Claude MCP servers and connectors: setup guide

Claude MCP connects Claude to external tools through the Model Context Protocol. In Claude’s apps, a remote server appears as a connector; AIPx supplies one OAuth-protected URL with the tools you allow for that agent. Local desktop servers and Claude Code use different setup paths, covered separately below.

Add an MCP server to Claude

Start with the surface you actually use. A browser conversation does not read a JSON file on your laptop, and a terminal command does not configure the Claude website. For a remote AIPx connection, use the connector interface:

1. Connect a supported account in AIPx, then create an agent for Claude.
2. Choose its tools and accounts. Start with reads on the work account and keep writes on Confirm.
3. Copy the agent’s MCP URL, such as https://dash.aipx.run/mcp/AGENT_ID. Replace AGENT_ID with the dashboard value.
4. In Claude, open Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector.
5. Enter the URL, continue, and connect. Complete the AIPx OAuth sign-in in the browser.
6. Open a conversation with the connector available and ask for a narrow read, such as finding a known issue by its identifier.

Anthropic documents this route for custom remote connectors. Its current guidance allows one custom connector on Free and custom connectors on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise; organizational permissions can also apply. Check your account’s menu before choosing a plan solely for this feature.

If you searched for claude mcp add, that is the terminal client command. Follow the Claude Code MCP setup for commands, scopes and .mcp.json. For a server that must read your computer’s files, follow Claude Desktop MCP config.

Claude connectors vs MCP servers

A connector is the product’s label for an external connection. The server is the software that describes tools and executes requests. Claude hosts the conversation and its MCP client communicates with that server. A service integration can sit behind the server, so a single connector can expose more than one service.

Term	What you configure	Example
Claude connector	A connection in Claude’s interface	An AIPx agent URL
MCP server	A process or HTTPS endpoint implementing MCP	A vendor’s hosted tool server
AIPx integration	A connected service account behind the gateway	Work Gmail or a Notion workspace
Local desktop server	A process launched on your machine	A filesystem server restricted to one folder

These names are easy to mix up when reading search results. The MCP connector definition explains the protocol roles without assuming every product uses the same label. Microsoft-specific M365 clients are separate products; their installation instructions do not configure an AIPx connector.

Claude MCP config

For a remote connector in Claude’s apps, the important configuration is the saved server URL and its authenticated connection. You do not need a local claude_desktop_config.json entry to register that URL. Local desktop JSON describes programs the desktop application starts, rather than the remote connectors managed in the cloud.

Claude’s remote connector traffic originates from Anthropic’s cloud, including when you use the desktop application. A server bound to localhost on your laptop is therefore not reachable through this route. Use a public HTTPS endpoint with suitable authentication, or choose a local desktop connection when the data must stay on your machine.

The AIPx URL identifies an agent. It is not an API key and does not grant access by itself; the client still authenticates with OAuth. Keep the right URL attached to the right task. If you use Claude for both development and personal planning, separate agent configurations make the account boundaries easier to review.

Best MCP servers for Claude

Choose servers from a concrete question you want Claude to answer. A long list of connections can expose unnecessary information and make tool selection harder. The following services are available through AIPx; a service’s own account plan and API restrictions still apply.

Service	Useful first task	Boundary to review
Notion	Find project decisions in shared pages	Which workspace pages are accessible
Gmail	Summarize a selected work thread	Reading mail reveals personal data
Google Calendar	Check an upcoming meeting	Separate work and personal calendars
Google Sheets	Inspect a small planning sheet	Confirm edits to existing cells
GitHub	Read an issue before discussing a fix	Confirm repository changes
Linear	Compare assigned issues with a plan	Confirm issue creation or updates
Sentry	Explain a specific error report	Error payloads can contain sensitive data
PostHog	Investigate product usage evidence	Limit access to relevant projects
Jira	Retrieve acceptance criteria	Keep unrelated projects hidden
Confluence	Locate documentation behind an issue	Review space and page access
Stripe	Answer a billing research question	Payment changes deserve confirmation
Supabase	Inspect database context	Prefer a narrow project and read-only setup

For a broader selection, see the curated MCP server list. Do not add a payments connection just because it appears in a list; add it when the task requires it.

Claude skills vs MCP

Skills supply instructions and reusable procedures. MCP provides an interface to external tools and data. A skill can explain how to investigate a support issue; a connector can supply the actual issue, its error report and the relevant customer record. The procedure still needs access to those systems.

Combining them can be useful, but instructions do not enforce account permissions. A sentence saying “never send email” is weaker than withholding the send tool. Decide which operations Claude can reach in the server or gateway, then write procedures that work inside that boundary. For the underlying exchange of tool descriptions and results, see what MCP is.

Give Claude scoped access to your accounts

AIPx applies Allow, Confirm and Hide at the intersection of a tool, an account and an agent. Allow marks a call for execution without a requested review. Confirm sends an approval hint for the client to honor; its actual approval step depends on the client. Hide is enforced server-side and removes access for that agent. The same Gmail tool can have one rule for work mail and another for personal mail.

For a research assistant, allow selected reads on the work account, confirm outgoing messages, and hide the personal account. Read access deserves its own review: a tool can disclose a confidential document without changing anything. Confirm is useful in clients that honor the approval hint, but it is not a universal server-side execution gate and cannot undo an executed call.

The shared audit records the agent, account, tool, inputs, result and time. Inspect it after the first task to confirm that the intended account was used. AIPx Free includes three connected accounts and one agent; Pro is $3 per month for unlimited accounts and agents plus Pro integrations. Vendor limits remain separate. The MCP gateway guide explains that connection model.

Troubleshooting Claude connectors

A missing connector menu can indicate plan or organization restrictions. A failed login can be an AIPx authentication problem or a revoked upstream account connection; reconnect the boundary that actually failed. If the server connects but a tool is absent, check Hide rules and refresh the conversation’s tool discovery. A provider denial is not repaired by granting a broader client permission.

A direct official server may be preferable when you only need one service or want fewer operators between Claude and your data. Local servers fit private files. AIPx is most useful when several accounts and clients need different access rules; it adds another hosted service to trust.

Connect your tools to Claude

For other Claude workflows, choose the relevant account tools below. Health and personal planning connections belong in their own agent when they should remain separate from work research.

• Development and infrastructure: Atlassian Rovo tools, Cloudflare account tools, DigitalOcean infrastructure.
• Mail, notes and planning: Apple Calendar access, Things 3 tasks, Granola meeting notes, Fireflies transcripts, AgentMail inbox tools.
• Payments: Paddle subscription tools.
• Research and campaign data: Exa web search, Google Maps data, X account tools, Yandex Direct campaigns.
• Personal health and nutrition: WHOOP recovery data, Withings measurements, Hevy workouts, Numon nutrition reports.

Start with a single account and a question whose answer you can verify. After the first read, inspect the audit and add the next tool only when your workflow needs it. Connect free.