Scaffold in Claude: How to Get Started (With Video Walkthrough)
A step-by-step setup guide for Scaffold MCP in Claude Desktop, with the full video walkthrough and common first-use questions answered.
Scaffold MCP connects to Claude Desktop via the Model Context Protocol, letting you upload Word documents, ask Claude to redline them with tracked changes, review each change before it lands, and download clean .docx output — without leaving your Claude session. This article walks through setup, mirrors the video walkthrough below, and answers the questions that come up most after a first session.
Watch the 3-minute walkthrough above, or read the full written guide below.
What the Video Covers
The "Scaffold: Starting in Claude" demo covers the end-to-end workflow in under three minutes:
Connecting the MCP. Adds Scaffold to Claude's settings file, restarts Claude Desktop, and confirms the Scaffold tools appear in the interface.
Uploading a document. Uploads a sample Word document directly into the Claude conversation.
Asking Claude to redline it. Sends a natural language request — "redline this agreement to add mutual indemnification and flag any one-sided termination provisions" — and Claude returns the changes.
Downloading the result. Downloads a .docx file and opens it in Word, showing the AI's edits as standard tracked changes — the same format you would receive from opposing counsel.
The written guide below covers the same workflow for readers who prefer text or who found this article through search. Connecting has since become simpler than the settings-file step shown in the video: today you add Scaffold as a custom connector in Claude and sign in, with no configuration file and no API key. The steps below reflect the current flow.
How to Set Up Scaffold MCP in Claude Desktop
Step 1: Create a Scaffold Account
Go to app.scaffoldyourdocs.com/sign-up and create an account. The Free plan does not require a credit card. Once you have confirmed your email, you will land in the Scaffold dashboard.
Step 2: Open Claude's Connector Settings
In Claude, go to Customize → Connectors and choose Add Custom Connector. There is no configuration file to edit and nothing to install on your computer.
Step 3: Add the Scaffold Connector
Name the connector Scaffold and paste this URL:
https://mcp.scaffoldyourdocs.com/mcp
Click Add. You do not paste an API key or token into Claude — the connection is authorized in the next step.
Step 4: Connect and Approve
Claude will ask you to Connect Scaffold. Click it, verify your email with the code Scaffold sends you, and approve the connection. That links Claude to your Scaffold account.
Step 5: Confirm the Connection
Open a new Claude conversation. You should see Scaffold listed among your connectors and its tools available in the chat. If Scaffold appears there, the connection is live. If it does not, check that the URL was pasted exactly as shown above and that you completed the email-code and approval step.
What to Try First Once You Are Connected
First: A Simple Redline Request
A simple way to validate the connection is to upload a real document and ask for a specific change. Good first prompts:
- "Redline this NDA to make the confidentiality obligations mutual."
- "Review this lease and flag any provisions that heavily favor the landlord."
- "Add a standard limitation of liability clause to this services agreement."
Upload the document using the paperclip or attachment button in Claude, then type your request. Claude will process the document through Scaffold MCP and return a response. When you download the result, open it in Word and verify that the changes appear as tracked changes in the review pane.
The quality of that first output tells you a lot about whether Scaffold MCP fits your workflow. If the edits look reasonable — well-placed, substantively sound, formatted correctly — you have a working setup.
Second: Review on the Track, Then Compare Versions
Once redlining is working, try the review workflow. Each edit Claude proposes becomes a Word tracked change carrying a plain-English reason. On the Track, you go through those changes one at a time and approve or reject each one — nothing lands in the document until you approve it. If you want to adjust wording yourself, you can edit the document directly in the review pane; it saves automatically.
Then ask Claude to compare two versions: "Compare the version I uploaded with the current one." Scaffold shows the differences word by word, and every version is kept in the history with what went in and what was turned back.
Understanding what Scaffold MCP adds to Claude. Claude's base capabilities include reading and reasoning about text — it can analyze a contract, explain legal concepts, and draft new language from scratch. What Claude cannot do natively is work with Word documents as Word documents: open a .docx, preserve formatting, apply tracked changes in the Word review format, and export a properly formatted .docx file. Scaffold MCP fills that gap. It acts as a bridge between Claude's AI reasoning and Word's document format, so the output of the AI conversation is a properly formatted, tracked-change-annotated Word document rather than raw text. The attorney gets AI intelligence expressed in the document format they already use for review and negotiation.
Common Questions After Watching the Video
Does this work with ChatGPT instead of Claude? Yes. Scaffold supports Claude and ChatGPT, using the same connector URL. The setup screens differ slightly between the two — Claude is shown in the video — but the core workflow is the same in both.
Do I need to install anything? No. You add Scaffold as a connector in Claude's settings and sign in with an email code; there is no configuration file, no Node.js, and no API key. Scaffold itself is fully web-based — there is also a web app at app.scaffoldyourdocs.com.
Is document content sent to Scaffold's servers? Document content passes through Scaffold's MCP server to handle the Word file format. Scaffold keeps a document and its versions in your account until you delete them. In the Scaffold pane, More → Delete document removes the document and all its versions (this can't be undone); Delete version removes one version and keeps the others. See the privacy policy at scaffoldyourdocs.com for current terms.
What file formats does Scaffold support? Scaffold MCP works with .docx files. Convert .doc or PDF files to .docx before uploading — Google Docs can export via File > Download > .docx.
What happens if Claude makes an edit I don't want? Every AI edit comes through as a tracked change in Word — reviewable and rejectable, the same as edits from a colleague. You control the final document; nothing is committed without your review.
How many documents can I keep on the Free plan? Up to 10 documents, with full feature access and no time limit. See the pricing section for current plans.
Ready to Try It
From here, follow the setup steps above, connect Scaffold MCP to Claude Desktop, and run one real document from your practice through the workflow. The Free plan gives you full access with no credit card required.
If you run into any issues during setup — the connector not appearing in Claude, the email code not arriving, connection failures — the Scaffold documentation at scaffoldyourdocs.com covers troubleshooting for each step.