How to Connect Claude to Your Business Tools

What a Claude connector is

A connector is a remote MCP server that Claude can call. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard underneath, and what MCP is covers the basics.

Four facts from Anthropic's help centre decide which route will work for you:

• Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Free is limited to one.
• Claude reaches the server from Anthropic's cloud, even when you are using Claude Desktop or Cowork. The server has to be reachable over the public internet.
• On Team, an Owner or Primary Owner adds a connector for the organization, and Enterprise also allows a custom role that manages libraries. Each member then signs in with their own account.
• A connector you set up on the web or desktop appears in the iOS and Android apps at your next login. Installing one from mobile is in beta, and Anthropic points to web and Desktop for custom connectors.

Claude Desktop can also run local MCP servers from claude_desktop_config.json. Those run on your machine and are not available in claude.ai or Cowork. For a SaaS tool, a remote connector is less work. See remote vs local MCP servers.

The three routes compared

Route 1: Add a connector from the directory

Use this when the tool is listed. Shopify and HubSpot both are.

1. Go to Customize > Connectors. In the desktop app, Customize is in the sidebar.
2. Open the directory. Anthropic's help article says to click the + next to Connectors. Its docs site calls the same step Discover.
3. Pick the connector and select Connect. On some connectors the button reads Install or Connect to Claude.
4. Sign in to the tool and approve the access it asks for.
5. In a chat, click + in the lower left, open Connectors, and switch the connector on.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner first goes to Organization settings > Connectors, clicks Browse connectors, picks the connector and selects Add to your team. Members then connect their own accounts.

What the Shopify and HubSpot connectors do

Shopify. The connector is made by Shopify. It creates and updates products and collections, sets inventory counts and creates percentage-off discount codes. It reads orders, customers and analytics without changing them. Refunds and cancellations are blocked even when you approve write access. It works with one store at a time.

HubSpot. The connector reads and writes contacts, companies, deals and tickets, and logs notes, calls, meetings, tasks and emails. It works on every HubSpot tier. HubSpot says you need a paid Claude plan: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.

If you need one tool and its connector covers the job, stop here. It is the least setup, and the vendor supports it.

Route 2: Add a vendor's MCP server by URL

Use this for a vendor that publishes a remote MCP server outside the directory, or one that expects you to bring your own OAuth client.

HubSpot's developer docs show what the second case involves. Its server is at https://mcp.hubspot.com. You create an MCP connector in HubSpot under Development > MCP Connectors, and HubSpot gives you a client ID and a client secret. In Claude itself you would normally use HubSpot's directory connector, but the steps below are the same for any vendor that hands you a URL.

On a Free, Pro or Max plan:

1. Find the server URL in the vendor's developer docs. If the vendor needs an OAuth client, create it first. The redirect URL for Claude on the web, desktop and mobile is https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback.
2. In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector.
3. Enter a name and the server URL, then Continue.
4. Check the sign-in settings Claude detected. If the vendor gave you a client ID and secret, choose Use your own OAuth client and enter them.
5. Click Add, then sign in to the tool.

Anthropic notes that this dialog varies by organization. If yours shows the name, the URL and an Advanced settings section on one screen, the client ID and secret go under Advanced settings.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the server under Organization settings > Connectors with Add, then Custom, then Web. Members find it in Customize > Connectors with a Custom label and click Connect.

The cost of this route is repetition. Every vendor is its own connector with its own sign-in and tool list, and Claude Free only lets you add one.

Route 3: Add one hosted MCP URL (PopMCP)

A hosted provider runs the MCP servers and holds the credentials. With PopMCP you connect each tool once, and all of them are served from one URL: https://app.popmcp.com/mcp.

1. Create a PopMCP account and connect your tools from the MCP server catalog. Each provider asks for what its API requires: Shopify needs an app you create in the Shopify Dev Dashboard, HubSpot a Service Key, Klaviyo a private API key. Check each one shows as Verified.
2. In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector. On Team or Enterprise, an Owner adds it once in Organization settings.
3. Name it PopMCP and enter https://app.popmcp.com/mcp. There is no token to paste, and the OAuth client ID and secret stay empty.
4. If Claude asks which OAuth client to use, pick Register automatically. PopMCP supports dynamic client registration. It does not support Client ID Metadata Documents, which Claude's "published identity" option relies on.
5. Click Add and sign in to PopMCP. On the consent screen, tick only the connectors Claude should reach.
6. Ask Claude to run list_connections to confirm what it was granted. Try a read first, such as "list yesterday's Shopify orders".

What this route changes

One custom connector carries every tool you connect. On Claude Free that is your single slot, though PopMCP's own Free plan stops at two connections.

You are not held to a short tool list. PopMCP loads a curated set per tool and keeps the rest searchable through helper tools such as hubspot_search_tools. HubSpot has 1,000+ operations, with 55 in the curated set. The Shopify catalog includes shopify_create_order_refund and shopify_cancel_order, two actions Shopify's own connector blocks.

Provider credentials stay in PopMCP, encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Claude holds a PopMCP sign-in and never the Shopify or HubSpot secret. Tool calls are not metered on any plan.

Where it is the wrong pick

PopMCP is a paid layer on top of free options. Its Free plan is read-only, and write actions start on Starter at $39 a month.

Connecting a tool also takes more steps. Shopify's own connector is a click and an approval. PopMCP needs a Shopify app with a client ID and secret.

That refund tool cuts both ways. PopMCP does not hold a write for approval: a write runs when Claude calls it. Claude's approval prompt is the check, so read the next section before you choose Always allow.

After you connect

Connectors are switched on per chat. The + menu in the chat box has a toggle for each one. With ten or more active, Anthropic suggests changing Tool access in the same menu from Auto to On demand.

Claude can ask for approval before it uses a tool. Allow once approves that call. Always allow skips the prompt for that tool from then on, and Anthropic's advice is to keep it for tools you trust to run unsupervised.

Each connector's page also has Tool permissions, where a tool or a group of tools can be set to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. On Team and Enterprise, Owners can restrict actions for the whole organization.

Research is the exception to those prompts. Anthropic's help article says Claude can call connector tools during research without further approval, and it recommends disabling tools that write before you start.

You cannot edit a custom connector's sign-in settings. To change its OAuth details, remove it and add it again.

Running more than one store or client account is its own problem, covered in multiple accounts through one MCP URL. ChatGPT's setup is different, and how to connect ChatGPT to your business tools has those steps.