Summer Engine MCP guide
How to make games in Claude Desktop with Summer Engine
Connect the Claude Desktop app to Summer Engine so Claude can build scenes, write gameplay, run the game, and read errors through MCP. Summer Engine is the desktop game engine; Claude Desktop is the agent that drives it through MCP.
Summer is free for MCP use
Download the desktop engine and connect it to your agent. You are not paying Summer for the AI calls your existing subscription already covers.
Open Claude Desktop
Use the AI editor you already have. The setup command writes the MCP config and installs the Summer game-dev skills.
Run a Summer game
The agent writes code. Summer Engine shows the Summer game, runs Play mode, and helps inspect errors. Export still requires the target templates and toolchains.
Install
Connect Summer to Claude Desktop
- 1
Open a terminal
Claude Desktop does not run commands for you. Use Terminal on macOS or PowerShell on Windows, with Node.js 20 or newer.
- 2
Install Summer Engine
Downloads the desktop engine app, about 1 GB. Skip it if Summer Engine is already installed, or if you only need assets and video for a game built in another engine.
- 3
Sign in
Opens your browser once. The CLI and the engine share the session.
- 4
Connect Claude Desktop
Writes the summer-engine MCP config and installs the Summer game-dev skills.
- 5
Restart and build
Quit and reopen Claude Desktop; the summer-engine tools appear under the tools menu in a new chat.
Setup notes
The 2026 specifics.
Desktop app, not claude.ai
Summer runs a local MCP server next to the engine on your computer. The Claude Desktop app can start it; claude.ai in the browser and the mobile apps cannot reach it until Summer ships a remote MCP server.
Run the commands in a terminal
Claude Desktop does not run shell commands for you, so paste the three commands into Terminal (macOS) or PowerShell (Windows). The setup command writes claude_desktop_config.json; quit and reopen Claude Desktop afterwards.
Why this matters
Claude Desktop writes with your subscription. Summer Engine shows the game.
A chat agent alone can write files. With MCP, Claude Desktop gets tools for the running game engine, so it can inspect the project, run commands, and make changes that become playable inside Summer.