Connectors: Integrate your tools
Connectors link Claude directly to the apps you use every day. Instead of copying and pasting information between apps, Claude reads your data directly from Google Drive, Notion, Slack and more.
No more copy-pasting
The biggest time waste in most workflows is context switching: copying data from one app, pasting it into another, then asking Claude about it. Connectors eliminate this entirely. Claude goes directly to the source.
Google Drive integration
For example, with the Google Drive Connector, you can say 'Summarize my Q1 sales report from Drive' and Claude finds the document, reads it, and gives you a summary. No downloading, no uploading, no copy-pasting.
Notion as your knowledge base
The Notion Connector is especially powerful for teams that use Notion as their knowledge base. Claude can query your entire Notion workspace to answer questions, find procedures, or pull context for tasks.
Connectors + Skills = automation
Connectors also work beautifully with Skills. Imagine a 'Weekly Client Update' Skill that automatically pulls the latest project status from Notion, checks email threads in Gmail, and generates a polished update email. That's the power of Connectors + Skills combined.
Learning objectives
- Understand how Connectors provide context to Claude
- Set up Google Drive, Notion or Slack Connectors
- Query your documents and knowledge bases through Claude
- Manage Connector permissions and data access
- Combine Connectors with Skills for powerful workflows
Step by step
- 1Navigate to Settings > Connectors
- 2Choose the app you want to connect (e.g., Google Drive)
- 3Authorize Claude to access your account with appropriate permissions
- 4In a conversation, reference your connected data: 'Summarize my latest report from Drive'
- 5Claude pulls the relevant data and uses it in its response
Pro tips
- ·Only grant the minimum permissions needed
- ·Connectors work best when you tell Claude which specific documents or channels to look at
- ·Combine a Google Drive Connector with a Report Writer Skill for automated summaries
- ·Review connected accounts regularly and revoke access you no longer need
Real-world examples
Document Summarization
Prompt:
“Find the 'Product Roadmap 2026' in my Drive and list the top 5 priorities”
Result: Claude searches your Drive, finds the document, reads it, and extracts the priorities in a clean list.
Knowledge Base Query
Prompt:
“Check our Notion wiki: what's our refund policy for enterprise customers?”
Result: Claude queries your Notion workspace, finds the relevant policy page, and gives you the answer with a link to the source.
Cross-App Workflow
Prompt:
“Read the last 10 messages in #product-feedback on Slack, then update our Notion feature request tracker”
Result: Claude reads Slack messages, identifies feature requests, and adds them to your Notion database. Two apps, zero manual work.
Common mistakes
- ✕Granting too broad permissions. Start with read-only access and expand only when needed
- ✕Not specifying which document you mean. 'Check my Drive' is vague. 'Find the Q1 report in the Marketing folder' is better
- ✕Forgetting to disconnect old Connectors. Review your connected accounts monthly
- ✕Expecting real-time sync. Connectors pull data when you ask, they don't monitor continuously (use Scheduled Tasks for that)
