Claude connectors: how to add and use them

Contents

• What Claude connectors are
• How to add a connector from the directory
• How to add a custom connector by URL
• Verified, Community and Custom: what the labels mean
• Claude MCP: connectors in Claude Code and Claude Desktop
• Which connectors help a small business
• Tool permissions and safety
• ChatGPT connectors, briefly
• When a connector doesn't show up
• Questions people ask
• Sources

Claude connectors link Claude to the apps you already use, such as Gmail, Google Drive, Slack and Microsoft 365, so Claude can look things up there and act for you after you sign in. They run on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You add them in Customize > Connectors in claude.ai or the desktop app, either from Anthropic's directory or by pasting a server's URL, and they work on every plan, including Free. This guide covers both ways, the "Claude MCP" setup in Claude Code and Claude Desktop, the labels that tell you how much Anthropic reviewed a connector, and how to keep one from doing more than you meant.

What Claude connectors are

Anthropic's own definition: a connector "links Claude to an outside app or service, such as your calendar, your documents, or your issue tracker, so Claude can find information there and take actions for you" (Claude docs). Under the hood, each connector talks to an MCP server, the open standard Anthropic announced in November 2024 for connecting AI apps to tools and data.

Most connectors are remote: a service you sign in to on the web. A few run on your own computer. Here is where each kind works, from Anthropic's docs:

Once a connector is connected, you still choose in each conversation whether Claude may use it: select + in the message box, then Connectors, and flip its toggle.

How to add a connector from the directory

The Connectors directory lists connectors from Anthropic and other providers. The steps, from Anthropic's guide:

1. Go to Customize > Connectors. In the desktop app, select Customize in the sidebar, then Connectors.
2. Select Discover, then search for the service or browse the categories.
3. Select Connect to Claude. Some connectors first ask for a server URL or the region your account lives in.
4. Sign in to the service, review the access Claude asks for, and approve it.
5. Back on the Connectors page, the connector shows under Your connectors as Connected.

On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner adds a connector for the organization and each member then connects their own account. A Team member without that permission sees Request instead of a connect button, and the request goes to the Owners (Claude docs).

How to add a custom connector by URL

If a service isn't in the directory but publishes a remote MCP server, you can add it yourself. Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, and "Free users are limited to one custom connector" (Claude Help Center). On Pro and Max:

1. Go to Customize > Connectors, select + Add, then Add custom connector.
2. Enter a name and the server's URL, then Continue.
3. Check the sign-in settings Claude detected. Most servers use OAuth, so you sign in on the service's own page and Claude never sees your password.
4. Select Add.

On Team and Enterprise, only Owners (and, on Enterprise, people with the right custom role) add custom connectors, from Organization settings > Connectors, then Add > Custom > Web.

A worked example: StaffPick, a hiring marketplace for tested remote staff, runs a remote MCP server at https://staffpick.ai/mcp. Add it as a custom connector, sign in, and you can ask Claude for "a part-time bookkeeper who knows Xero, under $1,000 a month" and get anonymised, tested people back. The steps are identical for any service that gives you an MCP URL; the StaffPick setup page lists other AI apps too.

Verified, Community and Custom: what the labels mean

Every listing in the directory carries a label that tells you how closely Anthropic reviewed it (connector verification):

The label changes how a connector is shown, not what it can do: once connected, a Community connector has the same access as any other. Directory and custom connectors run on the same technology, so a listing mainly makes a connector easier to find.

Claude MCP: connectors in Claude Code and Claude Desktop

Searches for "Claude MCP" are mostly about Claude Code, Anthropic's coding tool in the terminal. There you add a remote server with one command, for example the one in Anthropic's docs:

claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp

Then type /mcp inside Claude Code and follow the browser sign-in for servers that use OAuth. A server can be saved at three scopes:

Claude Desktop also runs local MCP servers on your own computer. The classic setup is Settings > Developer > Edit Config, which opens claude_desktop_config.json; you add the server there and restart the app (MCP docs). The easier route today is a desktop extension, a packaged local connector you install from the app. A local server runs with your own account's permissions, so only give it access to folders you're comfortable with Claude reading and changing.

Which connectors help a small business

Most of these appear in Anthropic's own examples of pre-built connectors; the last one you add by URL. Start with the jobs you repeat every week:

If a tool you use isn't listed, search the directory first, then check the provider's help pages for an MCP server URL you can add as a custom connector.

Tool permissions and safety

Each connector's page in Customize > Connectors has Tool permissions, where you set each tool to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. A sensible default for a business: reading tools on Always allow, anything that sends, deletes or pays on Needs approval.

Anthropic's own advice for connectors made by third parties (verification, custom connectors):

• Connect only to services from organizations you trust.
• Review the permission scopes during sign-in and deny any that look unnecessary.
• Watch for prompt injection: a server can include hidden instructions meant to make Claude take actions you didn't ask for.
• Developers can change a connector's tools at any time, so notice unexpected behaviour.
• During Research, Claude can call connector tools without asking again, so turn off tools that write or send before you start one.
• On Team plans, a connector that uses a shared API key gives everyone that key's access, so give the key as little access as possible.

ChatGPT connectors, briefly

ChatGPT does the same job with apps, now called plugins (OpenAI), and with custom MCP connectors in developer mode. Per OpenAI's Help Center, admins and owners on Business, Enterprise and Edu add custom servers, and Pro users can connect them with read and fetch permissions only. Our guide to hiring from ChatGPT or Claude walks through both apps with StaffPick as the example.

When a connector doesn't show up

• It's connected but Claude ignores it: check its toggle under + > Connectors in that conversation.
• The row says Reconnect: Claude lost access to the service. Select it and sign in again.
• It moved under Custom by itself: the provider changed its server address. Your connection keeps working; to move to the new one, remove the connector and add it again from the directory (Claude docs).
• A local server in Claude Desktop won't start: restart the app fully, check the config file's JSON, and read the MCP logs in ~/Library/Logs/Claude on a Mac or %APPDATA%\Claude\logs on Windows.

Questions people ask

What are Claude connectors?

A connector links Claude to an outside app or service, such as your calendar, documents or issue tracker, so Claude can find information there and take actions for you after you sign in and allow it. Connectors run on the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Are Claude connectors free?

Connectors work on every Claude plan, including Free, and Free accounts can add one custom connector. The service you connect is run by its own provider, which may need its own account or paid plan.

What is the difference between a Claude connector and an MCP server?

An MCP server is the program a service runs to offer tools to AI apps. A connector is Claude's link to that server. Directory connectors and custom connectors use the same technology, so any remote MCP server with a URL can be added as a custom connector.

How do I add an MCP server to Claude Code?

Run claude mcp add with --transport http, a name and the server's URL, then type /mcp inside Claude Code to sign in if the server uses OAuth. Connectors you add in claude.ai are also available in Claude Code when you sign in with your Claude account.

Are Claude connectors safe?

Only connect services you trust, review the access they ask for, and keep tools that change data on Needs approval. Anthropic tests Verified connectors more closely than Community ones, but verification isn't a security audit, and custom connectors aren't reviewed at all.

Sources

Each figure in this guide comes from one of these pages, checked on 29 Oct 2026. Prices and rules change, so open the source before you rely on a number.

1. 1Claude docs: get started with connectors (where connectors work, tool permissions)claude.com
2. 2Claude Help Center: get started with custom connectors using remote MCPsupport.claude.com
3. 3Claude Help Center: pre-built web connectors using remote MCPsupport.claude.com
4. 4Claude docs: connector verification (Verified, Community and Custom labels)claude.com
5. 5Claude docs: the connectors directory (Team plan requests, endpoint changes)claude.com
6. 6Claude Code docs: connect Claude Code to tools via MCPcode.claude.com
7. 7Model Context Protocol: connect to local MCP servers (Claude Desktop)modelcontextprotocol.io
8. 8Anthropic: introducing the Model Context Protocol (25 November 2024)anthropic.com
9. 9OpenAI Help Center: developer mode and full MCP connectors in ChatGPThelp.openai.com
10. 10OpenAI developers: pluginsdevelopers.openai.com
11. 11StaffPick: use StaffPick from Claude, ChatGPT and other AI appsstaffpick.ai