Getting Started

Connect Claude Desktop (MCP)

Add ClearSpan as a custom connector in Claude Desktop and sign in with your ClearSpan credentials.

ClearSpan ships a remote MCP connector so you can drive your projects and calcs from Claude Desktop or claude.ai. Anything the agent saves shows up in the ClearSpan web UI immediately — it works against your live workspace. No API key is required; you sign in with your existing ClearSpan email and password.

Before you start#

The connector is an engineer feature. You need a ClearSpan account that is an organization member (engineer, reviewer, firm admin, or superuser). Client accounts cannot connect — the login step rejects non-org users.

You will also need the connector's /mcp URL, for example:

https://mcp.withclearspan.com/mcp

If you are unsure of the URL for your deployment, ask your firm admin.

Add the connector#

  1. Open Claude Desktop.
  2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
  3. Choose Add custom connector.
  4. Enter the connector's /mcp URL.
  5. Click Connect.

Claude registers itself automatically and then opens a ClearSpan sign-in page.

Sign in to ClearSpan#

On the sign-in page titled "Sign in to ClearSpan":

  1. Enter the email for your ClearSpan account.
  2. Enter your password.
  3. Click Authorize.

ClearSpan verifies your credentials against your existing account and hands you back to Claude, which finishes the connection. Your login authorizes Claude to access your projects and calcs.

Note

If you see "Invalid email or password," double-check the credentials you use on the ClearSpan website. If you are told your account "is not an organization member," your account is a client account and cannot use the connector.

Verify it works#

Once connected, ask Claude something simple against your workspace, for example:

List my ClearSpan projects.

Claude should return your projects. From there it can read project and calc details, create projects and calcs, run the wood beam and wood post solvers, and more — all scoped to your firm.

What the connector can do#

The connector exposes a set of tools for working with ClearSpan. For the full reference, see:

Tip

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