--- title: "Connect Claude to your site" description: "Connect Claude to your Éclair site: custom connector, approval page, per-tool permissions, mobile, compatible plans and step-by-step troubleshooting." url: "https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/connect-claude" lang: "en" author: "Thierry Gustin" published: "2026-11-02" updated: "2026-11-02" --- # Connect Claude to your site > **Key takeaways** — To connect Claude to your Éclair site, turn on “Allow MCP connections” in Settings › AI assistant and copy the connector URL. In Claude, open Customize › Connectors, add a custom connector with that URL, then give your approval on your site's page. Every Claude plan supports it, Free included, with a single custom connector. You can connect Claude to your Éclair site in five minutes: a switch in your settings, a URL to paste into Claude, an approval to give on your site. After that, on claude.ai, in the desktop app or on your phone, Claude reads your content, writes drafts and prepares changes. This lesson follows Claude's interface as checked on November 1, 2026. > **Before you start** — Allow 10 minutes. Your site must use HTTPS and, ideally, be installed at the root of a domain or subdomain. You need an administrator account, preferably protected by two-factor authentication (see [Everyday security](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/intermediate/everyday-security)), and a Claude account. If the idea behind MCP is still unclear, start with [Understanding the MCP connector](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/understanding-mcp). ## What you'll be able to do ### 🚀 Connect Claude Add your site as a custom connector, on the web or in the desktop app. ### 🛡 Set permissions Decide, tool by tool, what Claude does without asking you. ### 🔧 Troubleshoot the connection HTTPS, authorization header, firewall and subfolder. ## Which plans let you connect Claude to your site? According to [Claude's help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166) (articles updated on October 30, 2026, checked on November 1, 2026), custom connectors work on Claude, Cowork and Claude Desktop, on every plan: | Plan | Custom connectors | Who adds the connector | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | Only one | You | | Pro, Max, Ultra | Yes | You | | Team | Yes | An organization owner (“Owner” or “Primary Owner”) | | Enterprise | Yes | An owner, or a custom role with “Manage access to Libraries” | Ultra is a new individual plan: on [claude.com/pricing](https://claude.com/pricing), Max is listed at $100 a month and Ultra at $200 a month (checked on November 1, 2026). Plans change quickly: check in your account. ## Step 1: turn on the connector in Éclair 1. Open **Settings › AI assistant** and scroll down to the **Claude or ChatGPT with your subscription (MCP)** section. 2. Turn on **Allow MCP connections**, then click **Save**. 3. The **Connector URL** field appears: click **Copy**. The URL ends with `/_eclair/mcp`. ![Settings › AI assistant: the MCP connector URL, the Copy button and the list of connected apps](https://eclair.academy/media/2026/11/eclair-academy-settings-mcp-en.webp) *The MCP section of Settings › AI assistant* No API key is needed. If your site isn't on HTTPS, Éclair shows “Claude and ChatGPT only accept https:// URLs: turn on HTTPS for your site first.” If it's installed in a subfolder, it warns you that some apps look for authorization at the root of the domain. ## Step 2: add the connector in Claude The path is the same on claude.ai and in the desktop app. The labels below are taken from Claude's help center; the app may display a slight variant. 1. Open **Customize › Connectors** (direct link: claude.ai/customize/connectors). In the desktop app, click **Customize** in the sidebar, then **Connectors**. 2. Click **+ Add**, then **Add custom connector**. 3. Enter a name, for example “My site”: it will appear in your list of connectors. 4. Paste the connector URL, then click **Continue**. 5. Claude shows the authentication settings it detected: check them, then click **Continue**. 6. **Authentication**: choose **Sign in now**. Avoid **No sign in**: Éclair refuses any call made without your approval. 7. **OAuth client**: choose **Register automatically**, the dynamic registration that Éclair 1.8 supports. The **Use Claude's published identity (Recommended)** option relies on another method, which Éclair 1.8 doesn't advertise, and **Use your own OAuth client** requires an identifier that Éclair doesn't issue. 8. **Request headers**: leave empty. 9. Click **Add**. > **A dialog that varies between accounts** — Depending on the organization, some accounts show the name, the URL and **Advanced settings** on a single screen. There's also another path: **Add**, hover over **Custom**, then **Web**. The choices to make stay the same. ## Step 3: give your approval on your site's page A page on your site opens, in the same tab on claude.ai, or in your usual browser from the desktop app. A “One moment…” page may flash up for a split second: that's normal. 1. The page is titled **Connect Claude to your site**. If you're not logged in, enter your email and password, then click **Log in**. If two-factor authentication is on, enter the 6-digit code, then click **Verify**. 2. Read the request, “Claude is asking to work on ‘Your site’ on your behalf”, followed by what is allowed and what is forbidden. 3. Check the line “You'll go back to claude.ai”. 4. If you logged in more than 15 minutes ago, confirm your password. 5. Click **Allow**. You're taken back to Claude, where your site shows as connected. ![The approval page where Claude asks for access to the site, and the MCP section of Éclair's settings](https://eclair.academy/media/2026/11/eclair-academy-mcp-en.webp) *What Claude will be able to do, and what it will never do* In Éclair, the **Connected apps** list now shows **Claude**, with claude.ai, your name and the date it was last used. > **Unknown app?** — If the page shows “Unknown app”, the return URL isn't claude.ai's. Click **Deny**, unless you've just started another tool yourself (see the callout on other apps). ## How do you use the connector in a conversation? In a conversation, click **+** at the bottom left (or type “/”), then **Connectors**, and turn on your site's toggle. This choice applies to the current conversation. The **Tool access** menu offers **Auto** (the default), **Always available** and **On demand**, recommended once you have 10 connectors or more. Three requests to get started: ```prompt Use my site's connector. Start with get_site, then summarize in 5 lines what the site contains and the tone of my editorial profile. ``` ```prompt Give me 5 article ideas that don't exist yet on my site, each with its angle and focus keyphrase. ``` ```prompt Write a draft article about [topic] for [audience], then give me the link to open it in Éclair. ``` Claude sends back the draft's link: it opens Éclair's editor, where you review, complete and publish. For what comes next, pick from the [40 MCP use cases](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/mcp-use-cases). ## Set permissions tool by tool Before using a tool, Claude may ask for your approval: **Allow once** for this time, **Always allow** to stop being asked about that tool. To set everything in advance, open **Customize › Connectors**, select your site, then **Tool permissions**. For each tool, choose **Always allow**, **Needs approval** or **Blocked**. | Tool | Recommended setting | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | `get_site`, `search_content`, `get_content`, `find_media` | Always allow | Read-only: nothing changes on your site | | `create_draft` | Always allow or Needs approval | Creates drafts, which the public can't see | | `update_content` | Needs approval | Edits your drafts directly | > **Research mode** — During in-depth research (**Research**), Claude can call your connectors' tools without asking again. Anthropic advises turning off write tools in that case: set `create_draft` and `update_content` to **Blocked**, or turn the connector off in that conversation. ## Claude Team and Enterprise: the team connector On these plans, an owner adds the connector for the whole organization: 1. Open **Organization settings › Connectors** (claude.ai/admin-settings/connectors). 2. Click **Add**, hover over **Custom**, then choose **Web**. 3. Enter the name and the URL, click **Continue**, check the detected authentication, then click **Continue** again. 4. Make the same choices as in step 2, then click **Add**. Each member then opens **Customize › Connectors**, finds the connector marked **Custom** and clicks **Connect**. They then give their approval with their own Éclair account, either an administrator or an editor allowed to use the assistant. Owners can enforce a per-tool setting for the whole organization. Inside a project, connectors are only available if the project is private. ## On your phone Once your site is connected on the web or in the desktop app, the connector is available in Claude for iOS and Android the next time you log in. Calls come from Anthropic's servers, not from your phone. Adding a connector from mobile is still in beta: use the web or the desktop app. ## Revoke Claude's access - **In Éclair**: **Settings › AI assistant**, **Connected apps** list, **Revoke access** button on Claude's line. It takes effect immediately: Claude will have to ask for your approval again. - **To cut everything off**: turn off **Allow MCP connections** and save. - **In Claude**: **Customize › Connectors**, **Disconnect** to disconnect, or **Remove** in the three-dot menu to delete the connector. Authentication settings can't be changed after the connector is added: remove the connector and add it again. ## Troubleshooting: when the connection fails | Symptom | Likely cause | Solution | | --- | --- | --- | | “Couldn't reach the MCP server” | Site without HTTPS, truncated URL, connector turned off, domain without an IPv4 address | Check `https://`, the `/_eclair/mcp` ending, that the switch is saved and that there's a DNS `A` record: Claude connectors only use IPv4 | | “Authorization with the MCP server failed” | `Authorization` header stripped by the host, or a redirect to another host (non-`www` to `www`) | Keep Éclair's `.htaccess` up to date and paste the URL copied from Éclair, unchanged | | 403 or 429 error that your site didn't produce | Firewall or bot protection (Cloudflare…) | Let `/_eclair/` and `/.well-known/` through, or allow Anthropic's outbound range `160.79.104.0/21` | | Failure with Éclair in a subfolder | Authorization is looked up at the root of the domain | Install Éclair at the root of a domain or subdomain | | “Invalid authorization link…” | Link expired or modified | Start the connection again from Claude | | “The AI assistant isn't enabled for your account.” | Editor without access to the assistant | Check “Editors can use the assistant” | | The connector asks for your approval again | 60 days without use, password changed or access revoked | Reconnect it in **Customize › Connectors** | On Apache, these two lines in Éclair's `.htaccess` pass the authorization header on to PHP: ```apache RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} . RewriteRule ^ - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}] ``` To check your site from a computer: ```bash dig +short example.com curl -i https://example.com/_eclair/mcp curl -i https://example.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource ``` Expected: a public IPv4 address, a 405 response (normal: the connector only accepts `POST`), then some JSON. A 404 page means the connector is turned off or URL rewriting isn't working. Every failure Claude displays carries an `ofid_…` reference: note it down if you report the problem to Anthropic. Other leads: [Troubleshooting](https://eclair.academy/en/docs/troubleshooting) and [Nginx, VPS, proxy and CDN](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/expert/nginx-vps). > **Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and the others** — Apps that can register automatically can connect too. In Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http my-site https://example.com/_eclair/mcp`, then the `/mcp` command to log in through your browser. Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Gemini CLI or Mistral use the same mechanism. Éclair only recognizes Claude and ChatGPT by name: the others are shown by their return URL, often `localhost`, with the “Unknown app” warning. Only accept if you've just started the connection yourself. A connector added on claude.ai is also available in Claude Code, if you log in there with your claude.ai account. ## Key points - To connect Claude, turn on **Allow MCP connections**, then add the `/_eclair/mcp` URL in **Customize › Connectors**. - Choose **Sign in now** and **Register automatically**, then click **Allow** on your site's page. - Every Claude plan works; Free is limited to one custom connector. - Reading on **Always allow**, writing on **Needs approval**: a good balance. - A **Revoke access** button in Éclair is all it takes to take back control. ## Going further - [Understanding the MCP connector](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/understanding-mcp): the 6 tools and their limits. - [40 MCP use cases, with prompts](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/mcp-use-cases): ready-to-copy requests for Claude. - [Connect ChatGPT to your site](https://eclair.academy/en/paths/ai-mcp/connect-chatgpt): the same thing on the OpenAI side. - [Troubleshooting](https://eclair.academy/en/docs/troubleshooting): Éclair's other errors. - Official sources: [Claude help on custom connectors](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166) and [connector troubleshooting](https://claude.com/docs/connectors/building/troubleshooting). ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I connect Claude on the free plan? Yes. The Free plan allows a single custom connector, according to Claude's help center as checked on November 1, 2026. For several sites, you need a paid plan. ### Can Claude publish a post on my site? No. It creates drafts and prepares suggestions; you publish in Éclair. The connector contains no publishing tool. ### Why is Claude asking for my approval again? After 60 days without use, a password change or revoked access, your site requires a new approval. Reconnect the connector in **Customize › Connectors**, then click **Allow**. ### Does the connector work in the mobile app? Yes. Once added on the web or desktop, it appears in Claude for iOS and Android the next time you log in.