Pali Canon for Claude

Install Pali Canon in Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop is Anthropic’s chat app for Windows and macOS. Pali Canon installs in it as an extension: a single file with the extension .mcpb that contains the server and the whole Pāli Canon. No account, key or extra software is needed, and the Pāli works offline.

Install the extension

  1. Download the latest pali-canon-<version>.mcpb file from the Releases page.
  2. Open Claude Desktop, then Settings → Extensions. Drag the file onto the page, or use Advanced settings → Install Extension… and choose it.
  3. Click Install and make sure the extension is switched on.
  4. Start a new chat and ask: “Use Pali Canon to read MN 10 with a translation and cite the PTS page.”

Status. The first GitHub release with the .mcpb file is still being prepared (#2). Until it appears on the Releases page, build the file yourself (below) or use the manual setup.

Build the .mcpb yourself

With Node.js 20 or newer and a downloaded copy of this repository, run in its folder:

npm ci
npm run pack:desktop

The file appears in the dist folder. Install it as in step 2 above.

Manual setup (without the extension)

If you prefer to manage MCP servers by hand, add this to Claude Desktop’s claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) and restart Claude Desktop. Replace the path with the full path to server/index.cjs in your copy of the repository; on Windows, forward slashes work.

{ "mcpServers": { "pali-canon": { "command": "node", "args": ["C:/absolute/path/pali-canon-claude/server/index.cjs"] } } }

This needs Node.js 20 or newer. Keep the server/data folder next to index.cjs.

What next