Walkthrough: Claude Chat: connectors & projects

Start from a fresh conversation so the connectors you enable apply cleanly to this chat. The message composer with the + button sits at the lower left.

• 1Find the + button. Look at the lower-left of the message box. That plus icon is your entry point to attachments, skills, and connectors.
• 2Slash works too. Typing / in the composer opens the same menu as clicking +, if you prefer the keyboard.

🎙Voiceover Head to claude dot ai and click New chat, so you're starting from a clean conversation before we add anything.

This opens the in-chat menu listing attachments, skills, and Connectors. It is the same menu whether you click + or type a forward slash.

• 1Scan for Connectors. One row in this menu is labelled Connectors. That is where you are headed next.
• 2Nothing connected yet. On a fresh account this list is short. Connecting services here is exactly what adds capabilities.
• 3Lost? See the wider view. The Reference screens gallery at the end of this lesson shows this same menu zoomed out, so you can see exactly where it sits in the window.

🎙Voiceover Down in the lower left, click the plus button. If you'd rather use the keyboard, just type a forward slash instead.

Hovering Connectors expands a submenu. Manage connectors takes you to the full setup view where you can add new services, not just toggle existing ones.

• 1Manage vs toggle. Manage connectors is for adding and configuring. The toggles in this same submenu turn already-connected services on or off.
• 2Settings route. You can reach the same place via Customize > Connectors in Settings if the chat menu is ever hidden.

🎙Voiceover Hover over Connectors in that menu, then click Manage connectors to open the settings where you'll add your accounts.

The + beside the Connectors heading opens the directory of available services. This is the single button that starts every new connection. It is a different + from the composer + you used earlier.

• 1The right plus. This + sits next to the word Connectors at the top of the panel, not the composer + from step 2.
• 2Owner gate (Team/Enterprise). If there is nothing to add on a Team or Enterprise plan, your workspace Owner has not enabled connectors org-wide yet.

🎙Voiceover Next to the Connectors heading, click the plus button. This is where you go to add a brand new connector.

The Connectors Directory opens showing available connectors. Search by name or scroll the full list to find official services like Google Drive and Gmail.

• 1Search by name. Type Drive or Gmail to jump straight to the Google connectors instead of scrolling.
• 2Read the capabilities. Each card describes what the connector can do. Worth a glance before you connect anything.

🎙Voiceover You're now in the Connectors Directory. Search or scroll through the list until you find the Google services you want.

Selecting Google Drive shows its description and capabilities. Click Connect to begin linking your Google account. Clicking the card opens Drive's detail panel with a Connect button; clicking Connect pops Google's sign-in window (next step). If you see a settings cog instead of +, the connector is already linked on this workspace.

• 1Connect, not Install. Official directory services show a Connect button. Custom or MCP entries may show Install instead, same idea.
• 2What it unlocks. Drive lets Claude search and read your files. Claude can only see what your own Google account can see.

🎙Voiceover Click Google Drive, have a quick read of what it can access, and when you're happy, click Connect to begin.

A Google authentication window opens. Follow the prompts to grant Claude access to your account. Claude inherits your existing permissions in Drive, it cannot see anything you could not already see.

• 1Check the account. Confirm the Google account shown is the one whose Drive you actually want Claude to read.
• 2Review what is requested. Read the access Google lists before approving. This is the real grant, handled by Google, not by Claude.
• 3Back to Claude. After approving, the window closes and Google Drive shows as connected in your connectors list.

🎙Voiceover Google will ask you to sign in. Pick the account you want to use, then approve access so Claude can read your files.

Repeat the directory flow for Gmail: open the directory, select Gmail, click Connect, and complete the Google authentication prompts. Drive and Gmail are separate connectors, so each needs its own Connect and its own grant. When the Google window closes, Gmail joins Google Drive as connected in your connectors list, that is your sign both grants worked.

• 1Two grants, two services. Gmail does not piggyback on the Drive grant. Authenticate it separately.
• 2Least privilege. Only connect the mailbox you need. You can disconnect any connector later from the Customize > Connectors panel.

🎙Voiceover Now do the same for Gmail. Reopen the directory, click Gmail, click Connect, and approve access just as you did before.

Back in your conversation, reopen the + menu and hover Connectors. Both Google Drive and Gmail now appear as toggles for this chat. Scroll the submenu if Drive is not visible at first, services list alphabetically. Seeing both names listed is your success check for this step.

• 1Per-chat control. Connectors are toggled per conversation, so enabling them here affects only this chat.
• 2Off until you toggle. A connected service does nothing in a chat until you switch it on here.

🎙Voiceover Head back to your chat, click the plus button or type a slash, then hover over Connectors to see what's available.

Each service row has a toggle on its right edge (just off-frame in this capture, scroll right or widen the window). Switch Drive and Gmail on; an active toggle shows filled, and Claude can now reach both for this conversation.

• 1On means reachable. An active toggle shows filled beside the service name. Confirm both Google Drive and Gmail read as on before you move to the next step.
• 2Easy to revoke. Toggling a connector back off instantly stops Claude using it, without disconnecting your Google account.

🎙Voiceover Toggle both Google Drive and Gmail on here, so Claude can reach them during this conversation when you ask it to.

Go to Customize > Connectors and click the connector's name to open its Tool permissions. (We show the Figma connector here because it has all three categories. Drive and Gmail expose the same Always allow / Needs approval / Blocked controls.) You should see tools grouped into read-only and interactive/write categories, each with its own permission setting. Keep read-only tools on Always allow only when appropriate, and keep interactive or write/delete tools on Needs approval so a human checkpoint stays in the loop. The Reference screens gallery below shows a second connector (Airtable) where one read-only tool has been individually set to Needs approval, proof you can tighten single tools, not just whole categories.

• 1Approval by category. Read-only tools may be safe to allow. Interactive and write/delete tools should stay on Needs approval until your team has a reason to loosen them.
• 2Block when unsure. If a connector action is unclear or too broad, use Blocked or keep Needs approval until the workflow is proven.

🎙Voiceover Open Tool permissions and check the defaults. Read-only tools can be allowed when they are genuinely safe, but interactive and write or delete tools should stay on Needs approval.

When a connector wants to take an action that needs approval, Claude surfaces a prompt rather than acting silently. Reading is lower-stakes; for anything that writes, sends, uploads, or changes records, you can decline.

• 1Approve deliberately. Treat each prompt as a checkpoint. Decline any write action until you have verified what Claude can see.
• 2Admin-only restriction. Always allow / Needs approval / Blocked controls may be workspace-managed. If you cannot change them, treat the approval prompt as your checkpoint.

🎙Voiceover Just so you know, Claude will check in with you before taking any action, giving you a clear prompt to approve or decline.

Because risky tools are approval-gated, Claude should read only what you asked for and stop before higher-risk actions. Naming the file and adding do not edit keeps the request tightly scoped. You should see a visible Drive tool-call chip in Claude's reply (e.g. Searching Google Drive) before the summary appears, that chip is your confirmation it used the connector rather than guessing.

• 1Watch the tool call. Claude shows when it invokes the Drive connector. A good moment to confirm it is only reading.
• 2Name the file. Being specific about the document helps Claude find the right file faster in a large Drive.

🎙Voiceover Try a read-only request. Ask Claude to find the Q2 document in your Drive and summarise it, making clear not to edit anything.

Claude searches and summarises matching email. Listing rather than sending keeps it read-only in practice; if Claude ever proposed an action like a reply, the approval prompt would stop and ask first.

• 1Verify before you trust. Confirm the summary matches what is really in your inbox before you let Claude do anything more.
• 2Decline write actions. If a prompt to send or reply appears, decline it. You are still only verifying what Claude can read.

🎙Voiceover Now lean on Gmail. Ask Claude to list any unread invoices from this week, and tell it not to send or reply to anything.

The panel itself looks identical to the one you reviewed in step 11, what changes is who sets it and how far it reaches. An Owner setting Always allow / Needs approval / Blocked here binds every member org-wide, and individuals cannot loosen it. Anyone can review their own connector's Tool permissions (you did in step 11); enforcing a policy across the workspace is the Team/Enterprise-only part.

• 1Org-wide, not per-chat. Tool permissions set here affect every member using the connector, not just your conversation.
• 2Personal-plan reality. On Pro or Max there is no org policy layer above you, your per-connector settings and the per-action approval prompt are the whole control surface.

🎙Voiceover If you're an owner, you can go to Customize, then Connectors, and set Tool permissions to restrict actions across your whole organisation.