Claude Desktop connects to Salesforce through the CData MCP Server for Salesforce 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 Salesforce 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 Salesforce.

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:

• "How many new leads were added this week?"
• "Which cases are still open and assigned to me?"
• "Show a summary of accounts by industry."
• "Show me all accounts created in the last 90 days along with their primary contacts."
• "Which accounts have not had any activity in the past 6 months?"
• "What meetings have been scheduled this week by the sales team?"
• "Show me duplicate leads based on name and company."
• "Compare the closed-won opportunity amounts by quarter for the past year."
• "List all opportunities expected to close this quarter with a probability over 70%".
• "Which contacts have missing email addresses?"

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