Connectors and permissions
Claude becomes powerful when it can connect to the tools you use day to day. Microsoft 365, Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Shopify, Klaviyo, Xero, and the rest.
If it isn't connected to those tools, with the right permissions, it can't get to them. You'll be pasting exports into the chat, and the answer will be thinner than it should be.
A connector joins Claude to one of those apps. It is not the Practical AI plugin. The plugin builds your folder. Connectors reach your tools.
Start with the tools you actually open
Pick three. Not fifteen. The test is simple: would tomorrow morning be different if Claude could see this?
- Microsoft 365. Mail, calendar, files. The one that changes the most for most teams.
- Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar. The same jobs if that's where you work.
- Shopify, Klaviyo, Xero. When the customers, the campaigns, or the numbers live there.
- Slack. Read a thread, draft a reply. It should still ask before it posts.
- Granola and Wispr Flow. So a transcript is a question away. See Meetings and voice.
You will not need all of these. Three you use beat a screen full of green ticks.
Connect mail first, then ask: "What needs a reply from me today? Draft the top three. Don't send anything." That's a morning job of a few minutes, instead of reading the inbox from the top.
Connect it, then set what it's allowed to do
Available is not connected. If the admin has added Microsoft 365 and you haven't connected your own login, Claude still can't see your inbox.
On Team and Enterprise, an admin adds the connector first, under Organisation settings, then Connectors. Each person then connects their own account under Customize > Connectors. On a personal Pro plan you connect from Customize yourself. There's no admin in the way, and no admin stopping a bad connection. Check which plans include connectors at claude.com/pricing.
Use the same rule on every connector:
| Action | Setting |
|---|---|
| Read | Allow |
| Write or send | Ask each time |
| Delete | Never |
Gmail and Outlook should ask before each send. Don't turn that off because it feels slow. One unsent draft is a better habit than one email you didn't mean to send.
In a chat, turn on only the connectors that task needs. Every connector you enable is loaded into the message.
Say the same thing in claude.md, in case a toggle gets changed:
You may read connected apps when I ask.
Ask me before you send, post, or change anything.
Never delete.
No connector for that site
Some portals will never have one. A retailer login, a trade site, a report you can only download by hand.
- Export. Once a week, download the CSV into the folder. A scheduled task can read a file. It can't reliably click around a portal.
- Claude in Chrome. It uses the browser you're already logged into. IT may have to approve the extension.
- A custom connector. If the system has an API, IT can connect it with a key. Don't paste API keys into a chat.
When it doesn't work
- It isn't in the list. The admin hasn't added it, or you're on the wrong account.
- It was there yesterday. Sign in again. Connections expire.
- Microsoft 365. The block is often in Azure, not in Claude. That's an IT ticket with the app named.
- It answers from the wrong inbox. You connected a personal account. Disconnect it and use the work one.
Which connectors can you see right now?
Which of them are signed in?
Don't use any of them yet. Just tell me.
Where to start in 30 minutes
- Write down the three apps you open before 10am.
- If you're on Team, ask the owner to add those three. Copy IT if it's Microsoft.
- Connect one yourself. Email is the usual first.
- Set read to allow, send to ask, delete to never.
- Ask one question: "What needs a reply from me today? Don't draft anything yet."