Does Claude Free really support custom MCP connectors?

Yes. Custom connectors by URL are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. The only difference on Free is a limit of one custom connector at a time — Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise aren't capped the same way. This is more permissive than most other assistants, several of which require a paid plan just to unlock custom MCP at all.

Do I add the connector separately on desktop, web, and mobile?

No — add it once, on web or desktop. Claude's custom connectors run from Anthropic's cloud infrastructure, not from your local device, even when you're using the desktop app. Once you've connected on web or desktop, it becomes available the next time you sign in on Claude for iOS or Android. Installing a connector directly from a mobile device is in beta, so web or desktop remains the reliable place to add one.

Do I need to know OAuth details to connect a server?

Usually not. Most remote MCP servers support Dynamic Client Registration, so Claude registers itself with the server automatically when you sign in — you just paste the URL and approve. Advanced Settings only matters if the server's own documentation tells you to supply a specific OAuth client ID and secret, or if the server uses a fixed API key instead of OAuth, in which case you use Request Headers instead of the OAuth fields.

I added the connector — why isn't Claude using it in my chat?

Adding a connector under Customize → Connectors saves it to your account; it doesn't turn it on everywhere. Open the chat where you want it, click the + button in the message box, select Connectors, and toggle the server on for that conversation. It has to be enabled per-conversation, including after you start a new chat.

How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Claude

How do I add a remote MCP server to Claude?

Go to Customize → Connectors, click the + next to "Connectors," choose Add custom connector, paste the server's URL, and click Add. If the server needs OAuth, Claude opens a sign-in window; approve it there. Then open a chat, click the + button in the message box, go to Connectors, and toggle the server on for that conversation.

This works with any remote MCP server, on any Claude plan, including Free. Anthropic created the Model Context Protocol, and Claude supports it on the Free plan too (limited to one custom connector).

What you need before you start

A Claude account, any plan — Free, Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise
The URL of the MCP server you want to connect, for example https://mcp.example.com/mcp — an HTTPS address the server accepts MCP requests on
If the server requires OAuth with a specific client registration (uncommon — most servers support automatic registration), the OAuth client ID and secret from that server's own setup

Add the connector

If you're on Free, Pro, or Max

Go to claude.ai/customize/connectors, or click Customize in the sidebar, then Connectors
Click Add custom connector
Enter the remote MCP server URL
Choose authentication settings if the dialog asks (see below) — otherwise leave the defaults
Click Add

On Free, you can add one custom connector. Pro and Max aren't held to that same one-connector limit.

If you're a Team or Enterprise Owner

Members can't add a custom connector for themselves on Team or Enterprise — an Owner (or, on Enterprise, a member with library-management permissions) adds it for the whole organization first:

Go to Organization settings → Connectors
Select Add, then Custom — if asked for a connector type, choose Web
Enter the remote MCP server URL
Enter OAuth credentials if needed
Click Add

The connector then shows up under Customize → Connectors for every member, labeled Custom. Each member clicks Connect on it to authenticate with their own account — the Owner adding it doesn't connect everyone automatically.

Authentication settings, if you're asked

Most servers need nothing beyond the URL — Claude and the server negotiate this on their own. If the "Add custom connector" dialog does show authentication options:

Authentication — choose how people sign in: Sign in now (each user authenticates immediately), Sign in when needed (Claude connects and prompts for sign-in only if the server asks), or No sign-in (anyone with the URL can use it — pick this only for a server that authenticates a different way, like a fixed API key under Request Headers)
OAuth client — usually leave this on Register automatically (Dynamic Client Registration; works with most servers). Use Claude's published identity is the option to pick if the server specifically supports reading Claude's client details from a hosted metadata document. Use your own OAuth client is where the OAuth client ID (and secret, if the server requires one) from Advanced Settings goes
Request headers — for a server that authenticates with a fixed API key or bearer token instead of OAuth. This is currently in beta and only visible to some organizations; where it's available, you can add up to four headers, and Claude sends the value exactly as entered (for a bearer token, type Bearer your-token including the word "Bearer" — the field doesn't add a scheme for you)
Transport — leave this alone unless the server's own docs say otherwise. A URL ending in /sse selects the older SSE transport instead of the current Streamable HTTP one

You can't change these authentication settings after the connector is added — to change them, remove the connector and add it again, and members will need to reconnect.

Authorize the connection

If the server uses OAuth, Claude opens a browser window to the server's sign-in page after you click Add (or when you click Connect, on Team/Enterprise). Sign in if prompted, review the permissions it's asking for, and approve. You're returned to Claude with the connection active.

Turn it on in a chat

Adding a connector saves it to your account — it isn't automatically active in any given conversation. To use it:

Open the chat (new or existing)
Click the + button in the message box
Select Connectors
Toggle the server on

Do this in each conversation where you want the server available. If Claude doesn't seem to see your data or tools mid-chat, that's usually this toggle, or it needs a fresh conversation to pick up newly added context.

Desktop, web, and mobile

Custom connectors run from Anthropic's cloud infrastructure, not from your device — that's true even inside the Claude desktop app or Cowork, which otherwise run locally. Because of that, you only add a connector once, from web or desktop:

Desktop app and web are both full setup paths — either one works for adding and authorizing a connector
Mobile (iOS/Android) picks up a connector automatically the next time you sign in, once you've added it on web or desktop. Installing a connector directly from the mobile app is currently in beta, so treat web or desktop as the reliable place to add one
Enabling a connector per conversation still applies separately on each client — connecting the server to your account doesn't turn it on in every chat everywhere

Note this is distinct from a desktop extension, a different, local mechanism (Settings → Extensions in Claude Desktop, .mcpb bundles) for MCP servers that run on your own machine rather than being reached remotely. This guide covers remote MCP servers reached by URL; if what you have is a local server or extension file, that's the desktop-extension path instead.

Network requirements

Anthropic's infrastructure has to be able to reach your server over the public internet. A server that's:

Behind a VPN
On a private corporate network
Resolving to a private, non-routable, or carrier-grade NAT address

...will fail to connect, and the failure often won't show up in your server's own access logs, because Claude rejects the connection before the request leaves Anthropic's network. If your server has to stay on a private network, Claude documents an MCP tunnels path for that case — see the connectors documentation for details.

What usually goes wrong

Problem	Fix
"Add custom connector" isn't where you expect	Go straight to claude.ai/customize/connectors — Customize is the current home; an older Settings → Connectors page redirects there
Can't add a connector on Team/Enterprise	Members can't add one directly — ask an Owner (or an Enterprise member with library-management permissions) to add it under Organization settings → Connectors first
Free plan won't let you add a second connector	Free is capped at one custom connector; remove the existing one or upgrade
"Couldn't reach" / connection failed	Usually a network-reachability issue, not a credentials one — confirm the server is reachable over the public internet from outside your network, isn't behind a VPN or firewall, and isn't resolving to a private address
Authentication fails or looks stuck	Disconnect and reconnect from Customize → Connectors; re-check any OAuth client ID/secret or request header values, keeping in mind you can't edit them in place — remove and re-add the connector to change them
Connector added but Claude isn't using it	It's saved to your account but not turned on in this chat — click + → Connectors → toggle it on, per conversation
Works on desktop but hasn't shown up on mobile yet	Sign out and back in on the mobile app; mobile connector installation itself is still in beta, so add/authorize on web or desktop first
URL ends in `/sse` and still won't connect	That path selects the older SSE transport rather than Streamable HTTP — confirm which transport your server actually speaks and use the matching URL

A worked example

Any hosted, spec-compliant MCP server works the same way. Using a server like Tempreon as an example — its endpoint looks like:

https://api.tempreon.com/functions/v1/tempreon-mcp/mcp

Paste that into Add custom connector, leave authentication on the defaults, and approve the sign-in that opens. Whether Claude actually gets value out of the tools a given server exposes depends entirely on that server — this guide only covers the generic connection steps that apply to any remote MCP server.

For the account-holder walkthrough with screenshots, see the Claude setup doc.