Table of Contents

Installing the Designer MCP Server (FORNAV-Designer.mcpb)

The Designer MCP Server lets an AI assistant such as Claude drive the Reports ForNAV Designer directly — opening reports, inspecting their layout, and editing bands/controls/data items through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It ships as FORNAV-Designer.mcpb, a Claude Desktop Extension bundle, installed alongside Reports ForNAV.

This guide covers installing that extension into Claude Desktop. It does not cover Claude Code — the Reports ForNAV installer registers the same MCP server with Claude Code automatically (a different mechanism, not .mcpb-based), so no separate step is needed there.

1. Prerequisites

  • Reports ForNAV 8.2.0.2863 or later.
  • Reports ForNAV Designer installed and able to run. The MCP server drives a live Designer session over a local pipe — it is not a standalone/headless tool, so the Designer must actually be open and connected to Business Central for most of its commands to work.
  • Claude Desktop installed.

2. Install the "Designer MCP Server" Component

The Designer MCP Server is marked experimental and is not included in either the Full or Compact setup type.

To install it:

  1. Run the Reports ForNAV installer.
  2. When prompted for setup type, choose Custom.
  3. Check the box for Designer MCP Server (experimental).
  4. Continue through the rest of the wizard as normal.

If you already installed Reports ForNAV without selecting this component, re-run the installer, choose Custom again, and check the box — Setup will add the missing files without disturbing the rest of your install.

Once installed, two files exist under the Designer MCP Server folder:

C:\Program Files\Reports ForNAV\Designer MCP Server\ForNav.Designer.McpServer.exe
C:\Program Files\Reports ForNAV\Designer MCP Server\FORNAV-Designer.mcpb

The .exe is the MCP server itself; the .mcpb is the Claude Desktop Extension bundle this guide installs.

3. Install the Extension into Claude Desktop

Automatic (during setup)

Near the end of the Reports ForNAV installer, a checkbox offers to install the extension for you:

  • Classic (Win32) Claude Desktop install — the checkbox reads "Install the FORNAV Designer extension in Claude Desktop". Leaving it checked opens the .mcpb file directly, which launches Claude Desktop's own Install Extension dialog — click Install there to confirm.
  • Microsoft Store build of Claude Desktop — the checkbox instead reads "Show the FORNAV Designer extension file…" and just opens the containing folder in Explorer. The Store build does not register a file association for .mcpb at all, so double-clicking it only prompts Windows to ask which app to open it with — use the manual steps below instead.

Not sure which build you have? If double-clicking FORNAV-Designer.mcpb opens Claude Desktop's install dialog, you have the classic build. If Windows instead asks "How do you want to open this file?", you have the Store build — go to Manual below.

Manual

  1. Open Claude Desktop.

  2. Go to Settings → Extensions (labeled Connectors in some versions).

  3. Click Install Extension….

  4. Browse to and select:

    C:\Program Files\Reports ForNAV\Designer MCP Server\FORNAV-Designer.mcpb

  5. Confirm the install prompt.

4. Verify the Installation

  • In Claude Desktop's Settings → Extensions, confirm FORNAV Designer is listed, showing the ForNAV icon.
  • Open the Reports ForNAV Designer and load any report or create a new report.
  • Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop and ask it to list the report's bands, or open a report from the server — a working connection returns real data instead of a "not connected" error.

If a tool call fails with something like "The Designer window has closed" or "Not connected to Business Central", it usually just means the Designer isn't running, or isn't connected to a Business Central environment yet — not a problem with the extension install itself.

5. Updating the Extension

Claude Desktop does not auto-update a sideloaded .mcpb extension. After installing a newer build of Reports ForNAV:

  1. In Claude Desktop, remove the existing FORNAV Designer extension (Settings → Extensions).
  2. Install the new .mcpb from the same location using the steps in step 3 above.

Troubleshooting

Double-clicking the .mcpb file asks "How do you want to open this file?" This is expected for the Microsoft Store build of Claude Desktop — it has no file association for .mcpb. Cancel that dialog and use the Manual install steps instead.

The extension is listed, but every tool call fails. Confirm the Reports ForNAV Designer is actually running — the MCP server has nothing to talk to otherwise. Also confirm you're not running an older Designer build side-by-side with a newer MCP server: reinstalling Reports ForNAV updates the files on disk, but an already-running Designer process keeps running the old build in memory until it's restarted.

Summary

  1. Install Reports ForNAV via Custom setup, checking Designer MCP Server (experimental).
  2. Install FORNAV-Designer.mcpb into Claude Desktop, either via the installer's own prompt (classic build) or Settings → Extensions → Install Extension… (Store build, or if you skipped the prompt).
  3. Confirm FORNAV Designer appears in Claude Desktop's extension list.
  4. Make sure the Reports ForNAV Designer is running before using it from a conversation.

This completes the installation of the Designer MCP Server.