Connect n8n to Claude Cowork with MCP on Windows

This March 2026 tutorial connects n8n workflows to Claude Cowork through MCP so the assistant can trigger automations during a conversation. The speaker prefers this approach to n8n's built-in ChatHub when already working in Cowork.

The setup uses the Claude desktop app with a paid plan that includes Cowork. The Windows walkthrough checks npx, installs Node.js if needed and runs npx -y supergateway. Supergateway supplies the local command used for the connection to the n8n MCP endpoint. The displayed npx version is 11.6.2, not a stated minimum requirement. An optional npx wrapper .bat file points to the installation in Program Files.

In n8n, the speaker enables instance-level MCP, grants the example workflow MCP access and adds a description. Claude's developer settings provide access to the local configuration JSON, where the MCP command, arguments and bearer token go. The speaker fully closes and restarts Claude to load the configuration, then replaces a placeholder token after the initial connection fails.

The example sends a YouTube video ID through a webhook to an HTTP request for captions. A Cowork skill tells Claude when to call that workflow. The speaker reports roughly one-second workflow executions and presents this as a workaround for blocked YouTube access in their Claude setup. The demo returns a summary, but the speaker flags a model-version hallucination and says the result needs fact-checking.