How to Connect Claude to an MCP Server

What you need

• A Claude account (Free, Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise — connectors are in beta on all plans)
• An MCP server URL from the service you want to connect (for example, https://hjarni.com/mcp)

Option 1: Claude.ai (browser)

Claude.ai supports remote MCP servers through Connectors. Available on Free (1 connector), Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans.

Individual plans (Free, Pro, Max)

1. Go to claude.ai and open Customize > Connectors
2. Click + then Add custom connector
3. Enter the MCP server URL (e.g. https://hjarni.com/mcp)
4. Optionally click Advanced settings to enter OAuth credentials
5. Click Add to complete configuration
6. In a conversation, click the + button and select Connectors to enable it

Team and Enterprise plans

On Team and Enterprise plans, only workspace owners can add custom connectors. Members then connect individually.

1. Owner: Go to Organization settings > Connectors, click Add, hover over Custom, select Web, and enter the server URL
2. Member: Go to Customize > Connectors, find the custom connector, and click Connect to authenticate with your own account

Option 2: Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop supports both remote MCP servers (with OAuth) and local servers (via a config file).

Remote servers

For remote servers like Hjarni, the setup is the same as Claude.ai. Open Customize > Connectors, add a custom connector with the server URL, and complete the OAuth flow.

Local servers

For local MCP servers, Claude Desktop uses a JSON config file. Open Settings > Developer and click Edit Config to add your server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "your-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "your-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving the config. The server's tools will appear in your next conversation.

Option 3: Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Code supports MCP servers from the command line. Add a remote server with:

claude mcp add --transport http your-server https://example.com/mcp

Claude Code will handle the OAuth flow in your browser. By default, the server is scoped to the current project only. To make it available across all your projects, add --scope user:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user your-server https://example.com/mcp

Verifying the connection

Start a new conversation and ask Claude to use one of the server's tools. For example, if you connected Hjarni:

"What notes do I have in Hjarni?"

Claude should respond with your notes or confirm it has access. If you see tool calls in the response, the connection is working.

Troubleshooting

Try it with Hjarni

Hjarni is a knowledge base with a built-in MCP server. Connect it to Claude and your AI can search, read, and create notes across every conversation. Stop re-explaining your context.

The MCP server URL is https://hjarni.com/mcp. Two minutes to set up.

Connect your notes