Claude's connector directory listed 1,095 connectors when we checked on 9 November 2026. You need about ten. The best Claude connectors map to ten jobs that fill most working days: email, calendar, files, team chat, notes, tasks, CRM, meetings, design, and a catch-all for everything else. Pick your office suite first, because Google and Microsoft teams start in different places. Then set every tool that sends, changes or deletes something to Needs approval, and leave reading on.
If you're new to connectors, start with what they are and why they matter. This post is the shopping list.
What are the best Claude connectors to set up first?
We call it Intersect's Core 10. It's a list of jobs, not apps, because the right app depends on what your company already pays for. Each row names the connector we'd pick for that job, the Microsoft option where it's different, what Claude can actually do with it today, and the setting we'd start it on.
Intersect's Core 10: ten jobs, ten connectors
| # | The job | Connector | What Claude can do | Start it on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gmail Outlook, via Microsoft 365 | Gmail: search, read whole threads, draft, send, reply and forward. Outlook: search and read. | Sending: Needs approval | |
| 2 | Calendar |  Google CalendarMicrosoft 365 | Google: find free time, create and move events, answer invites. Outlook: search and find a free slot. | Changes: Needs approval |
| 3 | Files |  Google DriveOneDrive and SharePoint | Drive: search, read Docs, Sheets, Slides and PDFs, create, update, share and trash files. Microsoft: search and read. | Share and trash: Needs approval |
| 4 | Team chat |  SlackTeams, via Microsoft 365 | Slack: search channels and threads, send messages, write canvases. Teams: search messages. | Sending: Needs approval |
| 5 | Notes and docs |  Notion Confluence, via Atlassian | Search, create and update pages and databases. | Edits: Needs approval at first |
| 6 | Tasks |  Asana Linear monday.comJira | Search, create and update tasks, issues and projects. | Creating: Needs approval at first |
| 7 | CRM |  HubSpot | Search and update contacts, companies, deals and tickets. Report on campaigns. | Updates: Needs approval |
| 8 | Meetings |  Granola Fireflies | Search notes, summaries and transcripts, and cite the meeting. Read only. | Always allow |
| 9 | Design |  Canva Figma | Canva: search, create, autofill and export designs. Figma: pull in design context, turn frames into code and draw diagrams. | Always allow |
| 10 | Everything else |  Zapier | Run the actions you choose in more than 9,000 apps that have no connector of their own. | Each action: Needs approval |
Checked against each connector's page in Claude's directory on 9 November 2026. Tools change; check the page before you rely on one.
Why pick connectors by job instead of by app?
Because the first decision isn't Notion against Confluence. It's Google against Microsoft, and the two work very differently in Claude.
On Google, email, calendar and files are three separate connectors, and Google builds all three itself. They do a lot. Since 18 August 2026 the Gmail connector can send, reply and forward as well as read and draft, and it asks before each of those by default. The calendar connector books and moves meetings. Drive can create, update, share and trash files.
On Microsoft, one connector covers Outlook, the calendar, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams. Anthropic builds it, and its tools search and read: it finds emails, files, meetings and chat messages and can find a free slot, but it doesn't send, book or edit. On Team and Enterprise plans it takes work or school accounts only. On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra you can also connect a personal outlook.com, hotmail.com or live.com account.
So a Microsoft company gets jobs 1 to 4 from a single connector, and Claude reads rather than acts in all four. That's a fine place to start. Most of the value of a connector is in what Claude can find, not what it can send.
The ten, one at a time
1. Email: Gmail or Outlook
Email goes first because it's where most of the context on a client, a supplier or a deal actually sits. Gmail's connector searches your inbox and reads whole threads, so Claude answers from the conversation instead of the last message. It can see that a message has attachments, but not what's inside them. Put the files you want read in Drive.
Try: “Find every thread where someone has been waiting more than three days for a reply from me. Rank them by how long.”
2. Calendar: Google Calendar or Microsoft 365
Google's connector does the whole job: it finds free time across your week, creates and moves events and answers invitations. The Microsoft 365 connector searches your Outlook calendar and finds a free slot, then leaves the booking to you.
Try: “Find 45 minutes with [name] next week, not Friday afternoon, and hold it as a tentative event.”
3. Files: Google Drive, OneDrive or SharePoint
This is the connector that ends “can you send me the latest version?”. Claude can find a document when you only half remember its name, read Docs, Sheets, Slides and PDFs, and on Drive create and update files. Sharing and binning a file are worth keeping on Needs approval.
Try: “Find the last proposal we sent [client] and list everything we committed to on price and timing.”
4. Team chat: Slack or Teams
Slack builds its own connector. Claude can search the channels you're in, public and private, read threads, send messages and write canvases. Teams comes through the Microsoft 365 connector and, like the rest of it, searches and reads.
Try: “Summarise what #ops decided this week and who owns each action.”
5. Notes and docs: Notion or Confluence
This is where Claude's work lands so the rest of the team can find it. Notion's connector searches, creates and updates pages and databases. Atlassian's covers Confluence and Jira, with the permissions you already have there.
Try: “Turn this conversation into a one-page brief in our Projects database.”
6. Tasks: Asana, Linear, monday.com or Jira
Connect the one your team already lives in. Don't start a new tool because Claude can use it. All four let Claude search, create and update work, which turns a meeting into a task list without anyone retyping it.
Try: “Read today's call notes and create a task for each action, assigned to whoever said they'd do it.”
7. CRM: HubSpot
HubSpot builds its own connector. It searches and updates contacts, companies, deals and tickets, and reports on campaigns. It's the first connector on this list that changes records other people rely on, so start updates on Needs approval and loosen them once you trust the pattern.
Try: “Which open deals over [amount] haven't had an email from us in 14 days?”
8. Meetings: Granola or Fireflies
Fireflies was the first meeting tool in Claude's directory, in August 2025. Granola's connector arrived in January 2026. Both read only: Claude searches your notes, summaries and transcripts, and tells you which meeting each answer came from.
Try: “What did we agree on pricing across our last three calls with [client]?”
9. Design: Canva or Figma
Canva's connector searches, creates, autofills and exports designs, so a summary can become a one-page flyer in your template. Figma's pulls design context into the conversation, turns frames into code and draws flow charts from a prompt. Neither changes anything you'd regret, so they can start on Always allow.
Try: “Turn this summary into a one-page flyer using our Canva brand template.”
10. Everything else: Zapier
Zapier covers the long tail. Its connector reaches more than 9,000 apps, and you pick on Zapier's side which actions Claude can see, so it only gets the ones you've switched on. The actions run on your Zapier account.
Try: “Post this summary to #wins and add the client to the newsletter list.”
What order should you set them up in?
Four sittings, about a week apart. Each one adds connectors that can do a little more than the last, so you learn how Claude behaves before it can change anything shared.
The settings rule is the same at every step. Anything that only reads goes on Always allow. Anything that sends, changes or deletes starts on Needs approval. Our Read, Draft, Act ladder sets out where each tool sits.
On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner has to switch each connector on for the organisation first, and can set those permissions for everyone. Then each person signs in with their own account, so Claude only ever sees what that person can see.
Ten is also the number at which Anthropic suggests switching Claude's tool access from Auto to On demand, so a long list of tools doesn't crowd the conversation. You'll find it under Connectors in the + menu.
How do we use these at Intersect?
Most of this list runs our own week. When we planned this series, one conversation added 13 rows to our content plan in Google Sheets, pulled our site's search numbers from Semrush and checked what was already in our content system. This post went into Sanity as a draft from the same conversation, with its category, search fields and images filled in. Someone on our team pressed publish.
Where does this break?
- Microsoft reads, it doesn't act. If you need Claude to send from Outlook or book a meeting, you'll need another route, such as Zapier.
- Nothing works on a company plan until an owner switches it on. On Team and Enterprise, a connector stays greyed out until then, and each person still signs in separately.
- Gmail can't open attachments. It sees that they're there. Save the files to Drive if Claude needs to read them.
- Some apps charge on their side. Zapier actions run on your Zapier plan, and Granola keeps notes older than 30 days for paying users.
- Emails and invites come from strangers. Text in an inbound email or a calendar invite can include instructions aimed at an AI. Keep sending, sharing and deleting on Needs approval and that text can't do anything on its own.
- The directory moves weekly. We checked every connector here on 9 November 2026 and will update this list each quarter.
What comes after the Core 10?
The Core 10 cover the jobs everyone has. The rest of this series adds the five connectors that matter for one kind of work, the Trade 5, starting with marketing.
Want the Core 10 set up properly?
We'll pick the right ten for your stack, connect them, set the permissions for your whole team and write the house rules that tell Claude what it may do without asking. If the system that matters most has no connector, we'll build one. Book a call
FAQs
Do Claude connectors cost extra?
Not from Anthropic. Directory connectors come with your Claude plan, and Free users can also add one custom connector of their own. Some apps charge on their side, such as Zapier for its actions.
Can Claude send emails from my Gmail?
Yes, since 18 August 2026. It can send, reply and forward, and asks for your approval before each one by default. On Team and Enterprise plans, owners decide whether members can let those actions run without asking.
Does the Microsoft 365 connector work with a personal Outlook account?
On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra plans, yes: outlook.com, hotmail.com and live.com accounts all work. Team and Enterprise plans take work or school accounts only.
How many connectors should I have switched on?
As many as the work needs. Past ten, switch tool access to On demand so Claude loads each connector's tools only when a question calls for them.
What if a tool we use isn't in the directory?
Try Zapier first: it reaches more than 9,000 apps. If the system matters enough, a developer can build a custom connector for it, which is the subject of a later post in this series.
Related reading
- Connectors: Give the Claude and ChatGPT Brain Your Business
- How to Connect Claude to Sanity, Step by Step
- Set Up a Shared AI Workspace for Your Team in an Afternoon
- The One-Page AI Policy: A Template You Can Adopt This Week
Sources
- Claude Marketplace: Connectors and plugins, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Gmail connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Google Calendar connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Google Drive connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Microsoft 365 connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Slack connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Notion connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: HubSpot connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Granola connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude: Zapier connector, accessed 9 November 2026
- Claude Help Center: Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities, accessed 9 November 2026
- 9to5Google: Claude can now send emails in Gmail, 18 August 2026
- Tom's Guide: Claude can now send Gmail emails, August 2026
- Fireflies: first AI meeting tool in Claude's directory, 21 August 2025
- Granola: Claude integration, accessed 9 November 2026