How to add an MCP server to Claude (desktop, web and connectors)

TL;DR. There are three ways to add an MCP server to Claude. A listed connector: open Customize, Connectors, browse the directory, click Connect. Any remote server: the same page, Add custom connector, paste the URL. A server that runs on your own machine: Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json. Connectors belong to your account, so one added on claude.ai is there in Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cowork as well.

Connectors are MCP servers

In Claude, a connector is a remote MCP server that Anthropic's side connects to on your behalf. The Model Context Protocol is the open standard for exposing tools to an AI client, and the same server works from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or Gemini (what is MCP). Claude has two flavours of connector: directory connectors, which Anthropic has reviewed and lists in the connectors directory (Hatchable is one), and custom connectors, which are any remote MCP server you add by URL. A third mechanism predates both: Claude Desktop can launch a local MCP server as a process on your computer, configured in a JSON file. Pick by where the server runs.

Route 1: the connectors directory

In Claude on the web or in the desktop app, open Customize, then Connectors, and click the + next to Connectors to browse. From inside a chat the same list is under the + button, Connectors, Manage connectors. Click a connector, read what it can do, press Connect, and finish whatever sign-in it asks for. That is the whole procedure for a listed server, and it is what most people should do first.

Route 2: add a custom connector by URL

On the same Connectors page, press + and choose Add custom connector. Give it a name and paste the remote MCP server URL. The Advanced settings (OAuth client ID and secret) are only for servers that require a pre-registered client; a server with standard OAuth discovery, Hatchable included, needs nothing there. Click Add, then Connect on its row to sign in. The page is claude.ai/customize/connectors, and a link can pre-fill the modal. This one opens it with Hatchable filled in:

https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=Hatchable&connectorUrl=https://hatchable.com/mcp

On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds the connector under Organization settings, Connectors (Add, Custom, Web, then the URL), and each member connects and authenticates it from their own Customize, Connectors page. Anthropic's help centre lists custom connectors as available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, with Free limited to one custom connector (as of August 2026).

Route 3: Claude Desktop's config file for local servers

You still need claude_desktop_config.json when the server is a process on your machine with no public URL: a filesystem server, something reading a local database, a package that only speaks stdio. In Claude Desktop open the app menu, Settings, the Developer tab, then Edit Config. The file lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS and %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows. The canonical example from the MCP docs:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/Desktop"]
    }
  }
}

Quit and restart Claude Desktop, then check the + button, Connectors, Manage connectors; the server and its tools are listed there. Paths must be absolute, and a JSON typo is the usual reason nothing shows up (the logs are in ~/Library/Logs/Claude or %APPDATA%\Claude\logs). For remote servers, use Route 2 instead; local config is the wrong tool for a URL. Anthropic also packages local servers as desktop extensions that install with a click, which is worth checking before hand-editing JSON.

One connector, every Claude surface

A connector added on claude.ai follows your account. Claude Desktop sees it after sign-in. Claude Code lists it under /mcp, marked as coming from claude.ai, as long as you are logged into Claude Code with that claude.ai account rather than an API key. Cowork uses the same list. So for a remote server you add it once. Claude Code also has its own CLI route if you would rather keep a server out of your account: claude mcp add --transport http hatchable https://hatchable.com/mcp, covered in how to add an MCP server to Claude Code and connect Hatchable to Claude Code.

Worked example: Claude building and deploying on Hatchable

Hatchable is the platform where AI-built apps go live. Connected, Claude can create a project, write the files, deploy, and hand back a live URL, with a private Postgres database, sign-in for the app's users, email, scheduled jobs and file storage attached to every project from the start.

1. Add the connector

   Find Hatchable in the directory and press Connect, or open the pre-filled link above and press Add.

2. Sign in

   Press Connect on the Hatchable row. A tab opens on hatchable.com for OAuth. Approve it; if you are new, the free account is created in that step. No API key.

3. Check it is on for the chat

   Start a new chat, press +, hover Connectors and make sure Hatchable is toggled on. Tool access can be set to Auto, On demand or Always on.

4. Ask it to build and deploy something

   "Build a CRM for my freelance clients with a contacts table and a notes field, and put it online." Claude calls the tools one by one: create the project, write the pages and SQL, deploy. It ends with a live your-app.hatchable.site link. Ask for changes and it redeploys.

Projects start private. The free plan covers unlimited private projects and one published app with no card; Builder is $12 a month for unlimited published apps. The step-by-step connector page is connect Hatchable to Claude, and the tools are documented in the MCP developer docs.

Troubleshooting

• Connected, but Claude never uses it. Check the + menu in that chat: the connector may be toggled off, or tool access set to On demand, in which case name it in the prompt.
• Needs re-authentication. Open Customize, Connectors and press Connect again on the row. Tokens expire; this is routine.
• Add custom connector is missing. On Team and Enterprise plans only an owner can add one, from Organization settings. On Free, you may already be using the one custom connector slot.
• Local server not in the list. Validate the JSON, make the paths absolute, and restart Claude Desktop fully. Then read mcp.log in the logs folder.

General characterisations based on Anthropic's public documentation as of August 2026. Plan limits and menu names change, so check the help centre for current details.