# Adding Connect to Claude

Connect is a remote MCP server at `https://connectbyjbrh.com/mcp`. Public documentation tools are anonymous; protected business tools use Connect OAuth when the Claude host supports delegated MCP authorization.

- **Status:** Available
- **Audience:** developer
- **Last verified:** 2026-09-30
- **Canonical:** https://connectbyjbrh.com/developers/mcp-quickstart-claude/

## Connection

1. Configure `https://connectbyjbrh.com/mcp` as the remote MCP endpoint.
   - Result: The client discovers the current production registry.
2. Use a protected business tool.
   - Result: The host follows Connect OAuth metadata and PKCE when authorization is required.
3. Consent only to the intended business and scopes.
   - Result: Protected calls stay inside that authorization and normal Connect rules.

## Portable bundle

The portable Agent Plugins bundle includes `plugin.json`, `mcp.json` and reusable Agent Skills. It connects to the same canonical MCP endpoint and embeds no credential.

## Authorization behavior

The Connect server publishes protected-resource and authorization-server metadata, so an MCP host with delegated authorization support can discover the OAuth flow rather than storing a Connect API key in the plugin. The user signs into Connect, reviews the requested scope, selects the intended business and returns to the client. Public documentation tools remain usable without that step; protected business tools do not.

If a particular Claude client build does not initiate OAuth from a bundled plugin MCP declaration, add the same endpoint as a remote HTTP MCP server with `claude mcp add --transport http connect-by-jbrh https://connectbyjbrh.com/mcp`, then use `/mcp` to authenticate. This fallback changes client setup only; it does not use a different server or a broader credential.

## Use the tools in business order

1. Confirm the business profile before interpreting a name, channel or readiness state.
2. Read readiness and runtime before saying Connect is live; configured credentials alone are not operational proof.
3. Search the person or record before creating related work, so a follow-up, case or opportunity is not duplicated.
4. For a requested state change, call the narrow tool and report the returned stored state rather than the requested state.
5. When a tool says held or refused, keep that outcome. Do not retry through another tool to manufacture approval.

Skills in the bundle describe these sequences, but skills do not add authority. The MCP registry remains the executable contract. If a skill mentions a capability that the deployed server does not enumerate, the correct result is a release mismatch, not an invented tool call.

## Boundaries to test before publishing

- A read-only authorization can inspect business state but cannot make a protected write.
- A protected call cannot name a sibling business through an extra argument.
- An identity already belonging outside the authorized business cannot be silently adopted by the create-person tool.
- No production diagnostic Owner tool appears in discovery.
- No direct outbound email, messaging, call, payment or approval action appears in the marketplace v1 tool set.

Those checks matter more than whether the client renders the plugin name and icon. The package is ready for directory review only when the deployed endpoint matches the same versioned contract and the positive and negative reviewer cases pass against that live runtime.

## Questions

### Does Claude need a Connect API key in the package?

No. Delegated protected access uses OAuth.

### Do public docs and private data share authority?

No. Public tools are anonymous; protected tools verify scope and business binding.

### Are owner diagnostics exposed?

No. Production registry construction excludes them.

## Related

- [The Connect MCP server](https://connectbyjbrh.com/developers/mcp-server/)
- [Authenticating to the MCP server](https://connectbyjbrh.com/developers/mcp-authentication/)
- [Workspace MCP tools](https://connectbyjbrh.com/developers/mcp-workspace-tools/)
- [Adding Connect to ChatGPT](https://connectbyjbrh.com/developers/mcp-quickstart-chatgpt/)

## What this page is based on

- `backend/app/mcp_server.py`
- `backend/app/mcp_oauth.py`
- `marketplace/connect-by-jbrh/plugin.json`