What is a connector (and the MCP behind it)

A connector is how Claude reaches into a tool you already use — Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Notion, a CRM — without you copy-pasting between browser tabs all day. You grant access once, scoped to what it’s allowed to do, and after that Claude can read (and, if you allow it, act on) the real thing instead of you describing it.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard connectors are built on. You don’t need to understand the protocol to use one — it matters mainly because it means connectors aren’t a single company’s proprietary lock-in; if a tool supports MCP, Claude can talk to it. Check the current connectors directory in Claude for what’s available, since it’s actively growing.

The founder-relevant habit: start read-only. Grant Gmail access to read your inbox before you grant it the ability to send anything. Watch what it does for a week. Widen the permission only once you trust the judgment, one connector at a time — never all of them on day one.

This is the connector-based layer of Phase 1 of the roadmap, right after your memory files are in place.