Claude × Gmail Web + Desktop 5 min setup

Connect Gmail to Claude with PortEden

Claude exposes two ways to add a Custom Connector: the claude.ai Connectors panel (cloud, no install) and the Claude Desktop config file (local, runs over mcp-remote). This guide covers both. Pick the path that matches your client, then the rest of the flow (auth, Gmail consent, verify) is the same. PortEden redacts PII before content reaches Anthropic and logs every tool call.

Gmail to Claude with PortEden as the data firewall. Same endpoint serves both Claude paths.

Two paths, one endpoint

Path A

claude.ai (web)

No install. Open claude.ai/customize/connectors and click +. Requires Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan.

Path B

Claude Desktop

Local config file. Uses npx mcp-remote to bridge the remote endpoint. Works on any plan.

What this unlocks

Once the connector is live, Claude can search and read your inbox, draft replies, send messages (with confirmation), and manage labels, all through a token PortEden creates automatically. Field-level redaction is on by default: names, email addresses, phone numbers, and 50+ other identifier types are stripped or tokenized before content leaves PortEden for Anthropic. Every tool call shows up in the PortEden audit log with the action, decision, and response shape.

Compared with using your raw Gmail OAuth token inside Claude (which Anthropic does not support directly for security reasons), routing through PortEden gives you:

Independent revocation: revoke the Claude token without touching the Google connection.
Per-AI scoping: a separate token for Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and others.
Redaction Claude cannot disable on its own.
An audit trail you can hand to security review.

Prerequisites

Item	Path A (Web)	Path B (Desktop)
Claude account	Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise (Free is limited to 1 custom connector)	Any plan, including Free
Claude client	Browser at claude.ai	Claude Desktop installed
Local tools	None	Node.js (for npx mcp-remote)
Gmail account	Yes	Yes
PortEden account	Created during the auth window (one-click Google or email)	Same: created during the auth window on first connector use

Org admin gating for Team/Enterprise on web

For Team and Enterprise Claude plans, only an Owner or Primary Owner can add a custom connector from Settings > Organization Settings > Connectors. Members cannot add custom connectors on their own. This restriction does not apply to Claude Desktop, which is configured per machine.

Choose your path

Both paths talk to the same PortEden MCP server, produce the same audit log entries, and respect the same access rules. Pick by environment, not by capability.

Factor	Pick Web (Path A)	Pick Desktop (Path B)
You use Claude in a browser	✓
You use Claude Desktop		✓
You want shared org config	✓ (one Owner adds it for everyone)
You are on a Claude Free plan and need this connector	Limited (one custom connector)	✓
You prefer no local install	✓
You already use mcp-remote for other servers		✓

Path A: claude.ai (web)

Make sure you are signed in to claude.ai.

Open the direct link: claude.ai/customize/connectors. (For Team or Enterprise, use Settings > Organization Settings > Connectors instead, admin only.)

Click the + button to add a custom connector.

Enter the values below, then click Add.

Web connector form values

Field	Value
Name	Gmail
URL	https://mcp.porteden.com/email
Advanced Settings	Leave empty (PortEden handles OAuth)

claude.ai Custom Connector form with Name set to Gmail and URL set to https://mcp.porteden.com/email — Path A in claude.ai: the Custom Connector form for Gmail through PortEden.

Claude will open a PortEden auth window on the first request that uses the connector. Continue at Step 3.

Path B: Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop's config supports local stdio MCP servers only. A small wrapper called mcp-remote runs via npx and bridges PortEden's remote endpoint into the local format Claude Desktop expects. You need Node.js installed.

Open the Claude Desktop config file. The fastest path: Settings > Developer > Edit Config in Claude Desktop.

Add (or merge) the mcpServers entry below.

Save the file and fully quit/restart Claude Desktop. The connector will not appear until restart.

First request that uses the connector triggers a PortEden auth window in your browser. Continue at Step 3.

Config file paths

Windows

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

macOS

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Linux

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Config to add

{ 
  "mcpServers": { 
    "Gmail": { 
      "command": "npx", 
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://mcp.porteden.com/email"] 
    } 
  } 
}

Already have other mcpServers?

Keep the existing entries. Add the Gmail entry as a sibling key inside mcpServers. Make sure the resulting file is still valid JSON (commas in the right places).

On the first request that uses the connector (either path), PortEden opens an auth window in your browser. This is the only PortEden-side UI you will see.

No PortEden account yet? Click Continue with Google for one-click signup, or use email. The account is created in the same flow. There is no separate signup page.

Already have an account? Sign in. If you are already signed in to my.porteden.com in this browser, the window detects the session and skips ahead.

Approve the connection. PortEden issues a scoped Access Token for this Claude connector and stores it on your account.

Step 4: Authorize Gmail

This step runs only if PortEden does not already have Gmail connected for your account.

First-time users

Click Connect Gmail, complete Google's OAuth consent, and approve the requested scopes. Read by default; send and modify if you want Claude to draft and send.

Existing users

PortEden detects the existing Gmail connection and skips this step. Claude returns to the chat with the connector active in a couple of seconds.

Workspace accounts

If your Gmail belongs to a Google Workspace, your admin may need to enable third-party OAuth. PortEden requests the standard Gmail scopes: gmail.readonly (default), plus gmail.send and gmail.modify when relevant.

Step 5: Verify and tighten

Verify with a quick read

Open a new Claude conversation and ask:

Please list my five most recent unread emails. Subject and sender only, no body.

Search my Gmail for messages from the marketing team in the last 30 days and summarize the themes.

Tighten the token (optional)

The token PortEden created for Claude defaults to email scope, redaction on, contact rules empty, and confirm-before-write for send and delete. Edit it at any time from my.porteden.com under Access Tokens.

Common adjustments

Setting	When to change it
Permission preset	Switch from read_and_draft to read_send if you want Claude to send without staging drafts first
Contact blocklist	Add HR, legal, board, or therapy contacts you do not want any AI touching
Time window	Narrow to 30/60/90 days if Claude does not need historical inbox access
Label exclusions	Block Confidential, Legal, NDA labels
Confirm-before-write	Leave on for send and delete; turn off only for drafts if you want one-click drafting

Suggested prompts

Claude tends to follow structured instructions and confirmation-style language particularly well. Try:

Inbox review

"Show me unread emails from the past 24 hours. Group into: urgent (mentions deadline or asks a question of me), responses awaited, and informational."

Thread find

"Find the most recent email thread about the Q3 plan and give me a 5-bullet summary plus the unanswered open questions."

Reply draft

"Draft a polite reply to the latest email from Sarah declining the meeting and proposing two alternative times next week. Save it as a draft. Do not send."

Outbound

"Send a short note to the design list confirming Friday 10am. Show me the full body and recipient list before sending."

Follow-up audit

"List emails I sent more than 5 working days ago that have not received a reply, with the recipient and subject."

Cleanup

"Identify recurring newsletters I have not opened in 30 days and propose a list to archive. Show me the list. I will confirm before any change."

Troubleshooting

Path A: web-specific

WEB_PLAN_REQUIRED

The Custom Connector option does not appear

Symptoms

You do not see a '+' button at claude.ai/customize/connectors.
claude.ai shows the directory connectors but no option to add a custom one.

Checks

Confirm your plan: Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise. Free users are limited to a single custom connector.
For Team/Enterprise: only an Owner can add a custom connector from Organization Settings.
If you are an Owner, the path is Settings > Organization Settings > Connectors, not the personal Customize panel.

Debug prompt for Claude

Tell me which Claude plan I am on and whether Custom Connectors are available in my current view.

WEB_OAUTH_LOOP

Auth window opens but never returns

Symptoms

The PortEden auth window opens, you sign in, but Claude does not show the connector as active.
The browser tab closes too quickly or hangs on a blank screen.

Checks

Allow pop-ups for claude.ai in your browser.
Open my.porteden.com in another tab, confirm you are signed in there, then retry the Claude request.
Disable strict privacy extensions (e.g. third-party cookie blockers) for claude.ai temporarily.
Try a fresh browser profile if a profile-level extension is blocking the redirect.

Debug prompt for Claude

Tell me the current state of the Gmail connector. Did the OAuth callback complete? Show any error you received.

Path B: desktop-specific

DESKTOP_CONFIG_INVALID

Claude Desktop ignores the connector after restart

Symptoms

You added the mcpServers entry, restarted Claude Desktop, but the Gmail tools do not appear.
Claude Desktop shows a startup error in the logs about MCP server configuration.

Checks

Validate the config file with a JSON linter (a missing comma or unescaped quote is the most common issue).
Make sure mcpServers is a top-level key, not nested inside another object.
Confirm you fully quit Claude Desktop and reopened it, not just closed the window.
Check the Claude Desktop logs (Settings > Developer > Open Logs Folder).

Debug prompt for Claude

Show me the contents of my Claude Desktop config file and any startup errors from the MCP subsystem.

DESKTOP_NPX_NOT_FOUND

npx or Node.js is not available

Symptoms

Claude Desktop logs report 'command not found' or 'spawn npx ENOENT'.
The connector starts to launch then fails immediately.

Checks

Install Node.js (any LTS release). On Windows, the installer adds npx to PATH automatically; on macOS/Linux you may need to restart your shell.
Run npx --version in a terminal to confirm it works outside Claude Desktop.
If you use a node version manager (nvm, asdf, fnm), make sure the version it activates is also available to GUI applications, not just shells.

Debug prompt for Claude

Tell me whether Node.js is installed and which version. If not installed, propose the install command for my operating system.

Shared (both paths)

MCP_UNREACHABLE

Claude cannot reach the PortEden MCP server

Symptoms

Claude reports the connector is unavailable or timing out.
Nothing appears in the PortEden audit log.

Checks

Confirm the URL is exactly https://mcp.porteden.com/email (web form) or in the args array (desktop config).
Check whether your network blocks outbound traffic to mcp.porteden.com.
Visit status.porteden.com if available, or try the URL in a browser (it should return an MCP handshake response, not 404).

Debug prompt for Claude

Attempt a connection to the Gmail MCP server and quote any HTTP status, error code, or response body you receive.

PERMISSION_DENIED

403 Permission denied on a specific email or action

Symptoms

Claude says it lacks permission, or reports an accessInfo string explaining a rule blocked the call.
Audit log shows a block decision with a rule name.

Checks

Open the token in PortEden and verify the action (send, delete, label) is enabled in the permission set.
Check contact and label rules: a blocked sender or excluded label denies matching messages.
Check the time window: requests outside the window are blocked.

Debug prompt for Claude

Quote the accessInfo field from the most recent permission_denied response, and tell me which rule, scope, or time window blocked the call.

GMAIL_REAUTH_REQUIRED

Gmail connection went stale

Symptoms

Calls were working, then all email tool calls fail immediately.
Audit log shows provider_reauth_required.

Checks

Open my.porteden.com > Connections. Gmail will show a yellow Needs reauth badge.
Click Reconnect and complete the Google OAuth flow again. This usually follows a Google password change or security event.

Debug prompt for Claude

Quote the last provider_reauth_required entry from PortEden and tell me which provider needs to be reconnected.

Debug prompts

Claude is willing to quote raw tool responses when asked directly. Paste these when something is unclear.

Tool not visible

"Please list every tool you have available from the Gmail connector right now, with a one-line description each. If you have none, say so explicitly."

Health check

"Call the whoami or health tool on the Gmail connector and quote the full JSON response back to me, including any error code or warning."

Permission denied

"Re-run the call that just failed. Then quote the accessInfo field from the response and tell me which rule blocked it."

Unexpected output

"Show me the raw JSON of the last successful tool response from the Gmail connector. Truncate to 1000 characters if needed."

Latency suspicion

"Tell me roughly how long the last Gmail tool call took and whether the response included any rate_limit or retry_after fields."

Token introspection

"Quote the token name or first eight characters from the whoami response so I can identify which PortEden token is in use."

The audit log is the source of truth

When Claude's self-report disagrees with what PortEden recorded, trust the audit log at my.porteden.com.

Security best practices

✓

One token per AI per use case. Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok each get their own PortEden token. If one misbehaves, revoke just that one.

✓

If you use both Path A (web) and Path B (desktop), they share the same token automatically. That is intentional; the user is the same, the Claude environment is the variable.

✓

For Team/Enterprise web setups, the Owner-added connector is shared with all members. Make sure the underlying token's redaction and contact rules satisfy your most cautious user, not your most permissive one.

✓

Start with read_and_draft. Send and delete are easy to add later when the workflow is proven.

✓

Keep Confirm-before-write on for send and delete. Claude is good at proposing actions; you stay in the loop on destructive ones.

✓

Review the audit log weekly. Filter by the Claude token to see what was asked, what was allowed, and what was blocked.

FAQ

Should I use Claude.ai web or Claude Desktop for Gmail access?

Use claude.ai web if you want zero local setup, work across devices, and prefer the same Connectors UI Anthropic ships natively. Use Claude Desktop if you want the connector available offline-of-the-web-UI, you already use mcp-remote for other servers, or your team standardized on Desktop. Both call the same PortEden endpoint and produce identical audit log entries.

Which Claude plan do I need for Custom Connectors on the web?

Per Anthropic's docs, Custom Connectors on claude.ai are available on Pro and Max individual plans, and on Team and Enterprise organization plans (where an Owner adds them centrally). Free users are limited to one custom connector. Claude Desktop's config-file path has no plan gating; it works for any Claude account.

What is mcp-remote and why does Claude Desktop need it?

Claude Desktop's MCP config supports local stdio-based servers. mcp-remote is a small wrapper, run via npx, that bridges remote MCP servers (like PortEden's) into the local stdio format Claude Desktop expects. You need Node.js installed for npx to work.

Does Anthropic train Claude on my Gmail content?

Anthropic's data use policy varies by plan tier. For paid Pro/Team/Enterprise plans, conversation data is generally not used to train models by default. PortEden reduces what Claude receives in the first place: PII is redacted, fields are minimized, and you can scope access to read-only, specific contacts, or time windows. Confirm Anthropic's current policy for your tier before relying on any training-related claim.

How does Claude know to use the PortEden connector for an email query?

Claude's tool selection reads the connector name plus the tool descriptions PortEden exposes via MCP. With the connector named 'Gmail', when you ask Claude something like 'summarize my unread email', it routes the call through this connector. Pick a name that matches user intent, not the gateway brand.

Can I use the same PortEden account across Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and others?

Yes. PortEden issues a separate scoped Access Token per AI client, all backed by the same Google connection. Revoke one token without breaking the others. Each token has its own permissions, redaction rules, and audit trail entries.

Two paths, one endpoint

claude.ai (web)

Claude Desktop

What this unlocks

Prerequisites

Choose your path

Path A: claude.ai (web)

Path B: Claude Desktop

Config file paths

Config to add

Step 3: Sign in to PortEden

Step 4: Authorize Gmail

First-time users

Existing users

Step 5: Verify and tighten

Verify with a quick read

Tighten the token (optional)

Suggested prompts

Troubleshooting

Path A: web-specific

The Custom Connector option does not appear

Auth window opens but never returns

Path B: desktop-specific

Claude Desktop ignores the connector after restart

npx or Node.js is not available

Shared (both paths)

Claude cannot reach the PortEden MCP server

403 Permission denied on a specific email or action

Gmail connection went stale

Debug prompts

Security best practices

FAQ

Should I use Claude.ai web or Claude Desktop for Gmail access?

Which Claude plan do I need for Custom Connectors on the web?

What is mcp-remote and why does Claude Desktop need it?

Does Anthropic train Claude on my Gmail content?

How does Claude know to use the PortEden connector for an email query?

Can I use the same PortEden account across Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and others?

Next steps

Connect Outlook to Claude

Connect Google Drive to Claude

PortEden for Claude

MCP Email tool reference