Let your users connect Claude to your app
Agent-ready apps: make the app you build with the SDK ready for Claude. Your users add your app's MCP server to Claude, sign in on your hosted page and approve it, and Claude acts as them, never as more.
How your users add your app to Claude
Give your users your app's MCP address. npx buildbase agent install --url <your MCP address> prints the setup for each AI tool, Claude included, with your address filled in.
- In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, choose + Add, then Add custom connector. On Team and Enterprise, an owner does this under Organization settings > Connectors.
- Enter a name and the address https://app.example.com/api/mcp, then choose Continue.
- Under Authentication, choose Sign in when needed (or Sign in now).
- Under OAuth client, choose Register automatically. The default, Claude's published identity, does not work with an app that has not turned on Client ID Metadata Documents.
- Choose Add, then Connect, and sign in. In a chat, turn the connector on from + > Connectors.
The plan it needs
Custom connectors are on every Claude plan, Free included; Free is limited to one. On Team, only Owners and Primary Owners add one; on Enterprise, Owners, Primary Owners and roles with "Manage access to Libraries". Once an admin adds it, each member connects it themselves.
How sign-in looks in Claude
Under Customize > Connectors, find the connector and choose Connect. A browser page opens for sign-in, and Claude never sees the password.
What is different in Claude
- Claude connects from its own servers, not from your user's computer, so your MCP server must be on public HTTPS. A server on localhost, a private network or behind a VPN is out of its reach.
- Your server's built-in tools are read-only until you allow changes. Under Customize > Connectors > the connector > Tool permissions, set each tool, or the read-only and write groups, to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. On Team and Enterprise an Owner sets these for everyone.
- One connector works on claude.ai and in Claude Desktop. Turn it on in a chat from + > Connectors.
If it does not work in Claude
- Claude cannot register or sign in
- Turn on Let agents register themselves, with a base client, in the console under Authentication, then Agent readiness. Claude registers its own client the first time it connects.
- Claude does not connect
- Claude connects from Anthropic's cloud, not from your computer: a server on a private network, behind a VPN or behind a firewall that does not allow Anthropic's addresses cannot be reached.
- Claude needs to sign in again
- Disconnect the connector under Customize > Connectors and connect it again. To change its address or settings, remove it and add it again.
- Check your server the way Claude will
- Run npx buildbase agent doctor --url <your MCP address>. It walks the first contact a client makes (the sign-in challenge, the metadata, redirects, a stable tool list) and exits 1 when a check fails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Claude plan do your users need?
Custom connectors are on every Claude plan, Free included; Free is limited to one. On Team, only Owners and Primary Owners add one; on Enterprise, Owners, Primary Owners and roles with "Manage access to Libraries". Once an admin adds it, each member connects it themselves.
Does my MCP server need to be public for Claude?
Yes. Claude connects from its own servers, so the address must be public HTTPS; allow its addresses if you filter by IP.
Can Claude change data in my app?
Only through tools you allow, and only as the user who connected it. The built-in tools are read-only by default, and a tool that needs extra scopes is hidden until the user grants them.
Where next
- Agent-ready apps: every AI tool
- The Claude steps in the BuildBase docs
- Let your users connect ChatGPT to your app
- Let your users connect Claude Code to your app
- Claude's own MCP documentation(opens in a new tab)
We read it on . When Claude changes a menu or a plan, its documentation wins.