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Local mode runs the rewind-mcp-server package on your own machine. Your MCP client launches it as a child process with npx, and the two talk over stdin and stdout using JSON-RPC. Your API key stays in the client config file on your machine and is never sent anywhere except the Rewind API. This is the right choice for desktop clients you control: Claude Desktop and the Claude Code CLI. If you are on mobile, on the web, or want a hosted endpoint instead, use remote connection.

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Prerequisites

You need two things before you connect:
  • Node.js: the server is published to npm as rewind-mcp-server and runs with npx, so most clients invoke npx -y rewind-mcp-server to download and run the latest version on demand.
  • A Rewind API key: a read key (prefixed rw_live_) is enough, since the server only ever makes GET requests.

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Claude Desktop

Add Rewind to your mcpServers config. Use a real key in place of the placeholder, then restart the app.
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rewind": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "rewind-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "REWIND_API_KEY": "rw_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}
After saving, restart Claude Desktop so it picks up the new server. The client launches the process on startup and tears it down on exit.

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Claude Code CLI

The fastest way to add Rewind in Claude Code is one command. Everything after -- is the command the CLI runs to start the server. 
claude mcp add rewind -- npx -y rewind-mcp-server
Set your key as an environment variable so the spawned process inherits it, or pass it inline with the --env flag: 
claude mcp add rewind --env REWIND_API_KEY=rw_live_... -- npx -y rewind-mcp-server

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Project config with .mcp.json

To share the connection with everyone who works in a repository, commit a .mcp.json file to the project root instead. Claude Code reads it automatically when you open the project.
.mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rewind": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "rewind-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "REWIND_API_KEY": "rw_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}
Treat .mcp.json like any other file that may contain secrets. If you commit it to a shared repository, reference an environment variable rather than pasting a live key, or keep the key in your shell environment and omit the env block.

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Environment variables

The server reads its configuration from two environment variables.
VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
REWIND_API_KEYYesnoneYour Rewind API key. The server exits at startup if it is missing.
REWIND_API_URLNohttps://api.rewind.restBase URL for the Rewind API. Override only for self-hosting or testing.
You almost never need to set REWIND_API_URL. Leave it unset to point at the production API. Set it only if you run your own Rewind instance.