only widely-used shortener that ships a hosted MCP server. One config block and Claude can shorten a URL like any other tool.