Claude brings interactive app support with MCP Apps, embedding Slack and Figma inside chat

Claude gets interactive with MCP extension

Anthropic's Claude got a bit livelier today thanks to a new extension to MCP, the open-source protocol that allows AI agents to easily access tools and data across the internet. Users will now be able to interact with apps directly inside the Claude chatbot, letting you draft and format Slack messages to colleagues and create presentations for clients in Canva without having to switch tabs. As of today, Anthropic said tools like Asana, Figma, Slack, and Canva will "open as interactive apps right inside of chat." While users could previously connect tools like Slack and Asana to the AI assistant, doing so meant getting text back. The company says the new in-app integration means users can actually engage with the tool and "see, explore, and refine results visually, not just read about them." A number of popular tools are already available to use directly in Claude. Anthropic says users can customize Canva decks in real time, format and preview Slack messages, build interactive charts with Hex or Amplitude, and manage projects with Asana or monday.com. There are also integrations for Figma, Clay, and Box, Anthropic said, with Salesforce tools like Data 360, Agentforce, and Customer 360 apps "coming soon." The interactivity -- something of apps-within-an-app -- sounds similar to the "mini" apps embedded inside messaging platforms like Telegram and Discord. The integration signals a shift in how AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude are likely to operate in the future, becoming more like operating systems than individual tools, an "everything app" in the vein of Tencent's WeChat in China. ChatGPT has already made a step in that direction with the launch of its own app ecosystem last year. Anthropic credited the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, for the ability to integrate apps into Claude. The extension, called MCP Apps, "lets any MCP server deliver an interactive interface within any supporting AI product -- not just Claude," meaning other interactive app interfaces could soon be on the way to other AI tools. Operating standards like MCP are crucial for building usable ecosystems of products as they avoid the need for companies to develop and maintain numerous different interfaces. MCP began life at Anthropic in 2024 but has been widely adopted by companies including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Anthropic donated it to the Linux foundation late last year and established a new fund -- the Agentic AI Foundation -- with other tech giants like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Block, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare, to "advance open-source agentic AI."

You can use Slack, Asana, and Figma directly inside Claude now - here's how

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways * Claude can now interface with workplace apps within a chat. * The chatbot could become the main digital interface for business. * Other AI developers are also trying to expand their reach. AI startup Anthropic announced Monday that Claude can now interface directly with popular workplace productivity apps like Figma, Asana, and Slack within a chat, negating the need for users to work between separate tabs. Also: I let Anthropic's Claude Cowork loose on my files, and it was both brilliant and scary Arriving two weeks after the research preview launch of Claude Cowork -- a feature designed to deliver the agentic capabilities of Claude Code to non-coding tasks -- the news underscores what's become an increasingly clear objective from Anthropic: make Claude the primary interface of users' working lives. A closer look Anthropic has long been investing in Claude's technological reach, so to speak. In July, the company debuted a directory of connectors to third-party apps, including Stripe and Canva, with the goal of transforming Claude "from a helpful assistant into an informed AI collaborator that gives you more relevant responses and can work with you directly in your tools," Anthropic wrote in a press release. Rather than having to copy and paste information from an external app into Claude and vice versa, connectors enable the chatbot to pull data from those apps directly if prompted to do so. Also: I used Claude Code to vibe code a Mac app in 8 hours, but it was more work than magic Monday's news takes that underlying idea one step further by giving Claude the power to essentially interact with workplace productivity apps exactly as it would within those apps themselves, but inside a Claude chat. For example, you could ask Claude to draft a board in Asana for a particular project, and it would be able to pull data from your team's account to know which data it should include, as well as relevant timelines. Crucially, it would then present you with a preview of what the finished product would look like within Asana, which you could then manually edit or launch. Also: Anthropic to Claude: Make good choices! Claude can now directly interface with Amplitude, Asana, Box, Canva, Clay, Figma, Hex, monday.com, and Slack, according to the blog post. Salesforce will also soon be added to that list. Big ambitions Built upon Anthropic's open-sourced Model Context Protocol, the new capability could push Claude closer to becoming the digital cornerstone for many enterprises. Also: Claude's Skills just got easier to manage and share - here's how Meanwhile, Anthropic's competitors are also aspiring to become for the AI era what Google has been for the traditional online search era: not just one product among many, but the primary portal through which the majority of people engage with the internet. Both OpenAI and Perplexity, for example, have recently launched their own AI-powered web browsers. How to access The new feature is available now on web and desktop for Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers. Just visit claude.ai/directory and select apps labeled "interactive." Also: How to install and configure Claude Code, step by step Anthropic added in its Monday announcement that the Claude Cowork research preview can now be accessed on web and desktop for Team and Enterprise subscribers (it was originally only available through Pro and Max plans).

Claude supports MCP Apps, presents UI within chat window

Anthropic's Claude can now present the interfaces of other applications within its chat window, thanks to an extension of the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Claude has long been able to fetch data from third-party applications through an MCP server connection. That capability has been expanded to present user interface elements like charts, forms, and dashboards, allowing third-party apps to be operated from within the chat window. "Claude already connects to your tools and takes actions on your behalf," the company said in a blog post. "Now those tools show up right in the conversation, so you can see what's happening and collaborate in real time." The change makes Claude's chat environment more like a cross-application interface layer - users no longer have to switch application focus to access app-specific tools. It could pose a challenge to operating system makers like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, similar to the one presented by web browsers - it reduces the need to interact with the operating system. And it's not just Claude that stands to benefit. The extension, called MCP Apps, should be available in other vendors' AI applications, including Goose, Visual Studio Code, and ChatGPT, either today or soon. The MCP Apps Extension (SEP-1865) was first proposed back in November 2025 and is based on MCP-UI and the OpenAI Apps SDK. It allows MCP servers to deliver interactive user interface elements that hosts can render in-conversation, rather than returning data alone. "MCP Apps address a real gap between what agentic tools can provide and how users naturally want to interact with them," said Clare Liguori, senior principal engineer at AWS, in remarks accompanying the MCP blog post. "The ability to render dynamic interfaces directly in conversation makes it easier to leverage MCP server capabilities in practical ways." Initially, this ability to be proxied within Claude is limited to Anthropic's launch partners: Amplitude, Asana, Box, Canva, Clay, Figma, Hex, monday.com, Slack, and (soon) Salesforce. But expect that to expand over time as other software makers adapt their apps. MCP Apps surface third-party interface elements in iframes, but with additional capabilities like logging events for debugging, opening links in the user's browser, sending follow-up messages, and updating the underlying model's context. "Running UI from MCP servers means running code you didn't write within your MCP host," the MCP post explains, citing various security layers like iframe sandboxing, pre-declared templates for prevailing HTML content prior to rendering, auditable messages, and host-managed approvals for UI-initiated tool calls. Whether those defenses prove sufficient to avoid creating novel risks will be tested in time. ®

Claude now offers deeper integrations with apps like Canva and Slack

Anthropic has been building out support for third-party apps inside of Claude. As of today, the chatbot can now connect to platforms like Slack and Canva, fetching up files from inside those apps or performing tasks within them on a user's behalf. For instance, when connected to Box, Claude can now search for files, preview documents inline and answer questions about the content in front of you. Meanwhile, with a connection to Asana, it can now turn chats into projects, tasks and timelines your co-workers can then find and interact with on the project management app. Box and Asana are just two of the platforms adding deeper integrations with Claude today. In total, there are nine launch partners, with some of the more notable ones including Canva, Figma and Slack. As with Anthropic's past integrations, the new functionality is powered by Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. MCP is a technology Anthropic released in fall 2024 to make it easier for third-party platforms to connect their systems to Claude. Since then, the protocol has become an industry standard. OpenAI, for instance, adopted MCP last year, and has been building additional support since then. At the end of last year, Anthropic donated the protocol to the Linux Foundation. The company says AI platforms will be able to bring similar integrations to their own products since they're built on a new open extension designed by Anthropic.

Your Claude chats just got more powerful with interactive app support

You can now use Slack, Canva, Figma, and more without leaving the chat interface. Anthropic just turned its AI chatbot Claude into a real productivity hub by bringing interactive apps right into the chat. Users can now perform actions within apps like Slack, Figma, Asana, Canva, Box, Clay, and more without needing to switch windows. Instead of offering text-only responses, Claude can now act as a full-on workspace, letting you draft Slack messages, build project boards, design mockups, and more. Built on top of the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which Anthropic introduced in 2024 as a standard for how AI and apps talk to each other, the feature is designed to scale over time, with support for additional tools and platforms expected soon. For now, supported apps include Amplitude, Asana, Box, Canva, Clay, Figma, Hex, monday.com, and Slack. Anthropic says the feature is currently rolling out to paid subscribers on the Pro, Team, Max, and Enterprise plans, and is not available on the free tier. Users can enable it by navigating to claude.ai/directory and connecting their accounts to get a live, logged-in window into the apps within Claude. Recommended Videos The feature will also tie into the recently released Claude Cowork, which lets users perform multi-step tasks without entering a single line of code. With app integration in place, users could, for example, update a Canva design using files stored in Box. Following OpenAI's lead Claude isn't the only chatbot to add app integrations directly within the chat interface. OpenAI debuted a similar feature in ChatGPT back in October with support for a handful of popular apps. Since then, it has expanded support to include more tools and, as of last month, opened a new publishing pipeline for developers to submit apps that run inside ChatGPT. By letting users access apps within the chat interface, Anthropic and OpenAI are evolving their chatbots from AI assistants that simply answer queries into full-fledged workspaces where users can get things done without constantly switching between apps.