Claude Desktop connects to Box through the CData MCP Server for Box using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

When you launch Claude, it automatically detects MCP connections registered during setup. These connections are created and saved using the MCP Configuration Tool, which is installed with the MCP Server.

Each saved connection is recognized by Claude and can be referenced by name when asking questions.

Installing Claude

Claude Desktop is a standalone application that enables natural language querying across supported data sources using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

To connect to Box via MCP, you first need to install the Claude Desktop application.

You can download the latest version from the official Claude Download Page.

After installing Claude Desktop, you can configure your MCP connection using the CData MCP Driver for Box.

How Claude Uses the Server

When you ask Claude a question, it launches the corresponding MCP Server connection, reads the available tool descriptions provided by the connector, and generates a secure query in the background.

There is no need to write SQL or teach Claude how to query your data. Each tool is self-describing, and Claude consumes those descriptions to determine how to retrieve the right information.

Example Prompts

After setup, you can ask Claude natural-language questions like:

• "List all files uploaded in the past week."
• "Show me folders that were recently shared with external users."
• "Which users have the most storage usage?"
• "Find all documents tagged with 'Confidential' metadata."
• "List all files larger than 100MB."
• "Show a log of file downloads in the past 24 hours."
• "Which users have not accessed Box in the last 30 days?"
• "Give me a list of collaborations on the 'Marketing' folder."
• "Find files that have comments containing the word 'urgent'."
• "What are the top 10 most accessed files this month?"

Claude securely executes the query using the MCP Server and responds using the live results from Box.