Managing Uploaded Knowledge and Connectors

Audience: professionals who use Claude at work, no coding or API knowledge needed. Verified = checked against Anthropic's documentation or help center on 2026-10-16. Design guidance = widely taught practice, not a documented rule.

Uploaded knowledge (design guidance, plus verified Project facts)

• Upload current, authoritative documents; label them clearly (name, version, date) so Claude and people can tell them apart.
• Prefer clean, text-based files; scanned or messy files reduce quality.
• Avoid duplicates and conflicting versions; if two documents disagree, state which wins in the instructions.
• Remove sensitive data you do not need, and do not upload anything your organisation has not approved for this tool.
• Re-upload or replace files when they change; knowledge does not update itself.
• Remember paid plans scale large knowledge with retrieval, so very large collections may be searched, not read in full (D5.2).

Connectors (verified, from the Claude documentation)

A connector links Claude to an outside app or service (calendar, documents, issue tracker) so Claude can find information and take actions. Each is a connection to an MCP server the service runs.

How they work:

• You add one from Customize > Connectors (the directory), select Connect to Claude, sign in to the service and approve the access it asks for.
• On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector for the organisation, then each member connects their own account; members may see "Request" instead of "Connect".
• You choose in each conversation whether Claude may use a connector.
• You can disconnect later, and research can use enabled connectors automatically.

Labels in the directory (verified):

Whatever the label, a connected connector has the access you grant. Only connect to developers and organisations you trust.

Google Workspace connectors (Gmail, Calendar, Drive): available to users once enabled (on Team and Enterprise an Owner enables them first). Per the help center, Claude reads text from Drive files; embedded images are not processed. Newer help-center wording may add actions such as sending email or managing files with approval prompts; confirm what your version allows.

Keeping it safe

• Least access: connect only what the task needs; use accounts with limited permissions.
• Treat connected content as potentially untrusted: a document or email may contain instructions meant to manipulate Claude; review before acting on results.
• Approve actions (sending, sharing, deleting) yourself.
• Review connections periodically and disconnect unused ones.
• Follow your organisation's rules on which connectors are allowed (D6.4).

Exam traps

• Uploading everything "just in case".
• Assuming "Verified" means safe to give any access.
• Leaving unused connectors connected.
• Not checking what a connector can do before approving.
• Stale files treated as current.