Claude Desktop is a point-and-click assistant that routes through Cornell's AI
Gateway using your personal gateway key — no personal Claude account involved.
This is a pilot deployment run by JCB IT with AI at Cornell and
IT@Cornell. Details may change as it develops.
Before you start
1. Get your gateway key — Getting Your Cornell AI Gateway Key. You are asked for it
during the install, so you must have it in hand before you begin.
2. Deployment on your machine — requesting your key for Claude Desktop
use opens a TDX ticket automatically, and someone from Client Services
will reach out to coordinate the rest. The application will not appear in
Software Center until that's done. That ticket is already in the queue, so
there is nothing further to submit.
Step 1 — Open Software Center
- Click Start.
- Search for Software Center and open it.
- Under Applications, find the entry beginning
MD – Cornell AI Gateway – Claude and click it.
💡 The exact name varies during the pilot — you may see Claude Test,
Claude Dev, or similar. If you see more than one, email
itrequests@business.cornell.edu rather than guessing which to install.
If you see none at all, the deployment hasn't reached your machine yet.
That is expected, and your ticket is already open — no need to chase it.
Expect roughly a 245 MB download.
Step 2 — Run the installer
Click Install.
Click Next.
Click Begin.
A status dialog reports progress as it works.
Step 3 — Enter your key
When prompted, paste the key secret you generated in
Getting Your Cornell AI Gateway Key and click Submit.
Post-installation tasks then finish on their own.
The Software Center popup closes itself after about five seconds.
Click OK.
Step 4 — Restart your computer
⚠️ This step is required
Claude will not work correctly until you restart. Do not skip it.
Open the Start menu, click the power button, and choose Update and
restart. Then log back into Windows.
Step 5 — Open Claude
Open Claude and click Continue.
You can now start using Claude.
How do I know it worked?
- Claude opened without asking you to sign in to a personal account.
- It answers your prompts.
- The Cornell models are listed in the model picker.
If anything failed, see Claude on Cornell's Gateway — Troubleshooting.
What can it do?
Web search, Word/PowerPoint/Excel/PDF handling, and saved skills all work out
of the box. See What Claude Desktop Can Do for a tour.
About the Code tab
Claude's Code tab is off by default and enabled per person on request —
some people here have it and some don't, depending on what their work calls for.
Not seeing it is expected and does not mean the install failed: you'll get a
dismissible "Code has been disabled by your organization's administrator"
message on first launch.
If you'd use it, email itrequests@business.cornell.edu and ask.
Privacy — What We Turned Off and Why explains what Code does and what's worth
understanding before you switch it on.
Prefer a command line? See Appendix: Claude Code (CLI) on Cornell's AI Gateway.
Coming from a personal Claude subscription?
Read Appendix: Moving from a Personal Claude Subscription before you stop using
your personal account — very little transfers automatically.
Later on
Keys expire, and you may need to change your spend cap or rotate a secret you
think has been exposed. See Managing, Rotating, and Renewing Your Key.
Note for IT / advanced users: the underlying gateway configuration and the
installer frontends are documented in IT / MDM Reference.