Adding an MCP connector in the Claude app
Almost every guide to this opens a config file, which is useless if you are a rep working in Claude on the web or the desktop app. You do not need one. In the app an MCP server is called a connector, it is four clicks, and the only hard part is a decision about permissions.
Connector and MCP server mean the same thing here. Anthropic uses connector in the consumer app and MCP server in the developer docs. If a vendor gives you a URL ending in /mcp, that is what you paste into the custom connector box.
Where it lives
Same place on the web and in the desktop app: Settings, then Customize, then Connectors. That screen lists the connectors Claude already offers, and it is also where you add one that is not on the list.
Every plan can use custom connectors, including Free, which is capped at one. Pro and Max add them directly. Team and Enterprise route through an admin, which is covered below and matters if you are rolling this out to a sales floor rather than to yourself.
If you are on Pro or Max
Open Customize, then Connectors
Scan the existing list first. If the system you want is already there, you are one Connect click and an OAuth screen away and can skip the rest of this section.
Add the custom one
Click +, then Add custom connector. Paste the server URL. If the vendor issued you OAuth credentials rather than a public endpoint, they go under the advanced settings on the same dialog. Click Add.
Connect and authorise
The connector appears in your list with a Connect button. That opens the vendor's consent screen. If it offers a choice between read and write, take read for the first week. You can widen it later in far less time than it takes to undo a bad write.
If you are on Team or Enterprise
Individual members cannot add a custom connector themselves. An organization owner adds it once for everyone, then each person connects their own account to it. For a sales team this is the right shape anyway: one reviewed endpoint rather than fourteen reps pasting URLs.
- Owner: Organization settings, then Connectors. Click Add, hover Custom, choose Web. Paste the server URL, add OAuth credentials under advanced settings if the vendor issued them, and click Add.
- Every member: Customize, then Connectors. The connector is there already, labelled Custom. Click Connect and complete the sign-in.
Worth saying out loud to the team at this point: each rep authenticates as themselves. The connector inherits their permissions in the connected system, so an AE does not gain access to records they could not already open. That is the question a security review will ask, and the answer is good.
The step everyone misses
Adding a connector does not switch it on. Tools are enabled per conversation. In a chat, click the + button at the lower left, choose Connectors, and toggle the ones you want. The search and tools menu in the same area lets you turn off individual tools within a connector.
This is the cause of nearly every “it is not working” message in the first week. The connector is connected in settings, the toggle is off in that particular chat, and Claude answers from general knowledge without telling anyone it had no access.
How to check in five seconds: ask a question only the tool could answer, such as the close date of a specific opportunity. If the answer arrives without a visible tool call, the toggle is off. Per-conversation control is a feature rather than a bug: prep chats want the CRM, drafting chats do not.
Which surface should a rep use
| Surface | Custom connectors | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude on the web | Yes | Most reps, most of the time. Nothing to install. |
| Claude desktop app | Yes | Reps who live in it all day and want it outside the browser. |
| Cowork | Yes | Shared team context rather than per-person setup. |
| Claude Code | Yes, via config or CLI | RevOps and technical users. Covered on the setup page. |
The practical answer for a sales team is the web app for everyone and Claude Code for whoever owns the tooling. Do not send config files to a field team, and do not make your ops person click through a browser to run a nightly job.
When something looks broken
| What you see | What it usually is |
|---|---|
| Claude answers, but the facts are generic or invented | Connector toggled off for that conversation |
| Add custom connector option is missing | Team or Enterprise plan, so an owner has to add it first |
| Connector shows connected, but no tools appear | OAuth completed with a scope that returns nothing |
| Worked yesterday, not today | Token expired, reconnect from the Connectors screen |
| Right answers, wrong records | Authenticated to a sandbox or personal account, not the company one |
What to connect first
One connector, one workflow, one week. Call prep is the usual starting point because it reads only and the payoff shows up in the same hour. The server directory has the full list of what is worth attaching, and the workflows page has the prompts to run once it is on.
For the org-level view, including who owns credentials and how to review it after 30 days, Salesgear's guide to claude mcp for sales is the longer treatment, and their connector for Claude covers prospect search, enrichment, and research if that is the gap you are trying to close.
Menu paths verified against Anthropic's connector documentation, July 2026. Claude's interface moves; if a label has changed, the sequence has not.