Deploy LMCP on managed Macs and Windows PCs
This guide is for IT teams. You install LMCP with the tools you already use and place the organization policy where each system reads it: a system file on Mac, the registry on Windows.
Mac: install
Download the DMG from local-mcp.com/download. It is signed and notarized and holds one app, LMCP Installer, which installs LMCP in /Applications. Add it to Jamf Pro, Kandji or Intune as you add other Mac apps.
Mac: place the policy
The policy is a JSON file at /Library/Application Support/Local MCP/config.json, owned by root and placed by your MDM. The person cannot override what it sets. A minimal example that makes LMCP read-only and removes one tool:
{
"read_only": true,
"disabled_tools": ["m365_send_email"]
}Windows: install
The signed installer (.exe) from the same page installs LMCP for the signed-in person, without administrator rights. The same build is published on winget as LMCP.LocalMCP, in user scope. Because it installs per person, deploy it in the user context, for example with Intune.
Windows: place the policy
The policy lives in the registry under HKLM\Software\Policies\LocalMCP, with the key names in PascalCase: ReadOnly is a REG_DWORD (0 or 1), DisabledTools, DisabledServices and AllowedServices are REG_MULTI_SZ. A minimal .reg file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\LocalMCP]
"ReadOnly"=dword:00000001The same with reg add, plus one tool removed:
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\LocalMCP" /v ReadOnly /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\LocalMCP" /v DisabledTools /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "m365_send_email" /fWhat the policy can set
Read-only mode, tools that do not exist for any AI client, services turned off or an allow-list of services, and per-account permissions. No key grants anything: none turns a service on, installs software or runs a command. Every key, its type and how sources combine is in the policy reference.
Check that the policy applies
On a Mac, the LMCP menu shows Managed by your organization. On Windows, the tray shows Managed by and the state of the device policy, its version and how many services and tools it turns off; a setting the policy locks reads (set by your organization).
A policy that exists and cannot be read is not ignored: LMCP applies the strictest settings, read-only with every service refused, until it can read it again.
Updates
LMCP checks for a new version every 30 minutes and installs it by itself, on Mac and on Windows, after checking the download against its published digest. The organization policy has no key for updates.
Not available yet
An enrollment console that sends the policy to each machine is not deployed: today the policy is placed by MDM or the registry. OneDrive folder scoping (onedrive_scopes) and the SIEM mode of the audit log (audit_log) are reserved keys that current clients do not apply.