You want Claude to summarize the current project notes, but the task does not require sending a message or changing a ticket. Start with the source and action you need: read the notes, prepare a briefing, leave the original records alone. Choose the connector around that task before adding every service you use.
Connect one service for one defined task
Open the complete example · Download the full HTML source
Claude's connector instructions describe connectors as access to apps and services for retrieval and actions. Browse Customize → Connectors, inspect the service's description and capabilities, choose Connect or Install, and follow its authentication steps. Review the requested access before continuing.
The documentation distinguishes source permissions from connector permissions: an ordinary user connection does not provide access to a source record the person cannot access. Shared-credential custom connectors are an exception to that user-specific boundary. For a workplace connection, check the organization's required setup rather than substituting another account.
Team and Enterprise owners must enable connectors for the organization; ordinary individual authentication and Enterprise-managed authentication have different setup paths. The same help page also describes organization-wide action restrictions. A connector being available is different from your task needing every action it offers. Ask the responsible owner about an unavailable or blocked operation.
Give the briefing a small, inspectable source set
This original fictional exercise concerns a workshop-materials review. It is a handoff example, not the output of an actual Claude connection.
| Source | Supplied record | Supported briefing statement |
|---|---|---|
| N01, planning note | The coordinator proposes two printed worksheets. | Two worksheets are proposed. |
| N02, review note | The reviewers ask for one worked example before deciding. | The worked example is still a prerequisite to the decision. |
The useful briefing is short: “Two worksheets are proposed in N01. N02 requests a worked example before the reviewers decide. The next task is to prepare that example and take it back to the reviewers.” It does not say the worksheets were accepted, printed, delivered, or sent to anyone.
The HTML example keeps both supplied notes beside this briefing and a blank source-to-statement record. You can read the relationship without having access to a connected service. No connector ran to produce this illustration.
Ask for retrieval and a draft, with the action boundary stated
Use the actual approved locations and the task you want to complete:
Prepare a review briefing from the connected service named below.
Service and permitted project location: [SUPPLY]
Question for the briefing: [SUPPLY]
Required current documents and record identifiers: [SUPPLY]
Reader and intended handoff format: [SUPPLY]
Retrieve the permitted source records and show which ones you actually
accessed. For each important statement, include its document identifier
and supporting passage or section. Separate proposals, requests,
decisions and completed actions. Preserve missing or unavailable
sources as gaps instead of filling them from a similar public page.
Return the briefing and the unresolved question for the reader.
This task is retrieval and drafting only: do not send messages,
create tickets, change records or alter access settings.
That last instruction expresses the requested task. Configure tool permissions through the actual account and organization controls where appropriate; do not treat wording in a prompt as proof that a write operation is technically impossible.
Check one source before expanding the task
After the connection is established, begin with a document you can identify in the original service. Ask for a specific passage and compare the returned reference with that document. If it is unavailable, check the signed-in account, source permission, connector configuration, and any organization restrictions before requesting a larger briefing.
Keep a failed retrieval distinct from a document that was found but contains no answer. “The supplied note does not record acceptance” is different from “the note could not be accessed.” Your reader needs to know which situation applies.
For a broader investigation, the Claude Research guide explains checking coverage across source types. This connector task starts earlier: establish the permitted service and action, then retrieve the specific records needed for a useful handoff.
Finish with the briefing and its unresolved question, not a claim that the handoff happened. Put the reviewed text into the reader's required document or message format. If you prepare an HTML reading copy, keep the source references with the statements and update the maintained records separately.