Yessie Perez

Guides / Business

Pick the one MCP your business should connect first

The problem

It's Tuesday night and a client just asked you, again, if her second payment is due this week or next. The answer is somewhere in your email, your calendar and a note on your phone. You've heard people say "just add an MCP," and you closed the tab because it sounded like something you'd need a developer for.

What you need

  • Claude open on your computer (the free plan works; connectors come with every plan, Free included)
  • The names of the apps you open most in a normal week, like your email, your calendar, Canva
  • About 15 minutes

First, MCP in plain words

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, and the people who maintain it describe it as a USB-C port for AI apps. Think about your phone charger, right, one shape of plug works with a lot of different devices. MCP is that shared plug between an AI like Claude and the apps where your business actually lives, like your inbox and your calendar.

Inside Claude you won't see the word "MCP" much. You'll see connectors. A connector is an MCP connection that's already built for you, so you don't install anything or touch code. You sign in to your app on the app's own page, and from then on you can ask Claude "who emailed me about my price this week?" and it goes and looks, instead of you copying and pasting every email into the chat.

Two things to know before you add any of them. A connector can read, and many can also act: the Gmail connector, for example, can search your inbox and it can also draft, send and delete. And Claude only sees what your account already sees in that app, nothing more. So the useful question to ask yourself is "what do I want Claude to be able to do in this one app?"

What's new

  • Sep 15, 2026 Not sure what a connector does? From late September through November, 14 of the companies behind Claude connectors are hosting free live webinars on their connector. (Anthropic)

Steps

  1. Write down where your week lives. On a piece of paper, list the apps you open every day for the business. Next to each one, write the one task in it that eats your time (answering price questions in email, moving bookings around in your calendar, remaking the same flyer in Canva).
  2. Open the connectors directory. In Claude, click Customize in the left sidebar, then the Connectors tab, then Discover.
  3. Search for your apps, one at a time. Type the app's name in the search box and open its page. Look at two things on that page: what it can read and what it can write (send, delete, change), and its label. A checkmark means Verified, which means Anthropic tested its tools. A Community label means a third party built it and Anthropic screened it but didn't review it in depth. Verified is still not a security audit, so either way, only connect apps from companies you already trust with your business.
  4. Don't connect anything yet. Today is for picking. Start a new chat and paste the prompt below with your list filled in.
  5. Pick one. Go with the app Claude recommends unless your gut says otherwise. One connector you actually use beats five you're nervous about.
  6. When you do connect it, set it to ask you first. After connecting, open the connector under Customize > Connectors and, under Tool permissions, choose Needs approval for anything that sends, deletes or changes. You can also click Disconnect any time to sign Claude out of that app.

The prompt

Fill in the [BRACKETS], then paste it into Claude
I run [YOUR BUSINESS, ONE LINE: what you sell and to who].
My prices: [YOUR OFFERS AND PRICES].

These are the apps I use every week and the task in each one that takes
the most time:
- [APP 1]: [TASK]
- [APP 2]: [TASK]
- [APP 3]: [TASK]

I'm deciding which ONE app to connect to you first as a connector.
1. Tell me which one to connect first and why, based on where I lose the
   most time.
2. Give me 3 questions I could ask you once it's connected that only READ
   (nothing sent, deleted or changed).
3. Tell me which actions in that app I should set to "needs approval"
   so you always ask me first.
Keep it short and in plain words. I'm not technical.

What it looks like filled in

Primer Paso Coaching is a one-woman coaching business: single session $150, a 5-session package $600, or a payment plan of 2 × $300. No discounts. Her list:

  • Gmail: answering "how much do you charge?" and payment-plan questions
  • Google Calendar: rescheduling sessions
  • Canva: remaking the same session-reminder graphic

What Claude suggested back (shortened):

Claude

Connect Gmail first. Most of your week is answering the same price and payment questions, and those all start in your inbox. Calendar is second.

Read-only questions to start:
1. "Who emailed me in the last 7 days asking about price or the package?"
2. "Which clients on the payment plan mentioned their second $300 payment?"
3. "Find any email asking to move a session, with the date they asked for."

Set to needs approval: sending, replying, forwarding and deleting. Let me write drafts; you hit send.

She didn't connect anything that night. She just knew which one was first, y ya.

The takeaway

An MCP is the plug. A connector is that plug already built for one of your apps. Pick the app where your week leaks the most time, start with questions that only read, and keep "needs approval" on anything that sends or deletes.

Reply and tell me: which app did Claude tell you to connect first, and was it the one you expected?

The next step

Ready to actually connect it? The free Start Here takes 35 minutes and the free plan works.

Read next · Business

The pricing email you never write again

A one-word QUOTE shortcut that drafts your pricing reply with your real prices and rules.

10 minutes · Free

New to Claude? Start Here in the free classroom. The free plan works.

Sources (all opened and checked 2026-10-01)

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