Claude Connectors are official integrations that give Claude access to your real data — emails, files, calendars, documents, and apps. When Claude has context, it stops being a chatbot and starts being an agent.
This guide covers the 5 most powerful connectors, how to set each one up, and the exact prompts to use once they're live.
WHERE TO FIND CONNECTORS
Claude Desktop app → Settings → Connectors Or: Claude web → click your profile → Connectors
Only available in Claude Pro and above. Connectors work best with Claude Cowork mode.
CONNECTOR 1: GOOGLE DRIVE
What it does: Gives Claude read access to your Google Drive files. Claude can find, summarise, and analyse any document.
Setup:
- Go to Connectors → Add Connector → Google Drive
- Authorise with your Google account
- Select which Drive folders Claude can access
- Save and test with a simple prompt
Best prompts:
- "Find all my documents about [topic] in Drive and summarise the key points."
- "Look at my Q1 reports in Drive and compare them to Q2."
- "Find the document called [name] and extract all the action items."
- "Search my Drive for any files related to [client name] and give me an overview."
- "Summarise all documents in my [folder name] folder and identify common themes."
CONNECTOR 2: GOOGLE GMAIL
What it does: Gives Claude read access to your Gmail inbox. Claude can search, summarise, draft replies, and identify action items.
Setup:
- Connectors → Add Connector → Gmail
- Authorise your Google account
- Confirm read permission (Claude cannot send emails — read only)
- Test with a prompt about your unread emails
Best prompts:
- "Summarise my unread emails from the past 7 days. Flag anything urgent."
- "Find all emails from [person] and tell me what they've asked for."
- "Look at my inbox and create a list of tasks I need to complete this week."
- "Find the email thread about [project] and summarise the current status."
- "Draft a reply to the most recent email from [person]. Match their tone."
- "Which emails have been sitting unread for over a week? List them."
CONNECTOR 3: GOOGLE CALENDAR
What it does: Gives Claude access to your calendar so it can help you plan, schedule, and manage your time.
Setup:
- Connectors → Add Connector → Google Calendar
- Authorise with your Google account
- Choose read and write permissions if you want Claude to create events
- Test with a prompt about your schedule
Best prompts:
- "What does my week look like? Identify any scheduling conflicts."
- "Block 2 hours of deep work time each morning this week. Avoid existing meetings."
- "Create a recurring calendar event for [task] every [day] at [time]."
- "Look at my calendar and tell me when I have a free 30 minutes this week."
- "Schedule a call with [person] for sometime next week. My preferred times: [list]."
- "Review my calendar and tell me which meetings could be replaced with an email."
CONNECTOR 4: NOTION
What it does: Connects Claude to your Notion workspace. Claude can read pages, find information, and create new content.
Setup:
- Connectors → Add Connector → Notion
- Authorise via Notion's OAuth
- Select which Notion pages/databases to share
- Test with a simple read prompt
Best prompts:
- "Look at my Notion task database and summarise what's overdue."
- "Find my notes on [topic] in Notion and create a structured summary."
- "Review my [project] Notion page and write a status update I can share with my team."
- "Create a new Notion page titled [name] with the following content: [describe]."
- "Look at my Notion meeting notes from last week and extract all commitments I made."
CONNECTOR 5: GITHUB
What it does: Connects Claude to your GitHub repositories. Claude can read code, review PRs, and answer questions about your codebase.
Setup:
- Connectors → Add Connector → GitHub
- Authorise with your GitHub account
- Select which repositories to share
- Test with a code review prompt
Best prompts:
- "Review the latest pull request in [repo] and flag any potential issues."
- "Explain what this code does and how it works: [paste snippet or reference file]."
- "Look at my [repo] and find any files that might have security vulnerabilities."
- "Summarise the recent commits to [repo] and explain what changed."
- "Write documentation for the functions in [file name]."
POWER COMBOS (USING MULTIPLE CONNECTORS AT ONCE)
Drive + Gmail combo: "Check my inbox for emails about [project] and also search Drive for any related documents. Give me a complete picture of where this project stands."
Gmail + Calendar combo: "Summarise what meetings I agreed to in emails this week and check if they're on my calendar. Flag anything that's missing."
Drive + Notion combo: "Find all documents in Drive tagged [label] and create a Notion page summarising the key information from each one."
PRIVACY NOTES
- Claude only reads what you explicitly share — it cannot access your entire account
- Nothing is stored permanently — context is cleared each session
- You can revoke connector access at any time in Settings → Connectors
- Claude cannot send emails, delete files, or modify calendars unless you explicitly have write permissions enabled
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