Plug Claude Into the Apps You Already Use: The 6 Connectors I'd Add First
Claude can't see your inbox, your calendar or your files until you connect them. Connectors do that. You add them once, they show up in Claude Code on their own, and one prompt shows you what they can do for your business.
Claude is smart. But it can't see your inbox, your calendar or your files.
So you copy and paste. You paste in the email, then the calendar, then the doc, and you do it again tomorrow.
Connectors fix that. A connector is a safe link between Claude and an app you already use. You add it once, sign in, and Claude can work with that app when you ask it to.
I have Gmail, Google Drive and Airtable connected. Claude reads them when I ask, so I stop copying and pasting.
The 6 I'd connect first
These are all in Anthropic's connector directory. Pick the ones you actually use.
1. Gmail. Find old emails, sum up long threads, and draft replies to the questions you answer every week.
2. Google Calendar. See your week, find open time, and plan around what's already booked.
3. Google Drive. Find and read your docs, so you stop pasting them in.
4. Notion. If your notes, plans or SOPs live in Notion, Claude can search and read them.
5. Canva. Find and work with your designs without leaving the chat.
6. Stripe. Look at your sales and payments when you ask a question about your business.
What each one can do changes as the apps update them. Before you connect one, open its page in the connector directory and read what it can read and what it can change.
Step 1. Add them at claude.ai
Go to claude.ai/customize/connectors while you're signed in to Claude. Find the app, click connect, and sign in to that app when it asks.
That's it. Anthropic's docs say connectors you add there are automatically available in Claude Code, as long as you're signed in to Claude Code with the same Claude account.
On a Team or Enterprise plan, only an admin can add them. Ask yours.
Step 2. Check they show up in Claude Code
Open the Claude desktop app, switch from Chat to Code at the top, and pick any folder. Type /mcp and press Enter.
You'll see the list of everything Claude Code can use. Your connectors are in there.
Step 3. Paste the prompt that finds your jobs
Now paste this. It proves each connector works without changing anything, then finds the jobs worth handing off.
Look at the connectors I have connected. For each one: 1. Tell me in one line what you can do with it. 2. Try one small READ-ONLY thing to prove it works, like counting my unread emails or listing today's calendar events. Don't send, change, post or delete anything. 3. Tell me if it worked. Then ask me 3 short questions about my business, ONE at a time, and wait for each answer. Then suggest 3 jobs that use my connectors, best first. For each job: what it does, which connectors it uses, and the exact words I'd type to run it. Rules: - Never send, post, pay, change or delete anything without asking me first. - Never make up what a connector can do. If you're not sure, say so. - Never make up facts about my business. Ask me.
The limitations you should know
- Connectors only see what you let them see. Each one asks for permission when you connect it. Read what you're allowing.
- Some connectors can only read. Others can also change things. Claude should ask before any change, but read what you approve.
- Start with read-only jobs: searching, summing up, planning. Add jobs that send or change things later, once you trust it.
- Which connectors you can add can depend on your Claude plan.
- If a connector doesn't show up in Claude Code, check you're signed in to Claude Code with the same Claude account you used at claude.ai.
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