Cross-Platform Setup

macOS Setup

Prerequisites

  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later
  • Node.js 20+ (recommended: use Homebrew)
  • Terminal or iTerm2

Installation Steps

1. Install Node.js

# Using Homebrew (recommended)
brew install node

# Verify installation
node --version
npm --version

2. Install ActivityPub MCP Server

# Run directly with npx
npx -y activitypub-mcp

# Or install globally
npm install -g activitypub-mcp

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Edit the configuration file:

# Open configuration file
open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

# Or create if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/
touch ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "activitypub": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "activitypub-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop

# Force quit and restart Claude Desktop
killall Claude
open -a Claude

macOS-Specific Notes

  • Permissions: You may need to grant Terminal permissions in System Preferences > Security & Privacy
  • Homebrew: Install from brew.sh if you don’t have it
  • Apple Silicon: Works natively on M1/M2 Macs
  • Rosetta: Not required for Apple Silicon

Windows Setup

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11
  • Node.js 20+ (download from nodejs.org)
  • PowerShell or Command Prompt

Installation Steps

1. Install Node.js

Download and install from nodejs.org

# Verify installation in PowerShell
node --version
npm --version

2. Install ActivityPub MCP Server

# In PowerShell or Command Prompt
npx -y activitypub-mcp

# Or install globally
npm install -g activitypub-mcp

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Edit the configuration file:

# Open configuration directory
explorer %APPDATA%\Claude

# Create config file if needed
echo {} > %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Edit claude_desktop_config.json with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "activitypub": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "activitypub-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop

Close Claude Desktop completely and restart it.

Windows-Specific Notes

  • PowerShell: Use PowerShell for better command support
  • Execution Policy: You may need to run Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
  • Windows Defender: May flag npm packages; add exclusions if needed
  • WSL: Can also run in Windows Subsystem for Linux

Linux Setup

Prerequisites

  • Modern Linux distribution (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+, etc.)
  • Node.js 20+ (via package manager or NodeSource)
  • Terminal access

Installation Steps

1. Install Node.js

Ubuntu/Debian:

# Using NodeSource repository (recommended)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Or using snap
sudo snap install node --classic

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:

# Using NodeSource repository
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -
sudo dnf install nodejs npm

# Or using dnf
sudo dnf install nodejs npm

Arch Linux:

# Using pacman
sudo pacman -S nodejs npm

2. Install ActivityPub MCP Server

# Run directly with npx
npx -y activitypub-mcp

# Or install globally
npm install -g activitypub-mcp

3. Configure Claude Desktop (if using)

# Create config directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/Claude

# Create config file
cat > ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "activitypub": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "activitypub-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}
EOF

4. Test Installation

# Test the server directly
npx activitypub-mcp

# Or test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Linux-Specific Notes

  • Permissions: Avoid using sudo with npm when possible
  • Node Version Manager: Consider using nvm for Node.js management
  • Systemd: Can create a service for persistent running
  • Firewall: Ensure local connections are allowed

Docker Setup

Using Docker (All Platforms)

Run the server in a container for consistent behavior across platforms:

1. Build the Docker Image

No prebuilt image is published to a registry; the included Dockerfile is for self-hosting, built from source (Glama builds its own image rather than using this file).

# Build from source
git clone https://github.com/cameronrye/activitypub-mcp.git
cd activitypub-mcp
docker build -t activitypub-mcp .

2. Run the Container

# Basic run (stdio transport on stdin/stdout; no port to publish)
docker run --rm -i activitypub-mcp

# With environment variables
docker run --rm -i \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=debug \
  -e CACHE_TTL=600000 \
  activitypub-mcp

3. Configure Client

Point your MCP client to the containerized server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "activitypub": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "activitypub-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting by Platform

macOS Issues

  • Permission denied: Check System Preferences > Security & Privacy
  • Command not found: Restart Terminal after Node.js install
  • Claude not finding server: Check file path in config

Windows Issues

  • PowerShell execution policy: Run as Administrator and set policy
  • Path issues: Use full paths in configuration
  • Antivirus blocking: Add npm cache to exclusions

Linux Issues

  • Permission errors: Don’t use sudo with npm
  • Node.js version: Use NodeSource for latest versions
  • Missing dependencies: Install build-essential if needed

Next Steps