Hosted vs local connectors

Hosted connectors

A hosted connector such as Site Audit runs on ToolCargo's servers. Your AI client sends it a request over HTTPS; it can reach anything that is public on the internet — web pages, and online services you connect with OAuth. Nothing is installed on your computer.

What hosted connectors cannot do

Our servers cannot see your screen, your files, or the applications installed on your machine. A hosted endpoint therefore cannot drive Photoshop, open a PDF from your Documents folder, or rename files on your desktop. Any service that claims to do this from the cloud alone is either uploading your files somewhere or not doing what it says.

Local companions (planned)

For desktop apps and local files, the connector itself has to run on your computer as a local MCP server. The plan for those connectors is:

• a small signed companion app you install once, which your AI client talks to locally;
• access limited to folders or apps you approve, with a preview before anything changes;
• your ToolCargo account used only for the licence and updates — file contents stay on your machine.

None of these companions exists yet. PDF Toolkit, Photoshop Bridge and Local Files are listed as planned so we can measure interest before building and maintaining desktop software.