Connect Claude Desktop and claude.ai

Two routes. A custom connector signs you in to OrgRelay and works in claude.ai, Claude Desktop and the Claude mobile apps. A local bridge works in Claude Desktop only, but keeps traffic on your own network.

Both give Claude the same OrgRelay tools listed on the MCP overview, with your own permissions.

#Route 1: custom connector (sign-in)

#Before you start

• OrgRelay must be reachable from the internet, for example https://c001.example.com. Claude calls custom connectors from Anthropic's cloud, not from your laptop.
• The owner has MCP switched on under Admin → MCP and has not suspended your MCP access.
• If OrgRelay sits behind Cloudflare Access, the paths mcp, oauth and .well-known need Bypass policies. The MCP overview explains why.

#Add it (Free, Pro, Max)

1. In Claude on the web, open Customize → Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector.
2. Name it OrgRelay. The URL is the company address plus /mcp. OrgRelay shows the full address on the MCP connections card under your account.
3. Choose to sign in. The browser opens OrgRelay's sign-in page. Sign in with your usual OrgRelay account.
4. Read the consent page. It names the application asking for access and the address it will return to, which should be a Claude domain. It states that Claude gets the same access you have in OrgRelay and that changes still become approval requests.
5. Click Agree. You return to Claude with the connector connected.

Free plans are limited to one custom connector.

Claude also lets you add fixed credentials under Request headers, such as an Authorization: Bearer token. With OrgRelay, prefer sign-in: each grant belongs to one person, shows up under their authorized apps, and can be revoked on its own.

#Team and Enterprise

An organisation Owner adds the connector once under Organization settings → Connectors. Members then open Customize → Connectors and click Connect to sign in with their own OrgRelay account. Each person still gets only their own OrgRelay permissions.

#How long it lasts

Claude renews access automatically. You need to connect again if you have not used it for 30 days, if you or the owner revoked it, or if your account or MCP access was suspended.

#Security of the sign-in

OrgRelay follows the MCP authorization spec: OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, authorization codes valid for 10 minutes and usable once, access tokens valid for one hour, refresh tokens rotated on every use. If an old refresh token is ever reused, OrgRelay treats it as leaked and cancels the whole grant. Tokens and codes are stored only as hashes and are bound to the company's OrgRelay address.

#Revoking

• Yourself: OrgRelay My account → MCP connections → Authorized apps lists each app, when you approved it and when it was last used. Revoke cuts it off at once. You can also remove the connector in Claude.
• The owner: Admin → MCP → OAuth grants lists everyone's grants. Suspending a person revokes all of theirs.

#Route 2: local bridge (Claude Desktop only)

Use this when OrgRelay is only reachable inside the office, or when you prefer a token. It needs Node.js 18 or later.

1. Download the bridge from your company's OrgRelay:

   TerminalCopy

   curl -fsSL https://ai.example.com/mcp/orgrelay-mcp.mjs -o ~/orgrelay-mcp.mjs

   On Windows you can open the same URL in a browser to download it.

2. In Claude Desktop open Settings → Developer → Edit Config and merge this into claude_desktop_config.json:

   claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "orgrelay": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/Users/you/orgrelay-mcp.mjs"],
         "env": {
           "ORGRELAY_URL": "https://ai.example.com/mcp",
           "ORGRELAY_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
         }
       }
     }
   }

   On Windows the path looks like C:\\Users\\you\\orgrelay-mcp.mjs, with doubled backslashes inside JSON.

3. Quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again. orgrelay appears in the tools menu.

The token comes from My account → MCP connections, as described on the MCP overview.

#Which route?

#Check it works

Ask: "Use OrgRelay to find how delivery time is written in our recent quotations, with sources." You should see file names and locations. Then, with an ordinary employee's account, ask for salary data; the answer must be that nothing is accessible. Put the recommended system prompt in your Claude project instructions so answers keep citing sources.

#Troubleshooting

#Common questions

Works in my browser but not in Claude? Claude connects from Anthropic's cloud. The address must be public.

Do I need a token for the connector? No, you sign in.

Mobile? Yes, with the same Claude account.

#Next

• Terminal users: Claude Code. OpenAI users: Codex.
• Owners setting rules for the whole company: enterprise MCP patterns.
• How OrgRelay keeps approvals out of the AI's hands: human-in-the-loop.
• The business case for letting staff use their own AI client is covered on orgrelay.com.
• Company skills reachable through the connector: Agent Skills.
• Systems you can query once connected: whichever ones the owner has bound in OrgRelay, such as Salesforce or Stripe.
• Cursor users: Cursor.
• The sign-in flow follows the same rules as OrgRelay's other credentials: authentication and security requirements.
• Building your own system's connector: quickstart and MCP transport.
• Vendor servers you might add next to OrgRelay: official MCP servers.

#Related pages

• Connector spec: manifest fields, naming, errors, paging and versioning.
• Approvals and write tools: idempotency keys and re-checks for write tools.
• Self-test tool: the self-test tool and what each check means.
• Code templates: download the developer kit and four templates.