Claude Desktop Setup

Connect Claude Desktop to Civic in 5 minutes

This guide covers Claude Desktop setup. For other AI clients, see our client compatibility guide.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Claude Desktop

Download and install Claude Desktop (Pro or Team plan required for MCP connectors)

Civic Account

Create a free account on app.civic.com

Step 1: Set Up Your Civic Account

If you haven’t already, create your account and select your tools at app.civic.com:

1. Create a free Civic account

   Go to app.civic.com and sign in with Google, GitHub, or email.

2. Select your MCP servers

   During onboarding, choose which services you want your AI to access — GitHub, Slack, Google Workspace, Dropbox, and more. This creates your default toolkit.

3. Get your MCP URL

   Your connection URL is the same for every Civic account:

   https://app.civic.com/hub/mcp
   

   The URL is not personalized — what makes it yours is authentication. When you connect your client and complete the OAuth flow, Civic links that session to your account and toolkit.

The MCP URL (https://app.civic.com/hub/mcp) is the same for every Civic user. What makes it yours is authentication — when you click Connect in Claude Desktop, a browser window opens to app.civic.com and links that session to your account and toolkit.

Step 2: Add MCP Server in Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop Settings

   1. In Claude Desktop, click on Settings (usually in the bottom left or profile menu)
   2. Navigate to Connectors

   

   Claude Desktop Settings showing Connectors section

2. Add Custom Connector

   1. Click “Add Custom Connector”
   2. Enter a name: “Civic”
   3. In “Remote MCP server URL” field, paste: https://app.civic.com/hub/mcp
   4. Click “Add” to confirm

   

   Adding a custom MCP connector in Claude Desktop

3. Connect and Authenticate

   1. The connector will appear in your list with a “Connect” button
   2. Click “Connect” to begin authentication
   3. Follow on-screen instructions to authorize access to your selected services
   4. Return to Settings > Connectors to verify it shows as “Connected”

   

   Claude Desktop connector successfully connected

Step 3: Test Your Connection

Try these commands to verify everything is working:

"What MCP servers are available?"
"Check my GitHub repositories"  
"What's in my Dropbox?"
"Show recent Slack messages"

Claude Desktop successfully using connected tools

Managing Your Tools

Adding More Tools

You can add new tools directly in your Claude Desktop chat:

"Connect me to GitHub"
"Add Slack to my available tools"  
"I need access to Dropbox"
"Show me what tools are available to connect"

Claude will handle the connection process and guide you through any required authentication steps.

Alternative Method: Hub Bridge (Free Users)

If you don’t have Claude Pro, Team, or Enterprise, you won’t have access to MCP connectors in the UI. Use Hub Bridge instead:

What is Hub Bridge? Hub Bridge (@civic/hub-bridge) is a lightweight local proxy that runs on your machine via npx and bridges stdio-only MCP clients to Civic’s remote HTTP endpoint. Use it when your client doesn’t support remote HTTP MCP connections natively. If your client supports HTTP/Streamable HTTP MCP — use that instead (it’s simpler and has no Node.js dependency).

Full Hub Bridge setup guide →

Free Claude users: The MCP connector UI is only available on paid Claude plans. Use this method if you’re on the free plan.

1. Open configuration file

   1. In Claude Desktop, go to Settings
   2. Click the Developer tab
   3. Click Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json
2. Add Hub Bridge configuration

   Add this to your config file:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "civic": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@civic/hub-bridge@latest"]
       }
     }
   }
   

   This uses the Hub Bridge method which works with any Claude Desktop version, including free.

3. Save and restart

   1. Save the config file
   2. Restart Claude Desktop for changes to take effect
4. First-time setup

   When you first use an MCP command, Hub Bridge opens a browser window to app.civic.com. Sign in to authenticate. If you haven’t created a Civic account yet, you’ll be walked through tool selection during sign-up.

Removing Tools

You can disconnect from specific tools directly in chat:

"Disconnect from Slack"  
"Remove GitHub from my tools"
"What tools do I currently have connected?"
"Stop my access to Dropbox"

Managing the Entire Connector

To remove the Civic connector completely:

1. Access connectors

   Go to Settings > Connectors in Claude Desktop

2. Remove connector

   1. Find “Civic” in your connectors list
   2. Click Remove or Delete next to the connector
   3. Confirm the removal when prompted
3. Clean up (optional)

   Visit app.civic.com to revoke service authorizations if you no longer want Civic to have access

Common Questions

Do I need a paid Claude plan?

Yes, MCP connectors are currently only available on Claude Pro and Team plans. The free Claude plan doesn’t support external integrations.

What if authentication fails?

If you encounter authentication issues:

• Make sure you’re logged into the correct account for the service
• Check if your account email matches between app.civic.com and the service
• Try removing and re-adding the MCP connector with a fresh URL
• Check our troubleshooting guide for more solutions

Can I use different email addresses?

If your app.civic.com account uses a different email than your connected services (e.g., [e-mail] vs [e-mail]), make sure you authenticate with the correct account for each service during the OAuth flow.

My connector shows as disconnected

Try these steps:

• Update Claude Desktop to the latest version
• Remove the connector completely and re-add with a fresh MCP URL
• Check that your system allows Claude network access
• Restart Claude Desktop after making changes

Two-Minute Verification

Once connected, test these prompts to make sure everything works:

If you selected GitHub

"List my GitHub repositories"
"Show me my recent pull requests"
"What issues are assigned to me?"

If you selected Slack

"What are the recent messages in #general?"
"List my Slack workspaces"
"Send a test message to myself"

If you selected Dropbox

"What files are in my Dropbox?"
"Show me recently modified documents"
"Search for files containing 'project'"

Need Help?

Troubleshooting Guide

Solutions for common Claude Desktop connection issues

Next Steps

Now that you’re connected, explore what you can do:

Browse More Servers

Add more MCP servers to expand Claude’s capabilities

Security Details

Learn how Civic keeps your data secure

Installing into an agent

Deploy Civic in autonomous agents and automation platforms

Client compatibility

See setup guides for other AI clients