A remote connector needs a reachable server, a supported sign-in flow, and permission to use the intended service. Check those prerequisites before debugging a prompt.
Claude's custom-connector documentation describes the current account setup. Its remote connections originate from Anthropic's infrastructure. A service reachable only from your laptop may therefore need a different deployment or approved network arrangement.
Add the remote connection
In the documented individual-account flow, open Customize, then Connectors, and choose the option to add a custom connector. Enter the server URL supplied by its provider and complete the connection and sign-in steps.
Organization-managed accounts can require an owner to add the connector before members connect. If that applies, use the organization's approval process. Interface labels and availability may change; use the linked current instructions for your account.
For OBTO, its getting-started page publishes https://app.obto.co/ms/mcp as the endpoint. Confirm the address against that page and authenticate through the normal connection flow.
Verify the destination before changing it
Once connected, ask Claude to identify the account or workspace, using the server's identity capability where available. For OBTO, that is obto_whoami. Check the returned identity and explicitly name the application and domain you want to work on.
Start with a read. For example, inspect an existing application's structure and ask for the relevant artifact names. Compare the result with a record you can independently recognize. This checks more than whether the connection appears enabled.
When you are ready to test a write, define a reversible change and request a read-back. Do not use an important customer record as the connection test.
Use a concrete first request
After adding OBTO, ask Claude: “Call the identity tool and show the account context. Do not change anything. I will name the application and domain after checking the result.” Then provide the exact target and request its application graph or one known artifact. Use a target you are authorized to inspect.
A successful result should let you recognize the destination and compare the returned artifact with the application. If the result names an unexpected domain, stop the workflow and resolve the scope. Rephrasing the content request cannot correct an account or target mismatch.
Keep this first session limited to inspection. Once the connection is established, make a later request explicit about what can change and whether the destination is live. That gives Claude a concrete action to perform and gives you a result to verify after the tool returns.
If the first call fails
Capture the actual error and identify its stage. Failure to connect points toward reachability or setup. A sign-in failure points toward authentication. A refused tool call may be an account or application permission issue. An empty result may be correct for the requested scope.
Changing several settings at once makes diagnosis harder. Recheck the endpoint, account, and one known read in order. If a write times out, inspect the target before retrying.
Local MCP configuration and Claude Code have their own connection paths. This walkthrough concerns the remote connector flow; follow the relevant client's documentation when using another path.