The integration of AI with everyday office software is entering a completely new stage. Anthropic recently officially announced a major upgrade to the interactive connectors of its Claude. Building on the previous live small view, the new version allows users, in supported connectors, to open tools directly beside the conversation, and even expand them to full screen, letting Claude collaborate side by side with users and directly modify content. The feature is currently being gradually rolled out to all plans in the web version and desktop app.
Core Experience Innovation: From Side Preview to Full-Screen Hands-On Collaboration
This upgrade breaks the previous experience of a disconnect between the chat window and the tool interface, bringing several core changes:
AI Directly Makes Modifications: Users can have Claude directly modify pages, spreadsheet rows, or files that are currently open. When Claude makes a modification, the change is displayed in real time in the tool, users can continue working simultaneously, and confirm changes in a way similar to approving connector actions.
Full-Screen and Side-by-Side Workflows: An entire tool can be opened beside the conversation, and users can hide the chat as needed, or switch to full screen when necessary. For example, when using tools like Confluence or Notion, users get the full editor logged into their own account instead of a restricted preview interface.
Invoking AI Directly Without Prompts: Users don't need to write complex Claude prompts—they can call on the AI for help directly on the same screen.
Tool Pinning and Quick Access: Users can arrange their most frequently used tools alongside artifacts, achieving one-click access through the sidebar and the plus menu.
First Batch of Supported Tool Ecosystem and Scenario Expansion
Currently, the first batch of the feature covers a small set of mainstream tools in the directory, including Asana, Canva, Carta, Dropbox, monday.com, Smartsheet, Vercel, and Webflow. The specific use cases of each tool within Claude include:
Adobe: Supports having the AI retouch and edit photos and add effects, as well as highlight, edit, and redact PDF files.
Atlassian: Open Confluence pages beside the chat, letting Claude write and edit, and watch the changes happen in real time.
Box: Open files beside the chat to make modifications, and compare different versions side by side before keeping changes.
HubSpot: Prioritize sales pipeline tasks and follow-ups, and execute them directly in Claude.
Notion: Build while chatting, or edit Notion documents and databases yourself without leaving Claude.
In addition, Figma, Harvey, and Shopify are currently also building related integrations, and officials are encouraging more developers to join this ecosystem.
For Developers: Building an Open Ecosystem Based on MCP Apps
On the developer ecosystem side, these interactive connectors run on top of MCP Apps. As an open extension of the Model Context Protocol (MCP), it allows MCP servers to bring their own interfaces directly into AI applications.
Notably, MCP Apps built by developers are not limited to Claude—they can also run in any AI application that supports this extension. As Claude opens up more capabilities such as app tools and embedded sites, developers' complete applications can now run directly inside Claude. Currently, these capabilities are in public preview for developers, who can start building with the relevant documentation.
Permissions and Administrator Settings
For enterprise-level users, if an organization has already allowed all tools of a connector, the new features of that connector will appear automatically when rolled out. Administrators can still, as before, flexibly restrict permissions for specific tools within a connector.