using glue with claude.md

Using Glue with Claude

Once connected, Claude can search your threads, read full transcripts with attribution, and answer questions grounded in your team's actual conversations — without leaving the AI client you're already using.

{% hint style="info" %} New to MCP? Model Context Protocol is an open standard that gives AI assistants a uniform way to read external data and use external tools. The Glue MCP server is the bridge that lets Claude (and similar clients) access your Glue threads on your behalf. {% endhint %}

The Glue MCP server is currently in design-partner preview. Read-only for now — write tools (create thread, send message) are coming soon.

How it works

When you connect Claude to the Glue MCP server, Claude gains five read-only tools:

Search your threads by topic, time range, or recipient
Read full thread transcripts with per-message attribution
Look up users and groups in your workspace

You authenticate once with OAuth, scoped to your own Glue user. Every tool call respects the thread permissions you already have in Glue — Claude can only see what you can see.

{% hint style="success" %} Pro tip: Ask Claude to summarize a long thread before you scroll through it yourself. "Summarize the planning thread from last week" is faster than reading top to bottom, and Claude will link you back to the exact messages it pulled from. {% endhint %}

Setting up the Glue MCP server

The Glue MCP server runs at:

https://mcp.glue.ai/mcp

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Claude Desktop" %}

Step 1 — Open Connector settings

In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.

Step 2 — Add the Glue MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste the server URL:

https://mcp.staging.glue.ai/mcp

Click Add.

Step 3 — Authorize Glue

Claude opens the Glue consent screen in your browser. Review what's being requested (read access to your threads, users, and groups) and click Allow.

{% hint style="warning" %} In current Claude releases, the browser tab sometimes doesn't auto-close after you authorize. The connection still works — just switch back to Claude manually. {% endhint %}

Step 4 — Try it

In a new Claude conversation, ask: "Use Glue to summarize the most recent project thread I've been on." Claude will call the Glue MCP tools and answer with links back to the source thread.

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Claude.ai (web)" %}

Step 1 — Open Connector settings

Open the profile menu in the top right, then go to Settings → Connectors.

Step 2 — Add the Glue MCP server

Click Add custom connector, paste the server URL, and click Add:

https://mcp.glue.ai/mcp

Step 3 — Authorize Glue

Step 4 — Try it

Start a new conversation and try a prompt like "In Glue, what did we decide about [topic] in the [thread name] thread?"

{% hint style="info" %} If you don't see Add custom connector in your settings, your Claude workspace may have custom connectors restricted to admins. Ask your admin to add Glue at the workspace level, or install it on your personal Claude account. {% endhint %} {% endtab %}

{% tab title="Workspace admin install" %} To make Glue available to everyone in your Claude workspace:

Step 1 — Open Workspace settings

Step 2 — Add the connector

Click Add custom connector and paste the Glue MCP server URL.

Step 3 — Save

{% hint style="warning" %} Make sure to click Add at the end of the dialog. It's easy to half-complete the flow and not realize the connector wasn't saved. If team members report Glue isn't appearing in their connector list, the most common cause is an unsaved admin install. {% endhint %}

Each team member still authenticates individually via OAuth — admin install just makes the connector available for them to connect. {% endtab %}

{% tab title="Other MCP clients" %} The Glue MCP server is standard MCP. We've tested it working with:

Claude Desktop (Mac and Windows)
Claude.ai (web)
Claude API and Claude Code
The MCP test client at mcpplaygroundonline.com

For any other MCP client, the pattern is the same: paste the server URL, complete the OAuth flow, and the Glue tools become available.

{% hint style="info" %} ChatGPT custom connectors work in theory, but OpenAI requires admin-enabled "developer mode" and the setting location varies by ChatGPT release. We've seen flakiness on OpenAI's side during testing. {% endhint %} {% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

What you can ask Claude

Once Glue is connected, you can ask questions like:

"Summarize the last week of the Q2 roadmap thread."
"What did we decide about API rate limits in the infrastructure thread?"
"Find every thread where we discussed authentication and tell me where things landed."
"Pull the thread Sadia and I were debating last Friday and give me the three open questions."
"What groups am I in?"

Claude returns answers with attribution and links back to the source messages in Glue.

{% hint style="success" %} Pro tip: If Claude seems unsure who you are, paste your Glue user ID once at the start of the conversation. Claude can identify the connected user automatically, but explicit instruction never hurts. {% endhint %}

Limitations

{% hint style="warning" %} The Glue MCP server is in design-partner preview. Expect some limitations, specifically:

Read-only. Write tools (create_thread, send_message) are not yet available.
Search caps at 50 results. Broad queries in large workspaces may truncate.
Activity-ranked sorting is not supported. Coming soon.
No real-time subscriptions. Reading a thread reflects its current state; there's no change feed yet.
Enterprise SSO is not yet supported. Currently under investigation. {% endhint %}

Coming soon

We're working on the following next:

Write tools — create_thread and send_message so Claude can take action on your behalf
Activity metrics on threads — message count and latest-message timestamp, so activity-ranked queries work
Listing in Claude's connector directory — so you can install Glue without pasting a custom URL
Per-connector scope controls — so you can grant Claude access to a subset of your workspaces rather than everything you see

Stay tuned as we continue to enhance Glue's MCP server!

Troubleshooting

Claude says it can't find Glue

Nine times out of ten, the OAuth flow didn't fully complete, or an admin who installed Glue at the workspace level didn't click the final Add button.

Open Claude → Settings → Connectors. If Glue isn't listed, re-add the connector and walk through the OAuth flow end to end.

The browser tab didn't auto-close after I authorized

Known Claude-side issue, reproducible with other MCP servers too. The connection has still worked — just switch back to your Claude window manually. Glue should now show as connected.

Claude says "authentication required" even after I authorized

Most likely the token expired or the grant was revoked. Disconnect Glue from Claude's connector settings and re-add it. If that doesn't help, check Glue → Settings → Authorized Apps to make sure Claude is still listed.

Claude returned a thread but it's the wrong one

Search ranks by relevance to your query. If multiple threads share similar subjects, Claude may pick the wrong candidate. Try:

Including a person or time range: "the planning thread Sadia and I were on last week"
Asking Claude to list candidates first: "Show me the threads matching X, then ask me which one"

Claude says it can't find an answer that I know is in the thread

A few possibilities:

The answer is further back in the thread than Claude paged. Ask: "Keep paging — it's older than that."
Search returned a different thread than the one you meant. Name the thread explicitly.
The answer is implied rather than stated. Claude is conservative on read — it prefers "I don't see an explicit answer" over inference. This is a feature for trust, but it sometimes means you need to ask more directly.

Claude appears to be making things up

This is the failure mode we care about most. Please flag any examples via support@glue.ai or in the MCP Server Feedback thread, with the prompt, Claude's response, and the thread URL Claude cited (or didn't). We'll investigate.

I want to revoke Claude's access immediately

In Glue, go to Settings → Authorized Apps → Claude → Revoke. This invalidates the OAuth tokens server-side. For belt-and-suspenders, also disconnect Glue from Claude's connector settings.

Privacy and access

Claude only sees Glue threads that your authenticated user can already see — the MCP server enforces the same permissions as the Glue UI. There is no admin-mode bypass.

If you want Claude limited to a subset of your workspaces, the current workaround is to authenticate with a Glue user whose access is already scoped. Per-connector scope controls are on the roadmap.

For technical details on authentication and tool schemas, see the Glue Developers section.