Quote with Claude Desktop and Knack

The desktop app takes Knack as a custom connector the same way claude.ai does — sign in, Allow, done. If you'd rather hand it a token, it can bridge one through mcp-remote.

On every plan · Knack sends nothing to any AI provider · every answer is a draft

Setup

Two minutes, once.

What you need:

A Knack account where you're the owner or an estimator (the connection reads costs).
The Claude desktop app, on a plan that offers custom connectors.

1
Add Knack as a connector in Claude Desktop

In Claude Desktop's settings, find Connectors and add a custom one. Name it Knack and give it the connector URL:
```
https://api.knackapp.co.nz/mcp
```
2

Connect, and sign in to Knack

Claude Desktop sends you to Knack to sign in with the account you already use. Knack shows you what Claude Desktop will be able to read, asks which of your workspaces to connect if you have more than one, and you press Allow. You're sent straight back.

Or: bridge a token through mcp-remote

If you'd rather use a token from Knack's Settings, add this to Claude Desktop's MCP configuration (it needs Node.js for npx):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "knack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://api.knackapp.co.nz/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer knk_…your token…"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Your first session

Bring a job that's worth the conversation.

Open a new chat and say: “Work up a quote for job J-1043 in Knack.” Claude reads the working pack for that job first — your catalogue, your rates, how you write, the site facts, what's already counted on the drawings — then looks at the drawings and the site photos, and starts asking you the questions a thorough estimate needs. When the price is agreed, it writes the draft quote into Knack and tells you what's still open. Open the job in Knack, read the draft, edit what you like, send.

Everything it writes into Knack is a draft you read, edit and send yourself.

Fair questions

Straight answers.

What can it read, what can it write, and what can't it touch?

A connected AI can read this account's customers and sites, your drawings and site photos; every quote you have sent, line by line, with whether it was won; your recipes, symbol links, playbooks and templates; and your costs and margins. It can also add and correct customers and jobs, and set up and change your pricing — price-book items and their prices, your default markup and charge-out rate, recipes (including confirming their rates), symbol links, other names for items, playbooks and quote templates — when you ask it to. These are real changes, not drafts: a price it changes is what new quote lines use from then on. It can never delete anything, and never send a quote to your customer: you do that. Connect only tools you trust — a token or connection can be revoked at any time. It cannot see any other Knack account, and there is nothing about payments in Knack for it to read.

Does it write the actual quote?

No. Everything it writes into Knack is a draft you read, edit and send yourself. The draft lands in the quote builder with every line still yours, and nothing reaches a customer until you press Send.

Other tools: ChatGPT · Claude · Grok · Claude Code · Grok CLI · Cursor · Codex · Gemini CLI · or the overview →

Bring the next big one you have to price.

Thirty days, every plan feature, no credit card.

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