Connectors
Connectors is the first tab in the Marketplace. It brings together a curated catalog of popular apps, your Connected Apps OAuth servers, and your Smithery connections, and shows one accurate status badge per app.
The catalog
Section titled “The catalog”Every entry in the catalog was checked against the provider’s own MCP server before it was added — Ptah confirms the server answers and how it expects you to sign in, rather than listing a name and hoping the URL still works. A search box and category chips (Code, Communication, Data, Design, Productivity, Sales & Marketing, Finance, DevOps) narrow the grid.
Three kinds of connector
Section titled “Three kinds of connector”Each card shows how that app signs in:
| Kind | Card says | What Connect does |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | Signs in with your browser | Opens your browser on the provider’s authorization page. Nothing to set up first. |
| App | Needs an app you create with the provider | Opens the Connected Apps form, pre-filled and with Advanced already open, so you can paste the client ID and secret you create with the provider. |
| Smithery | Managed by Smithery | Installs through your Smithery account. If the upstream app still needs authorization, Ptah opens that step for you and waits for it to finish. |
When you need to create an app
Section titled “When you need to create an app”Some providers require you to register your own app before they can authorize a connector. Ptah shows the work up front on the card, then guides you through it:
- Click Connect to open the pre-filled Connected Apps form with Advanced expanded.
- Follow the provider-specific numbered steps shown above the form.
- Copy the redirect URL shown in Advanced and register it with the provider.
- Paste the client ID and client secret the provider gives you, then connect.
The redirect URL comes from the Ptah host currently running the authorization flow. It can differ between the desktop, editor, and command-line hosts, so always copy the value shown in the form instead of reusing one from another installation.
Status badges
Section titled “Status badges”| Badge | Meaning | Action offered |
|---|---|---|
| Connected | The app is authorized and its tools are available | Disconnect |
| Needs authorization | The app is listed but will not answer until you finish sign-in | Authorize |
| Error | The provider reported a problem with this connection | Authorize, with a reason shown on the card |
| Not connected | Nothing is set up yet | Connect |
A Smithery connection you made outside Ptah shows no Disconnect button — Ptah will not remove a connection it did not create. The card says so, and Authorize explains rather than acting.
Connect a custom server
Section titled “Connect a custom server”A collapsed Connect a custom server section at the bottom of the grid embeds the same form used by Connected Apps — paste any OAuth MCP server URL that is not in the catalog yet.
The MCP chip in chat
Section titled “The MCP chip in chat”Every chat session shows an MCP chip in the header, next to the cost bar. It normally reads a plain connected count. When a server needs authorization or has failed, the chip turns amber and switches to <connected>/<total>. The chip also turns amber, with the count unchanged, when your claude.ai connectors are unavailable — see below.
Click the chip to see every server the session reports, each with its own status pill. A server marked Needs authorization or Failed gets an Authorize button:
- A Smithery server (key
smithery) opens the Smithery surface, where the Connections list has a per-connection Authorize button — one namespace endpoint can hold several connections, so there is no single thing to authorize from the chip itself. - A Connected Apps server re-runs the browser authorization for that server directly from the chip.
- Anything else — including a Connected Apps server whose connection record was removed — opens the Connectors tab so you can reconnect it there.
claude.ai connectors
Section titled “claude.ai connectors”If the popover shows a note about claude.ai connectors, this chat session is running on a different, third-party provider than the account those connectors belong to. Gmail, Calendar, Drive and Canva connectors live entirely with that account, so Ptah cannot configure, list, or manage them from here — the note only explains why they are absent.
The note links to Settings → Providers, where you can switch back to the account that owns them.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- Connected Apps — OAuth-secured MCP servers
- Smithery — hosted MCP servers and your account
- Cost and tokens — the rest of the chat header
- Marketplace overview