# Connect Claude to your WhatsApp: one address, one approval > Circles lets Claude read the WhatsApp chats you choose. You ask Claude, in Claude, and it answers from your chats. Paste one address as a custom connector, approve on Circles' page, and there is no key to copy. **To connect WhatsApp to Claude:** link your number in Circles, add `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp` in Claude as a custom connector, and approve on Circles' page. Claude can then read and search the chats you opened, voice notes included as text, for Circles free for 2 chats, or $29 a month on Pro (₪99 in Israel) with 14 days free, as of October 2026. Source: https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude · Updated 2026-10-27 ## Four steps, one of them a paste Claude connects to Circles as a remote MCP server with OAuth: it registers itself, you approve, and no key is ever made or shown. 1. **Link your WhatsApp in Circles**: Start your trial, then link your number as a linked device: a code typed on your phone, or a QR on your computer. Same number, same WhatsApp on your phone. History arrives in about 5 to 15 minutes, and you can connect your agent meanwhile. 2. **Copy the address**: On Circles' Agents page, copy the address next to Claude: `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp`. 3. **Add a custom connector in Claude**: In Claude's settings, open connectors and add a custom connector. Paste the address and connect. Claude renames its menus from time to time; the Circles app shows the current steps. 4. **Approve on Circles' page**: Claude opens Circles' approval page. Sending starts ticked on the approval page; untick it to connect a reader. Even with it, Claude sends only in chats you opened for sending. There is no "Add to Claude" button: you paste the address yourself, once. If you would rather never paste anything, [Instinct](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/instinct) connects with one tap and a send, and no key. ## Claude on the web, desktop and phone The connector belongs to your Claude account, so once it is added and approved you can ask about your chats in Claude on the web, in the desktop app and on your phone. If you use Cowork in the desktop app, it reaches the same connectors; the Claude app shows where to turn one on for a task. Custom connectors are part of Claude's own plans, and on Team and Enterprise plans your organization's settings may decide who can add one. Claude's help pages say which plans include them. Working in a terminal? Claude Code is set up separately, with one command: [Claude Code and WhatsApp](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude-code). ## What to ask Claude Write the way you would to a person who has read your chats. Invented examples, real shapes. - **"Catch me up on the building committee since Friday"**: Claude checks which chats moved, reads the committee group, voice notes included as text, and gives you the decisions and who is waiting for what. - **"Find the quotes the plumber and the electrician sent and compare them"**: Claude finds both PDFs in your chats, opens them and reads them itself. - **"What did the parents group decide about the trip, and what do I need to bring?"**: Claude reads the group, including Dana's 41-second voice note, and answers in a few lines. - **"Draft a reply to Yossi, and send it if I say yes"**: Claude drafts it in the conversation. It can send only if that chat is open for sending, within your daily cap. ## What Claude can and cannot do here **Claude can:** - See which chats you opened, and which of them moved since a time, with counts and no text (`allowed_chats`, `activity`). - Catch up and search, in one chat or all of them, with senders by name and voice notes already transcribed (`catch_up`, `search`). - See who you talk with and who is in a group, by the name you saved; group member lists never include numbers (`people`, `group_members`). - List the documents sent in your chats and open a photo, PDF or file, up to 50 MB (`documents`, `get_media`). Claude opens the file and reads it itself. - Send a message or a file, only in chats you opened for sending and within your daily cap (`send`). **Claude cannot:** - See a hidden chat. It is not listed, not searchable, and never named, not even in a refusal. - Send in a chat you opened for reading only, go past the daily cap (default 5 across all your agents), or have a send retried automatically. - Reply with a quote or react with an emoji. Those exist only in the [HTTP API](https://usecircles.app/en/whatsapp-api-personal-number). - Keep access after you disconnect it. Disconnecting ends it at once, and every request it made stays in your activity log. ## Questions and answers ### Can Claude read my WhatsApp messages? Yes, with Circles. Circles links your personal WhatsApp as a linked device and serves Claude the chats you open, as a custom connector you add with one address. Hidden chats do not exist for Claude. ### Is there a WhatsApp connector for Claude? WhatsApp has no official connector for personal chats. Circles is a hosted WhatsApp MCP server you add to Claude as a custom connector. Connectors in Claude's directory that mention WhatsApp work only with WhatsApp Business accounts, as of October 2026. ### How do I connect WhatsApp to Claude Desktop? The same way as on the web: add `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp` as a custom connector in Claude and approve on Circles' page. The connector is on your Claude account, so the desktop app and the phone app see it too. ### Do I need an API key for Claude? No. Claude registers itself with Circles and you approve on Circles' own page. Claude's access refreshes on its own, and you can disconnect it at any time from Circles. ### Can Claude send WhatsApp messages as me? Sending starts ticked on the approval page; untick it to connect a reader. Even with it, Claude sends only in chats you opened for sending, within your daily cap (default 5 across all agents). A send is never retried automatically. ### Is it safe to give Claude access to my WhatsApp? You decide per chat: hidden, read, or read and send, and every request Claude makes is in your activity log. Linked-device access by an unofficial client is outside WhatsApp's terms, so no one can promise a device is never logged out. [How Circles handles this](https://usecircles.app/en/security). ## Keep reading - [Claude Code](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude-code): The same chats in your terminal, with one command. - [Catch up on busy groups](https://usecircles.app/en/use-cases/summarize-whatsapp-groups): What to ask, and what a good summary looks like. - [What Claude can reach](https://usecircles.app/en/security): Per-chat permissions, the activity log, disconnecting. --- 14 days free. Link your number, pick the chats, then connect Instinct with one tap or Claude, ChatGPT and Codex with one address. Start: https://usecircles.app/start?agent=claude&lang=en