A practitioner’s guide based on real submission experience — form details, review pitfalls, and the3 big mistakes I made so you don’t have to.

Why Bother with the Connector Directory?

When your MCP server isn’t in the directory, users need to:

  1. Go to Claude Settings → Connectors
  2. Click “Add Custom Connector”
  3. Manually paste the server URL
  4. Authenticate

That’s four friction-filled steps. Most non-developer users won’t bother.

Once your server is listed, users find you in the list, click Connect, and authorize — same OAuth flow, zero tedious steps.

The directory is also how Anthropic surfaces integrations to Claude Pro and Team users who never look at developer docs. For a SaaS product, that’s a meaningful passive distribution channel.

Three Types You Can Submit

Type Description Form Difference
Remote MCP Server Internet-hosted server with tools, resources, prompts Standard form
Desktop Extension Local MCP server packaged as .bundle for Claude Desktop Extra bundling required
MCP App MCP server rendering interactive UI inside chat 3-5 screenshots required (min 1000px wide)

This guide covers the Remote MCP Server path.

The Submission Form: What It Actually Asks

Section 1: Basic Server Info

Field Requirement Common Mistake
Server Name ≤ 64 characters, English Name too long or has special chars
Tagline 1-2 sentence description Vague marketing copy
Server URL Must support streaming HTTP (SSE no longer accepted) Using SSE endpoint
Connector Type remote / desktop / MCP app Wrong type selected
Primary Use Cases 2-3 sentences in English Chinese description / essay-length list

Section 2: Connection Details

Transport: Streaming HTTP required (SSE deprecated)
Auth Type: OAuth 2.0 (recommended) / API Key / None
Read/Write: read tools and write tools must be listed separately
Callback URL: OAuth callback URL must be registered

Critical issue: SSE (Server-Sent Events) is officially deprecated. Anthropic now requires streaming HTTP. If your server uses SSE, migrate to MCP streaming HTTP.

Section 3: Tools and Resources

Every tool needs:

  • Human-readable title
  • Annotation (metadata describing what the tool does)
  • Tool name ≤ 64 characters
  • read and write tools must be separate
# WRONG: read/write mixed
"tools": [
    {"name": "qr_create", "annotations": {"read": True, "write": True}}
]

# CORRECT: separate declarations
"tools": [
    {"name": "qr_create", "annotations": {"read": True, "write": False}},
    {"name": "qr_delete", "annotations": {"read": False, "write": True}}
]

Section 4: Documentation

  • Public docs URL (a single help page or blog post is fine)
  • At least 3 example prompts exercising different tools
  • Setup and auth steps
  • You can share a private staging link during review if docs aren’t public yet

Section 5: Privacy & Compliance

Field Requirement
Privacy Policy URL Must be publicly accessible
Data Handling What you collect, how long you keep it, who you share it with
Security HTTPS verification + Origin header validation

Section 6: Test Account & Branding

  • Test account: Login credentials with realistic sample data
  • Logo: Server logo (URL or SVG)
  • Favicon: Site favicon
  • MCP App only: 3-5 PNG screenshots (min 1000px wide)

Three Real Mistakes I Made

Mistake 1: SSE Instead of Streaming HTTP

Symptom: Review email saying transport protocol unsupported.

Root cause: Many older MCP servers use SSE. Anthropic deprecated SSE in early 2026 in favor of streaming HTTP.

Fix: Upgrade your server to MCP streaming HTTP:

# MCP streaming HTTP example (Python)
from mcp.server import MCPServer

server = MCPServer(
    name="my-mcp-server",
    tools=[qr_create_tool, qr_list_tool],
)
server.run(transport="streaming-http", port=3000)

Mistake 2: Tool Name Over 64 Characters

Symptom: Review feedback: “tool name exceeds 64 characters”.

Fix: Shorten tool names:

Original Revised Characters
qr_code_generator_create_with_logo qr_create 9
dynamic_qr_code_batch_delete qr_batch_delete 15
qr_code_statistics_get_click_data qr_stats 8

Mistake 3: OAuth Callback URL Not Registered

Symptom: Users click Connect but OAuth authorization fails.

Correct format: https://your-server.com/oauth/callback/anthropic

Register this exact URL in your Anthropic Developer Console application settings before submitting.

Post-Submission: Review Timeline

Day 1-2:   Automated format check (fail → immediate email)
Day 3-7:   Human technical review
Day 8-14:  Final approval + directory listing

Pre-Submission Checklist

  • Server URL uses streaming HTTP (not SSE)
  • OAuth callback URL registered
  • All tool names ≤ 64 characters
  • read/write tools listed separately
  • Each tool has annotation descriptions
  • Public docs URL accessible
  • ≥ 3 example prompts provided
  • Privacy policy URL accessible
  • Test account valid with sample data
  • Logo and favicon ready

This guide is based on QRflows team’s real submission experience. The review is still in progress — updates will be added to the original article.