Connect to Microsoft 365

Give Claude access to your organization’s Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams data through a connector you register in your own Microsoft Entra tenant.

The remote connector is hosted by Anthropic. Data in transit passes through Anthropic’s infrastructure, which is based in the United States. Anthropic does not collect or store any data that transits through the server. To keep all Microsoft 365 traffic between the user’s device and Microsoft instead, use the local connector.

When Claude Desktop is deployed on third-party inference, Claude can read your organization’s Microsoft 365 data (Outlook mail and calendar, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams) through a connector registered in your own Microsoft Entra tenant. Two connectors are available: a remote connector hosted by Anthropic, and a local connector built into the desktop app.

Choose a connector

Both connectors provide the same read and search tools; they differ in data path and authentication. Write actions (sending mail, managing drafts and calendar events, and working with files) are available on the local connector when you grant write scopes. For write actions on the remote connector, contact your Anthropic representative. Use this table to pick one, then follow that connector’s section below.

	Remote connector	Local connector
Microsoft 365 data path	Transits Anthropic’s infrastructure (no storage)	Stays between the user’s device and Microsoft
App registrations you own	One desktop client app, plus tenant consent to Anthropic’s connector app	One dedicated public client app
Token exchange	On-behalf-of exchange in Anthropic’s infrastructure	Tokens acquired and stored on the device
Allowlisting with Anthropic	Required (two to three business days)	Not needed
Device egress	login.microsoftonline.com and the connector host	login.microsoftonline.com and graph.microsoft.com
Device-based Conditional Access	Not supported (the server-side exchange has no device identity)	Supported on managed Windows and Mac devices through brokered sign-in
Write actions	Contact your Anthropic representative	Available with write scopes
US Government clouds	Separate connector deployment; contact your Anthropic representative	Built in; set azureCloud

Remote connector

When Claude Desktop is deployed on third-party inference, Claude can read your organization’s Microsoft 365 data (Outlook mail and calendar, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams) through Anthropic’s Microsoft 365 connector service. The desktop app authenticates with an app registration you create in your own Microsoft Entra tenant, and the connector service performs the Microsoft Graph calls on the signed-in user’s behalf.

Anthropic’s connector service receives the desktop’s delegated access token on each request and exchanges it on-behalf-of the user for a short-lived Graph token. Neither token is persisted server-side beyond the request, and Anthropic never holds your tenant’s client secrets or the user’s refresh token (the refresh token stays encrypted on the user’s device).

Setup takes about fifteen minutes and requires a Global Administrator or Cloud Application Administrator in your Entra tenant.

How the connection works

Three applications participate in the sign-in chain. Understanding which one each ID refers to makes the setup steps below easier to follow.

Application	Owner	Purpose
Desktop client app	You (registered in your tenant)	What Claude Desktop signs in as. Public client, PKCE, no secret.
Anthropic connector app	Anthropic (multi-tenant)	Receives the desktop’s token and calls Microsoft Graph on the user’s behalf.
Microsoft Graph	Microsoft	The Microsoft 365 data APIs.

Claude Desktop signs in through your desktop client app, receives a token scoped to the Anthropic connector app, and sends that token to Anthropic’s connector service. The connector service exchanges it for a Graph token using the on-behalf-of flow and makes Graph calls as the signed-in user.

Set up the remote connector

The four steps below cover tenant consent, app registration, allowlisting, and desktop configuration.

1. Consent the Anthropic connector app into your tenant

   A tenant administrator must consent to Anthropic’s multi-tenant connector app once for the organization. This creates a service principal in your tenant; no secret is exchanged.

   Open the following URL after replacing YOUR_TENANT_ID with the Directory (tenant) ID shown in Entra admin center → Overview.

   https://login.microsoftonline.com/YOUR_TENANT_ID/adminconsent?client_id=07c030f6-5743-41b7-ba00-0a6e85f37c17
   

   The consent screen lists the delegated Microsoft Graph permissions the connector requests. All are read-only:

   Scope	Purpose
   User.Read	Read the signed-in user’s profile
   Mail.Read, Mail.Read.Shared	Read mail in the user’s and shared mailboxes
   Calendars.Read, Calendars.Read.Shared	Read events in the user’s and shared calendars
   Files.Read.All	Read files the user can access in OneDrive and SharePoint
   Sites.Read.All	Read SharePoint site content the user can access
   Chat.Read, ChatMessage.Read	Read Teams chat messages the user can access
   offline_access	Allow the desktop to refresh its token without re-prompting

   Review the permissions and select Accept.

   FedRAMP and GovCloud deployments use a different connector app ID and a different connector service hostname. Contact your Anthropic representative for the app ID to use in this URL and in the scope string in step 4, and for the connector URL to use in step 4.

2. Register a desktop client app in your tenant

   Create the public client that Claude Desktop will sign in as.

   1. In Entra admin center → App registrations → New registration, set Name to Claude Desktop (or your preferred name), set Supported account types to Accounts in this organizational directory only, and add a Redirect URI of platform Mobile and desktop applications with the value http://127.0.0.1/callback.
   2. Select Register, then note the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID shown on the overview page.
   3. Under API permissions → Add a permission → APIs my organization uses, search for Anthropic (or paste the connector app ID from step 1), select Delegated permissions → access_as_user, then Add permissions.
   4. Select Grant admin consent for {your organization}.

   No client secret is needed; this is a public client that uses PKCE.

3. Send Anthropic your IDs

   Anthropic maintains an allowlist of tenant and client IDs that may call the connector service. Email your Anthropic representative, or open a support ticket, with your Directory (tenant) ID and the Application (client) ID from step 2. Allowlisting is typically completed within two to three business days, as it requires a connector service deployment.

   Until the allowlist is updated, sign-in will succeed but the connector returns Client application is not authorized for this resource.

4. Configure Claude Desktop

   In the Claude Desktop in-app configuration window, open Connectors & extensions, select Add server → Microsoft 365, and enter the values below.

   Field	Value
   Client ID	The Application (client) ID from step 2
   Tenant ID	Your Directory (tenant) ID
   Scope	api://07c030f6-5743-41b7-ba00-0a6e85f37c17/access_as_user offline_access

   Select Save, then deploy the configuration through your device-management tool as usual.

   If you manage configuration through JSON or a plist directly instead of the in-app configuration window, add the following entry to managedMcpServers.

   {
     "name": "m365",
     "url": "https://microsoft365.mcp.claude.com/mcp",
     "transport": "http",
     "oauth": {
       "clientId": "APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID_FROM_STEP_2",
       "tenantId": "DIRECTORY_TENANT_ID",
       "scope": "api://07c030f6-5743-41b7-ba00-0a6e85f37c17/access_as_user offline_access"
     }
   }
   

Sign in as a user

After the configuration is deployed, each user opens Settings → Connectors in Claude Desktop and selects Connect next to Microsoft 365. Their browser opens to your tenant’s sign-in page; once they consent, the connector is ready to use in conversations.

Allow the required network hosts

In addition to the base egress hosts, Claude Desktop needs outbound HTTPS access to the hosts below. The connector service itself calls graph.microsoft.com from Anthropic’s infrastructure, so user devices do not need egress to Graph.

Host	Purpose
login.microsoftonline.com	Microsoft Entra sign-in
microsoft365.mcp.claude.com	The connector service (substitute your deployment’s hostname)

Troubleshoot sign-in errors

The errors below are the ones most commonly seen during setup. Each maps to a specific step that was missed or misconfigured.

Error	Cause	Fix
AADSTS50011 redirect mismatch	Redirect URI is not exactly http://127.0.0.1/callback, or was registered under Web instead of Mobile and desktop applications	Re-check step 2.1
AADSTS50194 multi-tenant required	Tenant ID is missing from the configuration	Add Tenant ID in step 4
AADSTS65001 admin consent required	Step 1 was not completed, or step 2.4 was skipped	Complete admin consent
Client application is not authorized for this resource	Anthropic allowlist not yet updated	Wait for confirmation from step 3
AADSTS9000411 duplicate prompt parameter	Older Claude Desktop build	Upgrade to the current release

Local connector

Claude Desktop includes a built-in copy of the Microsoft 365 server. As an alternative to the remote connector, you can configure the app to run that server as a local process on each user’s machine: the user signs in to Microsoft Entra on the device, and the server calls Microsoft Graph directly from the device. No Microsoft 365 data or tokens pass through Anthropic’s infrastructure.

Choose the local connector when your data-residency requirements do not allow Microsoft 365 content to transit infrastructure outside your control, when your tenant enforces device-based Conditional Access policies (such as Require compliant device) that the remote connector’s server-side token exchange cannot satisfy, or when you want to avoid the allowlisting step. The comparison table above summarizes the differences.

Set up the local connector

1. Register a public client app for local mode

   Do not reuse the desktop client app you registered for the remote connector. That app is consented only for the connector’s own scope, so its tokens can reach nothing but the connector service. The local-mode app needs Microsoft Graph permissions directly, and adding those to the remote connector app’s client ID would let any token minted for it read Microsoft 365 data directly, tenant-wide. Register a separate app dedicated to local mode.

   1. In Entra admin center → App registrations → New registration, set Name to Claude Desktop M365 Local (or your preferred name) and set Supported account types to Accounts in this organizational directory only.
   2. Under Authentication, open the Redirect URI configuration tab and select Add redirect URI (on older versions of the portal, select + Add a platform instead). Choose the Mobile and desktop applications card (the Windows, UWP, and Console card, not the iOS / macOS card, which takes a bundle ID rather than a redirect URI). Leave the suggested redirect URIs unchecked, enter http://localhost in the Custom redirect URIs box, and select Configure. This is the standard loopback redirect for desktop apps: during browser sign-in, Microsoft Entra redirects to a listener on the device itself, so the response never leaves the machine. For brokered sign-in on managed devices, also add the per-platform broker redirect URI shown under How users sign in. Add it to the same platform by selecting Edit on the Mobile and desktop applications section that appears on the Authentication page, rather than adding another platform, and select Save at the top when you finish (on older versions of the portal, add the broker URI via the Add URI row inside the platform section instead). After you save, Microsoft Entra may display the msauth URI under a separate iOS / macOS section. That placement is expected because both sections map to publicClient.redirectUris in the app’s manifest.
   3. Under Authentication, set Allow public client flows to Yes, and select Save. The control is on the Settings tab under Web and SPA settings (on older versions of the portal, under Advanced settings). Brokered sign-in on managed devices issues token requests without a redirect URI, so Microsoft Entra relies on this setting to classify the app as a public client. With it set to No, brokered silent token acquisition fails with AADSTS7000218. To prevent device-code phishing, apply a tenant Conditional Access policy that blocks the device-code authentication flow. Conditional Access policies target the resource a token is requested for rather than the requesting client, so scope the policy to All resources, not to this registration.
   4. Under API permissions → Add a permission → Microsoft Graph → Delegated permissions, add the scopes the connector will request (the default set is listed under Configure scopes), then select Grant admin consent for {your organization}.
   5. Note the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID from the overview page.
2. Configure Claude Desktop

   In the Claude Desktop in-app configuration window, open Connectors & extensions, select Add server, and choose Microsoft 365 under the Built-in group. Enter the values below, then select Test connection to verify that the server starts and lists its tools, and select Save.

   Field	Value
   Tenant ID	Your Directory (tenant) ID
   Client ID	The Application (client) ID from step 1
   Azure cloud	global (default), us-gov-high, or us-gov-dod
   Access	Leave empty for standard read access, or list scopes explicitly (see Configure scopes)

   If you manage configuration through JSON or a plist directly, add an entry to managedMcpServers with the server field set to microsoft365:

   {
     "name": "Microsoft 365",
     "server": "microsoft365",
     "tenantId": "DIRECTORY_TENANT_ID",
     "clientId": "APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID_FROM_STEP_1"
   }
   

   Field	Required	Description
   name	Yes	Unique display name, shown to users in connector settings.
   server	Yes	Must be microsoft365. Built-in entries use this field instead of url, transport, or command; an entry that mixes server with those fields is rejected.
   clientId	Yes	The Application (client) ID of the local-mode app from step 1.
   tenantId	Yes	Your Directory (tenant) ID.
   azureCloud	No	global (default), us-gov-high, or us-gov-dod. Selects the Microsoft Entra and Microsoft Graph hosts for US Government clouds.
   scope	No	Space-separated delegated Graph scopes to request instead of the default read set. A string array named scopes is also accepted. See Configure scopes.
   toolPolicy	No	Per-tool approval locks, the same as for any managed server. See toolPolicy.

   The server ships inside the app, so nothing else needs to be installed on the device, and it activates only from managed configuration; users cannot add it themselves. Deploy the configuration through your device-management tool as usual.

3. Allow the required network hosts for local mode

   The local connector calls Microsoft directly from the device, so in addition to the base egress hosts, devices need outbound HTTPS access to:

   Host	Purpose
   login.microsoftonline.com	Microsoft Entra sign-in
   graph.microsoft.com	Microsoft Graph data APIs

   US Government cloud deployments use login.microsoftonline.us and graph.microsoft.us (or dod-graph.microsoft.us for us-gov-dod) instead, matching the azureCloud setting. GCC High (us-gov-high) support has been confirmed in customer deployments. No egress to any Anthropic host is needed for Microsoft 365 data with the local connector.

Configure scopes

With no scope field, the connector requests the standard read set at sign-in:

Scope	Purpose
User.Read	Read the signed-in user’s profile
Mail.Read, Mail.Read.Shared	Read mail in the user’s and shared mailboxes
Calendars.Read, Calendars.Read.Shared	Read events in the user’s and shared calendars, and find meeting times
Files.Read.All	Read files the user can access in OneDrive and SharePoint
Sites.Read.All	Read SharePoint site content the user can access
Chat.Read	Read Teams chat messages the user can access
OnlineMeetings.Read	Read the user’s online meetings
offline_access	Refresh tokens without re-prompting

To request a different set, list scopes in the entry’s scope field. The connector then requests exactly that list (plus User.Read and offline_access, which are always included). Use the list to narrow the read surface, to add the optional read scopes below, or to add write scopes. Whatever you list must also be consented on the app registration from step 1; keep the two lists in sync.

Three optional read scopes are not in the standard set:

• ChannelMessage.Read.All adds Teams channel messages to chat search results. Requires tenant-admin consent.
• OnlineMeetingTranscript.Read.All enables reading meeting transcripts. Requires tenant-admin consent.
• MailboxSettings.Read enables reading mail filters and automatic-reply settings.

Until the first two are granted, chat search omits channel results and transcript requests return a permission error.

The scope field accepts only scopes the connector can use. An entry containing an unrecognized scope name is rejected as a whole at configuration load, with an error in the app’s main log listing the valid names, and the connector does not appear.

Narrowing or removing scope shrinks what the connector requests at the next sign-in, but it does not narrow tokens already obtainable for the registration: Microsoft Entra issues tokens carrying every scope previously consented for the app, regardless of what is requested. To revoke access, remove the consent in Entra under Enterprise applications → your app → Permissions.

The connector provides these read and search tools:

Tool	What it does
outlook_email_search	Search Outlook mail
outlook_calendar_search	Search calendar events
find_meeting_availability	Find free meeting times
chat_message_search	Search Teams chat (1:1 and group; channel messages need ChannelMessage.Read.All)
sharepoint_search, sharepoint_folder_search	Search SharePoint and OneDrive
read_resource	Fetch a specific item, such as a message, event, or file

Granting write scopes enables write tools; see Grant write scopes.

Grant write scopes

With only read scopes granted, the connector is read-only. To let Claude take actions in Microsoft 365 (sending mail, managing drafts, labels, filters, and calendar events, and working with files in OneDrive and SharePoint), grant write scopes: add them to the entry’s scope field and consent them on the app registration from step 1, the same as any other scope. Each write tool appears only when its scope is in the entry’s list, so granting a subset of the write scopes exposes a matching subset of the tools, and removing the write scopes from the list returns the connector to read-only. Write tools require Claude Desktop version 1.19367.0 or later.

Scope	What it enables
Mail.Send	Send mail, send drafts, and forward mail
Mail.ReadWrite	Create, update, and delete drafts; trash, untrash, and delete messages; apply and remove labels on messages
Calendars.ReadWrite	Create, update, delete, and respond to calendar events
Files.ReadWrite.All	Create, update, rename, move, copy, and delete files and folders the user can edit in OneDrive and SharePoint
MailboxSettings.ReadWrite	Manage labels, mail filters, and automatic replies

Sending drafts and forwarding mail also require a mail read scope (one of Mail.Read, Mail.ReadWrite, or Mail.Read.Shared) for the pre-send checks; the standard read set already includes one.

Every write tool requires user approval on each call by default. Administrators can change a tool’s approval state with toolPolicy, except for the send tools (outlook_send_mail, outlook_send_draft, outlook_forward_mail, outlook_create_event, outlook_update_event): an allow setting for them resolves to ask, so they always require approval on each call.

How users sign in

After the configuration is deployed, the connector appears in Settings → Connectors in Claude Desktop. Sign-in starts when the user selects Connect.

On both Windows and macOS, sign-in goes through the device’s native authentication broker when the device is set up for it: a system account-picker dialog appears instead of the browser, and the issued tokens carry the device identity claim that device-based Conditional Access policies (such as Require compliant device) evaluate. When the broker is unavailable, sign-in opens the system browser instead. The requirements for each platform are listed below.

Browser sign-in works on tenants without device-based Conditional Access policies. It satisfies device policies only when the browser itself carries the device identity: on Windows, a browser signed in with the work account on an Entra-joined device (such as Microsoft Edge) provides this; on macOS, deploy Microsoft’s Enterprise SSO browser integration, or use brokered sign-in instead.

Requirements for brokered sign-in on Windows

Brokered sign-in on Windows requires Claude Desktop version 1.13576.0 or later.

• Windows 10 or later (desktop editions). The broker (Web Account Manager, or WAM) is built into Windows; no separate install is needed.
• The device is joined or registered to Entra ID (Entra joined, Entra hybrid joined, or Entra registered). For device-based Conditional Access, the device must also be marked compliant in Intune or hybrid-joined, as your policy requires.
• The broker redirect URI is registered on the local-mode app under Mobile and desktop applications, with APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID replaced by the Application (client) ID from step 1:

ms-appx-web://Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin/APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID

If the broker rejects the app’s sign-in request, or a brokered attempt fails with an error the broker cannot recover from, the connector falls back to the system browser automatically and stays on the browser flow until Claude Desktop restarts. A user canceling the broker dialog does not trigger the fallback. On tenants that require a compliant device, tool calls then fail with AADSTS53003, unless the browser itself carries the device identity (see above); fix the broker requirement that caused the fallback (most often a missing broker redirect URI) and restart the app. A fallback is recorded in the connector’s log file as a local_auth_broker_fallback event.

Requirements for brokered sign-in on macOS

• The Mac is enrolled in an MDM (Intune, Jamf, or similar), registered in Entra ID, and marked compliant. For non-Intune MDMs, use the partner device-compliance integration that reports compliance to Intune and Entra.
• Intune Company Portal is installed; it provides the broker.
• An Extensible SSO configuration profile of type Redirect, pointed at the Microsoft Enterprise SSO plug-in, is deployed through MDM. The broker is unavailable without it.
• The broker redirect URI is registered on the local-mode app under Mobile and desktop applications (it appears under the iOS / macOS section after saving):

msauth.com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.helper://auth

If the broker rejects the app’s sign-in request, or a brokered attempt fails with an error the broker cannot recover from, the connector falls back to the system browser automatically and stays on the browser flow until Claude Desktop restarts. A user canceling the broker dialog does not trigger the fallback. On tenants that require a compliant device, tool calls then fail with AADSTS53003, unless the browser itself is signed in through the device’s SSO integration; fix the broker requirement that caused the fallback (most often a missing broker redirect URI or SSO profile) and restart the app. A fallback is recorded in the connector’s log file as a local_auth_broker_fallback event.

Token storage and sign-out

The connector’s Entra tokens are stored on the device, encrypted by Claude Desktop using the operating system’s secure storage. Each configured entry has its own token store, and tokens persist across app restarts so users are not asked to sign in again each session.

Selecting Disconnect next to the connector signs the user out and deletes its stored tokens. Where the user signed in through the broker, the device’s work or school account itself is managed by the operating system and remains after Disconnect, as with any other brokered app; remove the account in Windows Settings (Accounts → Access work or school) or macOS Company Portal, or revoke the user’s sessions in Entra, to end access entirely (revocation takes effect once the current access token expires).

Troubleshoot the local connector

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Test connection reports that the built-in server is not included	The installed Claude Desktop version predates the built-in connector	Upgrade Claude Desktop
Microsoft 365 is missing from the Add server options	The installed Claude Desktop version predates the built-in connector	Upgrade Claude Desktop, or author the JSON entry directly
Connector missing from settings	The entry was rejected during configuration parsing: an unrecognized scope name in scope, a missing tenantId or clientId, or a url, transport, or command field mixed into the entry	Check the app’s main log for a line naming the dropped entry
Sign-in opens the browser on a managed device where the broker was expected	macOS: Company Portal is not installed, the SSO configuration profile is not deployed, or the broker redirect URI is not registered. Windows: Claude Desktop is older than 1.13576.0, the device is not Entra-joined or Entra-registered, or the broker redirect URI is not registered	Re-check the brokered sign-in requirements above
AADSTS50011 redirect mismatch	The http://localhost redirect URI is missing, or was registered under Web instead of Mobile and desktop applications	Re-check step 1.2
AADSTS900971 no reply address provided	The macOS broker redirect URI is not registered on the local-mode app	Register msauth.com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.helper://auth as described in step 1.2 (after you save, it appears under the iOS / macOS section)
AADSTS65001 admin consent required	Graph delegated permissions were not admin-consented	Re-check step 1.4
AADSTS53003 blocked by Conditional Access	A device-compliance policy is evaluating a sign-in that carries no device claim	Meet the brokered sign-in requirements for the platform, then restart Claude Desktop
AADSTS7000218 request body must contain client_assertion or client_secret	Allow public client flows is set to No on the local-mode app registration, so brokered token requests are classified as confidential	Set Allow public client flows to Yes (step 1.3)
Tools return a permission error or Graph 403	A scope the tool needs is not consented on the app registration, or is excluded by an explicit scope list	Add the scope in both places and grant admin consent
Write tools are missing or fail	The matching write scope is not listed in the entry’s scope field, or the installed Claude Desktop version predates write support	Add the scope to the entry and consent it on the app registration (see Grant write scopes), and upgrade Claude Desktop

The connector writes its sign-in and Microsoft Graph errors to its own log file in the Claude Desktop logs directory (~/Library/Logs/Claude-3p/ on macOS, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude-3p\logs\ on Windows), named mcp-server-office365-builtin.log. Configuration parsing and connection lifecycle messages appear in main.log in the same directory.