Connect Claude

Before you start

Who	What they need
Stensul admin	Admin access, the external API enabled on your instance, and the access_admin_api_connections permission. Your Stensul customer success manager can switch these on.
Claude admin	Admin access to your Claude Team or Enterprise organization.
Everyone else	A Stensul login. Nothing to install.

Your instance name is the first part of your Stensul address. If you sign in at northwind.stensul.com, your instance name is northwind. If you’re not sure, your Stensul admin can confirm it.

Not the Stensul admin? Send yours the settings from the config generator: it writes the message for you. Don’t know who your Stensul admin is? Ask your Stensul customer success manager, or email help@stensul.com from your work address.

1. Create the API connection in Stensul

Done once, by a Stensul admin.

1. Open API connections

   In Stensul, go to Admin > Settings > API connections and click Add connection. A panel titled Create a new connection opens.

2. Choose Authorization Code and name it

   Set Authorization Type to Authorization Code. Give it a name you’ll recognize, such as mcp-claude.

3. Add the redirect URI

   Under Redirect URIs, add this, with your instance name in place of <your-instance>. It points at Stensul’s MCP server, which finishes the sign-in and hands the token to Claude:

   https://mcp.stensul.com/<your-instance>/oauth/callback

4. Turn on PKCE and pick scopes

   Enable PKCE (Public). Select the scopes your team needs. The first four cover drafting. The last three turn on the image gallery and audience versions; a tool whose scope is missing returns a 403. See scopes.

   • libraries:read: read libraries
   • emails:read: read emails
   • emails:write: write emails
   • images:write: upload images (labeled Write images)
   • dam:read: browse the image gallery (labeled Read Dam images)
   • dynamic-content:read: read segment sets
   • dynamic-content:write: apply segment sets and write segment content

   The list shows other scopes too, such as capabilities:read, modules:write, users:read and roles:read. Leave them unchecked: the MCP doesn’t use them.

5. Save and copy the Client ID

   Click Save. A Credentials dialog opens: copy the Client ID from it, then click I’m finished. There is no client secret: with PKCE, the Client ID is all Claude needs.

Your MCP server URL uses the same instance name:

https://mcp.stensul.com/<your-instance>/mcp

2. Add Stensul to your Claude organization

Done once, by a Claude admin. Everyone in the workspace gets the connector.

1. Add a custom connector

   In Claude, go to Admin settings > Connectors (claude.ai/admin-settings/connectors) and choose to add a custom connector from the web.

   If you see You don’t have access to organization settings, you’re not a Claude admin. Send this step to yours.

2. Enter the URL and Client ID

   Name it Stensul and paste your MCP server URL. Keep Authentication set to Sign in now and set OAuth Client to Use your own OAuth client. Enter the Client ID from step 1 there (the Stensul admin sends it to you). If Claude shows an optional client secret field, leave it blank. Click Save or Add.

3. Allow your Stensul domain for image uploads

   In admin settings, open Capabilities > Additional allowed domains and add <your-instance>.stensul.com. Without it, uploading images from the chat fails.

3. Sign in and draft an email

Each person does this once.

1. Connect

   In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors and find Stensul under From your organization, then connect it. A Stensul sign-in page opens. Log in and approve the connection.

2. Ask for a draft

   Start a new chat. If you don’t know your library names yet, ask first:

   List the Stensul libraries I can use, with one line on what each is for.

   Then ask for a draft. Naming the library makes the assistant faster and its choices better:

   Using Stensul, create a draft email in the <library name> library announcing
   our autumn product launch. Audience: existing customers. Tone: warm, brief.
   Include one call to action linking to https://example.com/autumn.
   Show me a preview when it's done.

3. Check the result

   Claude finds an approved template, writes the copy into it, and shows a preview of the real email in the chat. It ends with a link to open the draft in Stensul and a summary of anything it could not change, such as locked footer text.

You’re done when you can open the edit link and see the draft in Stensul’s editor. The draft is never sent from the chat: you review it and send it through your normal Stensul flow.

Choose how much Claude can do

In Claude’s connector settings, each person can set every Stensul tool to always allowed, ask each time, or blocked. Tools that change content are labeled write in the tool reference.

If something goes wrong

What you see	Cause	Fix
Sign-in fails with a redirect error	The redirect URI is missing your instance name or doesn’t match	Set it to exactly https://mcp.stensul.com/<your-instance>/oauth/callback
Claude says it can’t reach Stensul	The MCP URL is wrong or missing the instance name	Check it is https://mcp.stensul.com/<your-instance>/mcp
Setup asks for a client secret	Some screens show an optional field	Leave it blank. PKCE connections have no secret
It worked before, now it asks you to sign in	Your authorization expired	Sign in again when prompted
No API connections page in Stensul	The external API is off, or you lack access_admin_api_connections	Ask your Stensul customer success manager
Stensul isn’t listed in Customize > Connectors	Your Claude admin hasn’t added it yet	Ask them to complete step 2

More errors, including the three different 403s, are in Errors and troubleshooting.