Transport and protocol
Avlok implements the Model Context Protocol, the open standard for connecting assistants to external tools. This page covers the transports and endpoints.
Two transports
Section titled “Two transports”stdio, for local. The bundled avlok_mcp binary speaks MCP over standard input and output. This is what Claude Desktop uses. The client launches the binary as a subprocess and exchanges messages over the process pipes. Nothing goes over a network.
Streamable HTTP, for cloud. With Cloud AI Access on, Avlok serves a hosted MCP endpoint over Streamable HTTP. This is what web assistants connect to. It is authenticated with OAuth, as covered in Authentication.
Endpoints
Section titled “Endpoints”| Local | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | stdio | Streamable HTTP |
| Where it runs | Your computer | Hosted by Avlok |
| Address | The avlok_mcp binary path, filled into the config snippet in Settings → AI Integration |
The connector URL, shown in Settings → AI Integration |
| Authentication | None needed | OAuth 2.1, or a token generated in Avlok for clients without OAuth support |
| Scope | Your local library, minus private folders | Folders shared via Cloud AI Access |
Copy the exact binary path or connector URL from Avlok’s Settings → AI Integration rather than typing it. The local path differs by computer, and the copy button fills in the right value.
Capabilities
Section titled “Capabilities”Both endpoints expose tools (the Tool reference covers them). The server is read-only: it implements tool calls that find and describe, and does not implement anything that changes your library.
The local endpoint exposes the full tool set, including tools that depend on desktop-only features such as searching the words spoken in videos. The cloud endpoint exposes the tools that work against shared folders; where a capability is desktop-only, the cloud server returns a clear message pointing to the desktop app rather than failing silently.
Protocol version
Section titled “Protocol version”Avlok tracks a recent version of the MCP specification and the transports it defines. If you are building a client, use an up-to-date MCP client library; the standard clients in Claude and ChatGPT are kept current by their vendors.