[iamnbutler]

Step 4 of the plan in #237 (#237 (comment)). The Node MCP server is gone.

Launcher

• desktop-tools-mcp from npm (dist/mcp.js) finds the app's own Swift server, either beside the client the app links in its state folder or beside the client --client names. It passes --socket and --name on and hands stdin and stdout over, so no MCP traffic passes through Node. --wire 2 is accepted and ignored; --wire 1 is refused.
• If there is no server to run, it exits with a message:
  • no linked client: install the app;
  • Desktop Tools from before 0.17.0: names its version and the release to install;
  • an embedding app that ships no desktop-tools-mcp: names the app and says to bundle desktop-tools-mcp from the same native build beside its client, signed with the client's identifier, linking docs/embed.md.
• Breaking for the Ace Canary --client setup that docs/mcp.md showed: it used to run the Node server through Ace's client. Agreed with the user, Ace will ship desktop-tools-mcp beside its client.

Checks and scripts

• test/version-skew.test.mjs tested the Node server, so it is replaced by test/mcp-launcher.test.mjs (6 tests, using fake app bundles; they run on any OS). They cover:
  • the hand-over, including the exit status;
  • --client, with --socket and --name passed on;
  • an old app;
  • an embedder without a server;
  • no linked client;
  • --wire 1.
• native2/scripts/parity.mjs --baseline, both bench scripts and scripts/live-check.mjs now default to the app's own server instead of node dist/mcp.js. A command that names an existing file runs whole, since the app's path has spaces.

Docs

• docs/mcp.md leads with the app path. It gains an "Another app's grants" section (bundle desktop-tools-mcp, see docs/embed.md) and an "npx setups" section.
• README, native2/README.md, docs/live-checks.md and the CHANGELOG are updated.
• Lane notes:
  • the app must keep linking <state>/desktop-client into its bundle, which old pinned launchers rely on;
  • the client's --serve mode must keep working, since createDesktop and pinned v0.17–v0.20 launchers with options use it.

Checks run: npm run check, npm test (26 pass), node scripts/contract.mjs --check. No live check: the dev app has no grants.

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