Guide: Connectors

Claude Cowork · Feature primer

Overview

A connector links Claude to an outside service — Google Drive, a calendar, a CRM, a payment processor — so Claude can read from it and act in it directly. The underlying standard is called MCP (Model Context Protocol), but you don’t need the acronym to use it. What matters is the effect: instead of exporting data and pasting it in, you let Claude reach the source.

Connectors are what turn a recipe from “paste your lead list” into “Claude pulls your active leads automatically.”

How Authenticating Works

Connecting a service is a permission grant. You authenticate once — usually by signing into the service and approving access — and from then on Claude can use that connector on your behalf until you disconnect it.

Two things are worth understanding at that moment:

• You’re granting scope. The approval screen names what the connector can do — read your files, send on your behalf, see your calendar. Read it. Grant what the work needs and no more.
• The grant is revocable. You can disconnect a connector at any time, and you can usually review or revoke access from the service’s own settings too.

Remote vs. Local Connectors

• Remote connectors run in the cloud and work anywhere you use Claude, including the browser. Google Drive is the classic example — connect it once and Claude can reach your Drive from any surface.
• Local connectors run on your computer through the desktop app. These can reach things that live on your machine, but they’re only available where they’re installed. See the Platforms and Modes guide for which surface supports what.

Many connectors arrive bundled inside a plugin, already set up for the skills that need them. See the Plugins guide.

Troubleshooting a Connector

When a connector isn’t working, the cause is usually one of a short list:

• Not authenticated, or the session expired. Re-authenticate. Tokens lapse; reconnecting is the first thing to try.
• Wrong scope. If Claude can read but not write — or can’t see a particular folder — the original grant may not have included that permission. Disconnect and reconnect, approving the access the task needs.
• Wrong surface. A local connector won’t be there in the browser. Confirm you’re on the surface where it’s installed.
• The service itself is down. Occasionally the outside service is the problem, not the connector. Check whether you can reach it directly.

When in doubt, ask Claude: “Can you see my [service] right now?” — if it can’t, it will usually tell you which of these is the reason.

When to Reach for a Connector

• A recipe keeps asking you to export and paste data that already lives in a tool you use.
• You want Claude to act in a system — book the meeting, update the record, send the draft — not just talk about it.
• You’re setting up a recipe that runs on repeat, where manual exporting would defeat the point.

If it’s a one-off, pasting is fine. If it recurs, a connector removes the copy-paste step for good.