MCP and AI basics
Connector
The product name some AI apps use for a ready-to-add MCP server or integration. In practice, adding a connector means connecting the assistant to an MCP server.
Connector is the name several AI applications use in their settings for an integration you can add, and in most cases a connector is an MCP server under a friendlier label. Adding a connector means connecting the assistant to that server, signing in and choosing what it may access.
Some connectors are listed in the application's own catalogue and added with one click, often by a workspace admin. Others are 'custom connectors' where you paste a server URL yourself. Vendors sometimes use the word for a product that is not an MCP server at all, so check the documentation when the distinction matters, for example when you want to use the same integration in another assistant.
For a merchant, the word mostly signals that no installation is involved. For an agency deciding which assistant to standardise on, the connector catalogue is worth comparing, because it determines which servers staff can add without technical help.