Claude Code · MCP Setup Guide

The 5 MCPs that run
my business

By Dan Donovan, @askdandonovan

Connect Claude Code to web scraping, workflow automation, meeting intelligence, browser control, and your entire Google Workspace. One afternoon of setup.

5 MCPs
~20 min Total setup
5 New superpowers
Once Setup is one-time

MCPs are plugins that connect Claude Code to external tools, giving it the ability to actually do things in the real world, not just talk about them.

What you'll unlock after this guide
Lead scraping
Pull prospects from LinkedIn, Google Maps, Instagram, any website
Workflow automation
Build and trigger n8n workflows directly from Claude
Meeting intelligence
Bring Granola transcripts into Claude for follow-ups and proposals
Browser control
Let Claude navigate websites, fill forms, and screenshot anything
Email & calendar
Read, draft, send, and organise Gmail and Google Calendar from Claude
Google Drive
Create, search, and move files in Drive without leaving Claude
Before you start: You'll need a Claude Pro or Max plan (MCPs require a paid Claude account) and Claude Code installed. If you don't have Claude Code yet, run npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code in your terminal first. You'll also need Node.js 20+. Check with node -v. If you see a version below 20, download the latest from nodejs.org.
Apify n8n Granola Playwright Google Workspace
1
Lead scraping

Apify MCP

Apify gives Claude Code access to thousands of ready-made scrapers: LinkedIn profiles, Google Maps listings, Instagram accounts, e-commerce products, and more. You point Claude at what you want, Apify does the scraping.

Step 1a: Create your free Apify account

Go to apify.com and sign up. The free plan includes $5/month of compute, enough to run dozens of scrapes.

Step 1b: Get your API token

In your Apify account, go to Settings → Integrations and copy your API token. It starts with apify_api_.

Step 1c: Add the MCP to Claude Code

Terminal 
claude mcp add apify --env APIFY_TOKEN=your_apify_token_here -- npx -y @apify/actors-mcp-server

Replace your_apify_token_here with the token you copied from Apify.

Requires Node.js 20+ for the npx method. Check with node -v. The hosted version above has no Node.js requirement.
2
Workflow automation

n8n MCP

The n8n MCP lets Claude Code build, inspect, and trigger your n8n workflows directly. It also gives Claude access to n8n's full node documentation, useful even if you're just getting started with n8n.

Step 2a: Add the MCP

If you have n8n running (self-hosted or cloud), use this command and fill in your instance URL and API key:

Terminal: with n8n connected 
claude mcp add n8n-mcp \
  --env MCP_MODE=stdio \
  --env LOG_LEVEL=error \
  --env DISABLE_CONSOLE_OUTPUT=true \
  --env N8N_API_URL=https://your-n8n-instance.com \
  --env N8N_API_KEY=your_n8n_api_key \
  -- npx n8n-mcp

Where to find your n8n API key: In n8n, go to Settings → API and create a new key. Your instance URL is the address you use to access n8n (e.g. https://yourname.app.n8n.cloud).

3
Meeting intelligence

Granola MCP

Granola is a meeting notes app that runs quietly in the background and generates transcripts and summaries from every call. The MCP lets Claude access those transcripts so you can turn any meeting into a follow-up email, proposal, action list, or prep doc in seconds.

Requires a paid Granola account. Granola is a paid app. MCP access is available on all paid plans. If you don't have Granola yet, sign up at granola.ai first.

Step 3a: Add the Granola MCP

Terminal 
claude mcp add --transport http granola https://mcp.granola.ai/mcp

Step 3b: Authorise with your Granola account

After adding the MCP, open Claude Code and run /mcp. Select Granola from the list. This triggers the browser OAuth flow. Sign in with the same account you use in the Granola app and you're connected.

Claude Code: trigger auth 
/mcp
How I use this daily: After every client call, I ask Claude to pull the Granola transcript and generate a follow-up email, extract all action items, or prep talking points for the next meeting. What used to take 20 minutes takes 30 seconds.
4
Browser automation

Playwright MCP

Playwright is Microsoft's open-source browser automation tool. The MCP lets Claude take control of a real Chrome window: navigating pages, clicking buttons, filling forms, taking screenshots, and scraping dynamic content that normal tools can't reach.

Step 4a: Add the Playwright MCP

Terminal 
claude mcp add playwright -- npx @playwright/mcp@latest

That's it. No accounts, no API keys. Playwright is completely free and open-source.

First use tip: When asking Claude to use Playwright, say "Use the Playwright MCP to..." and Claude will open a visible Chrome window you can watch in real time. It acts exactly like a human using a browser.
5
Email · Calendar · Drive

Google Workspace MCP

Google's official Workspace MCP connects Claude directly to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive. You can read and draft emails, create and manage calendar events, and search or create files in Drive, all from inside Claude Code.

Step 5a: Connect via claude.ai (works for Claude Code too)

Google Workspace connects at the account level: you set it up once on the web, and it's automatically available in your Claude Code CLI sessions because both use the same Anthropic account.

  • Open claude.ai in your browser → click your profile icon → Settings
  • Click Integrations in the left sidebar
  • Find Google Workspace and click Connect
  • Sign in with your Google account and grant the permissions

Step 5b: Activate in Claude Code

Open Claude Code and run /mcp to confirm Google Workspace is listed as connected. The Gmail, Calendar, and Drive tools will now be available in any Claude Code session.

Claude Code: verify connection 
/mcp
What you get: Gmail (search, read, draft, label), Google Calendar (create, update, list events), and Google Drive (create, search, read, move files). No extra cost beyond your existing Google account.
✓

Verify everything's connected

Run this inside Claude Code to see all your active MCPs:

Claude Code 
/mcp

You should see Apify, n8n-mcp, Granola, and Playwright listed as connected. Google Workspace tools appear automatically once the integration is authorised.

→

What to try first

Paste any of these directly into Claude Code after setup. Each one gives you a real result in under two minutes.

Apify · Lead scraping

Use Apify to find 30 marketing agency owners in [your city] from Google Maps — I want their business name, address, phone number, and website. Export as a list.

Granola + Google · Meeting follow-up

Get the transcript from my most recent Granola meeting, identify all action items and decisions, then draft a follow-up email in Gmail to the client summarising next steps. Save it as a draft.

Playwright · Browser research

Use the Playwright MCP to open my Stripe dashboard, navigate to the Customers section, and give me a summary of my top 10 customers by total spend this month with their email addresses.

Google · Inbox triage

Search my Gmail for all unread emails from the last 7 days. Summarise each one in a sentence, flag which ones need a reply, and draft responses to any that are time-sensitive. Save each as a draft.

What people are building with these MCPs

Not code projects. Not side experiments. Actual business operations.

Real use cases from this setup
Outbound lead lists in 4 minutes Scraped 200 local business contacts from Google Maps, deduped against existing CRM, exported to CSV, while in a meeting
Zero-effort meeting follow-ups Granola transcript → follow-up email → calendar invite for next meeting → Gmail draft, all from one prompt
Automated inbox triage Claude reads every unread email each morning, drafts replies to anything urgent, and labels the rest (takes 45 seconds)
Competitor price monitoring Playwright opens competitor websites on a schedule, screenshots pricing pages, and emails a summary if anything changes