# Claude MCP: What It Is and Every Way to Use It

Claude MCP is Claude's support for the Model Context Protocol, the open standard that lets Claude call tools in other systems: your files, your Notion workspace, your WordPress site. As of October 2026 you can use it in four places: connectors on claude.ai, local servers in the Claude Desktop app, Claude Code in your terminal, and the Claude API.

If you don't write code, the verdict is simple. **Start with a connector from the directory on claude.ai.** Every plan can do it, and adding one takes a few clicks and a sign-in. Once it's added, the same connector is there in the desktop app and on your phone too. Everything else on this page can wait until you hit something a directory connector can't do.

## What MCP is, in one minute

MCP is an open-source standard for connecting AI apps to outside systems. The official docs compare it to a USB-C port: one plug shape, lots of devices. Anthropic introduced it in late 2024 and gave it to the Agentic AI Foundation, a fund under the Linux Foundation, on December 9, 2025. So it isn't Claude-only anymore. ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and VS Code all speak it.

The app you talk to (Claude, in this case) is the host. It opens a connection to each MCP server you've added, and each server offers tools (actions), resources (things to read) and prompts (reusable templates). When you ask for something, Claude reads the tool descriptions, picks one that fits, calls it and reads the result.

Servers come in two kinds, local and remote, and that's the reason the four surfaces below behave differently. The [Claude MCP servers page](/learn/claude-mcp-servers) explains the split and lists the servers people add.

## The four places you can use MCP in Claude

| Where | Server type | How you add it | Who gets it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Claude mobile | Remote | Customize → Connectors | Every plan; Free gets 1 custom connector |
| Claude Desktop only | Local | `claude_desktop_config.json` or a .mcpb extension | Anyone running the desktop app |
| Claude Code | Local or remote | `claude mcp add` | Anyone using Claude Code |
| Claude API | Remote only | `mcp_servers` in a Messages API call (beta) | Developers with an API key |

### Connectors on claude.ai

Connectors are remote MCP servers added to your Claude account, either from the directory or by URL. They work in the browser, the desktop app and the mobile apps, and once a remote server is connected, its resources and prompts show up in the + menu so you can attach them to a chat. The [connectors guide](/learn/claude-connectors) covers the directory, and the [custom connector guide](/learn/claude-custom-connector) covers adding any server by URL.

### Local servers in Claude Desktop

The desktop app can start servers on your own machine, either from `claude_desktop_config.json` or as one-click desktop extensions. They can reach your files, but Anthropic's docs say they aren't available in claude.ai or Cowork. The [Claude Desktop MCP guide](/learn/claude-desktop-mcp) has the file paths and the extension steps.

### Claude Code

Claude Code adds either kind from the terminal, like `claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp`, then `/mcp` to sign in.

### The Claude API

Developers can attach remote servers straight to a Messages API call with the MCP connector, which is in beta. Only tool calls are supported, and the server must be publicly reachable over HTTP, so local stdio servers are out. The [MCP vs API page](/learn/mcp-vs-api) explains where this fits next to ordinary tool use.

## A worked example: one server, used from Claude

Here's a remote server in practice, with Kitepod as the example. Kitepod is a free remote MCP server plus a WordPress plugin that lets Claude work on a self-hosted WordPress site. You install the plugin, click Connect in wp-admin, and add `https://kitepod.com/mcp` to Claude as a custom connector.

Then you work in plain English:

```prompt
Find the three slowest pages on my site and tell me what's making each one slow.
```

Claude picks the tools, Kitepod runs Google PageSpeed audits against the pages, and the answer comes back in the chat with the Core Web Vitals for each. The same connector works in the desktop app, and in Claude Code it's one `claude mcp add` command with the same URL. The [WordPress MCP overview](/wordpress-mcp) covers the WordPress side.

## What goes wrong

The most common surprise is a server that works in Claude Desktop but not on claude.ai. That's a local server from your config file, and local servers never reach the web app or your phone. You need a remote version of it.

The second is a Team plan where "Add custom connector" is missing. Only Owners and Primary Owners can add connectors there (and, on Enterprise, custom roles that include library access). Ask your admin to add it, then click Connect yourself.

And if a custom connector won't connect at all, the cause is usually where the server lives. The [custom connector guide](/learn/claude-custom-connector) covers that failure and its fix.

Last, Anthropic's custom connector article warns you to connect only servers you trust, read what each one asks for at sign-in, and watch for prompt injection in content a tool reads.

## Finer points

### Is Claude MCP free?

The protocol is free and open source, and every Claude plan can use connectors. The Free plan is capped at one custom connector. Each server sets its own price.

### What's the difference between a connector and an MCP server?

A connector is a remote MCP server added to your Claude account. Every connector is an MCP server, but a local server in your desktop config isn't a connector.

### Can Claude use MCP resources and prompts, or only tools?

In the Claude apps, a connected server's resources and prompts appear under the + menu. Through the API's MCP connector, only tools are supported for now.

### Do I need to code to use MCP with Claude?

No. Directory and custom connectors are clicks. The desktop config file and Claude Code need some comfort with JSON or a terminal, and [building your own server](/learn/build-mcp-server) is where real code starts.

MCP itself will keep changing, with a new spec revision every so often, but these four places are where you'll use it in Claude.