Use LocalASO with Claude Desktop to research App Store keywords

In Claude Desktop open Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config. On macOS the file is ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. If it already contains other servers, add localaso next to them inside mcpServers. Otherwise use this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "localaso": {
      "command": "/Applications/LocalASO.app/Contents/MacOS/LocalASO",
      "args": ["/Applications/LocalASO.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/out/main/mcp.js"],
      "env": { "ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE": "1" }
    }
  }
}

The three values are the ones in the MCP server docs: the app binary as the command, the bundled mcp.js as the argument, and ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 in the environment. Because the app runs the server itself, you do not need Node installed. The MCP project's documentation shows command, args and an env key as the supported fields for this file.

After saving, completely quit Claude Desktop and start it again. The MCP documentation states that a restart is required for the new configuration to load. Then open the connectors menu from the add button in the message box and look for localaso and its tools. If you see board_get, board_add_keywords, keywords_check, competitors_get and listing_get, you are connected.

1. Restart again. Closing the window is not enough; quit the app.
2. Check the path. The app must be in /Applications. If you moved it, change both paths.
3. Check the JSON. A missing comma silently breaks the whole file.
4. Open LocalASO once and confirm the license is active. Every tool refuses to run without a valid license on that Mac and returns a message that says so.

The server writes only protocol messages to stdout and logs to stderr, so a server that starts correctly produces no visible output of its own.

These are example prompts. The right-hand column is the tool Claude should call, based on the tool schemas.

Claude Desktop is a chat app, so it suits reading and planning. If you want to run long check sessions from a terminal, the Claude Code walkthrough is a better fit. For the whole picture of what the server can and cannot do, read what an ASO MCP server is.

Learn what each result field means on the board_get page, then try the prompts on AI agent prompts for App Store keywords.