Connectors

What it is

Connectors are how Claude reaches the rest of your working life. Turn one on and Claude can read your email, check your calendar, search your Notion workspace, query a database, deploy a site — whichever you connected. Underneath they’re MCP servers, but you never have to think about that.

There are two kinds:

Remote connectors run in Anthropic’s cloud and work everywhere you use Claude — web, desktop, mobile, Cowork and Claude Code. Most connectors are remote, and they’re the default choice.
Desktop extensions run on your own computer. Use one when the tool is your computer: local files, a database on localhost, a desktop application, anything needing OS-level access. Desktop only.

Claude inherits your permissions in the connected service. If you can’t see a file or a channel there, Claude can’t either.

Where to find it

On desktop

Sidebar → Customize → Connectors is the manager. Yours lists what you’ve connected; Discover is the directory, with Yours / Discover, search, Filter and Add connector controls.
+ menu in any composer → Connectors › for per-conversation control.
Desktop extensions are separate: Settings → This computer → Extensions.

On the web

claude.ai/customize/connectors — same two tabs.
The same + menu → Connectors › in the composer.
The old claude.ai/settings/connectors address now shows only a line saying connectors have moved to Customize, and a link across.

How to use it

Connect a service

Customize → Connectors → Discover, and search or browse the grid.
Choose Connect on the one you want.
Authorise it — OAuth for most services, an API key for some.
It moves to Yours, where you can reconnect or remove it later.

Add your own

Add custom connector, then give it a name and the URL of your MCP server. Custom connectors reach your server from Anthropic’s cloud, not from your computer, so it has to be reachable over the public internet.

Use one in a single chat

Open the + menu in any composer → Connectors › and switch on just the ones this conversation needs. Useful when you want Claude looking at your calendar and nothing else.

Tune how tools are loaded

Settings → Capabilities has two connector controls:

Tool access mode — “controls how connector tools are loaded in new conversations”. Loading tools only when they’re needed keeps the context window free.
Connector search — lets Claude search the connector directory and surface connectors relevant to what you’re asking about.

Good to know

Filter is available in Discover. Its options and connection flows were not opened during this inspection.
The inspected Discover view has a curated carousel and Top connectors. Recommendations and connected-state indicators depend on the account.
Custom connectors are on every plan, including Free — though Free is limited to one.
Claude will reach for a connector on its own once it’s connected, when it fits what you’re asking. You don’t have to name it every time.
Choose remote unless you need local. A remote connector works on every surface with no extra setup; a desktop extension only works in Claude Desktop and Claude Code, but can touch your filesystem and local processes.
A plugin can bundle either kind. One that references a remote MCP server works everywhere; one that references a local server works on desktop and in Claude Code.

What’s changed recently

2026-10-07 — Replaced the old connector breadcrumb/role-selector description with the inspected Discover carousel and controls. Authorization and filter options were not exercised.
2026-09-13 — The Connectors manager is a tab of the full Customize page, with its own directory at /customize/connectors/directory — a Connectors / Directory breadcrumb, search and a status filter, spelled as a Filter: All menu button on desktop and as All / Connected / Not connected on the web, where it also carries a role selector. On the web claude.ai/settings/connectors is now only a “moved to Customize” stub. Corrected two things: custom connectors are available on all plans, not Team and Enterprise only (Free is capped at one), and the manager no longer groups connectors into Web / Desktop / Not connected. Desktop extensions are managed in Settings → Desktop app → Extensions, not from the connectors list.
2026-04-18 — Page verified against desktop build 1.3109.0. Settings → Connectors superseded by Customize → Connectors on desktop.