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Showing a thunk in the Claude desktop app: a guide for AI agents

For AI agents in the Claude desktop app connected to the Thunk.AI Builder MCP: how to open a thunk in the browser pane and keep it on what you are working on.

This guide is for AI agents running in the Claude desktop app (or in a
cloud session linked to the user's computer) that work on thunks through the
​Thunk.AI Builder MCP. It covers how to open a thunk in the app's browser
pane and keep the pane on what you are working on. Why you show the thunk, and
which view to show for each change, are in
​Building thunks with the Builder MCP
(Open the thunk in the browser pane). For the Codex desktop app, read
​Showing a thunk in the Codex desktop app
instead.

At the start of a session

Open the tenant's Thunk.AI app in the browser pane and complete steps 3–5 of
​Open and keep the pane (site approval, sign-in, a visible pane) before
building, so the user approves and signs in once, up front. The tenant's app
is the site of any thunk url the Builder MCP returns (for example from
​list_thunks).

Open and keep the pane

The browser pane's tools are named mcp__Claude_Browser__* in a desktop
session and mcp__remote-devices__Claude_Browser__* in a cloud session linked
to the user's computer. This guide names them by the part after that prefix.

  1. Load the tools in one call. If the browser-pane tools are deferred, load
    them all with one ToolSearch whose query is the full prefix, with
    ​max_results: 64. If the only tool present is
    ​enable__mcp__remote-devices__Claude_Browser, call it first.

  2. Reuse an existing tab. Call tabs_context. If a tab is already on the
    thunk URL's site, navigate that tab (its tabId) to the thunk URL.
    Otherwise call preview_start with the thunk URL.

  3. Handle site approval. If the call says the site isn't allowed yet and
    the session has request_access, call it with the site's URL (such as
    ​https://<the thunk URL's host>) and scope "site", so it isn't asked
    again in later sessions. Wait for the answer, then retry once. If it is
    declined, or there is no request_access, say so in one line and carry on.

  4. Check the page. Use read_page, or take one small screenshot
    (computer, scale 0.5). This checks the state of the pane (a banner, the
    sign-in screen), not how the thunk is configured.

    • If a cookie banner shows, choose the most privacy-preserving option
      ("Only Essential").

    • If the Thunk.AI sign-in screen shows, never sign in on the user's
      behalf. Tell them to sign in with Google or Microsoft in the pane. The
      pane keeps its own sign-ins, separate from their regular browser, so this
      is needed once.

  5. Make sure they can see it. If tabs_context reports the pane as
    hidden, tell the user to press Cmd+Shift+B (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+B
    (Windows), or to close what's in the side panel and click the globe icon.
    Opening a page does not bring a hidden pane forward on its own.

  6. If the pane can't be reached (no browser tools after the load, or calls
    error or time out), tell the user in one line that the Claude app's browser
    isn't reachable and that they can open the thunk link themselves. Don't
    retry, and don't switch to Claude in Chrome unless they ask.

  7. Keep it current. Navigate the same tab as you work, following
    ​Show each change in the pane in
    ​Building thunks with the Builder MCP. Don't open
    a new tab for each view.

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