How to Connect Claude to Smartsheet (Official Connector)
Yes, Claude connects to Smartsheet, through an official connector Smartsheet built and launched on March 2, 2026. It reads and writes: Claude can pull live sheet data, update rows, statuses and dates, add columns, and work with comments, reports and dashboards, all from a chat. The catch is the shape of every Claude connector. It acts when you ask it to, inside a conversation you started.
Here’s how to switch it on, what it covers, and what to add when you want Smartsheet work to happen while nobody is in the chat.
What Smartsheet’s Claude connector does
The connector is listed in Anthropic’s directory as built by Smartsheet Inc., and it runs on MCP. Smartsheet’s changelog shows it growing almost every month since launch. In practice Claude can:
- Read live sheets. Ask what’s overdue on the launch plan, who owns the blocked rows, or where the risks are, and Claude answers from the current grid.
- Update the grid. Change a status, move a date, add or edit rows and columns, in plain language.
- Work the conversation around the data. Read and add comments and discussions, open reports and dashboards, handle attachments.
- Build things from your data. Create reports, dashboards and charts, or turn a project sheet into a summary.
- Set up Smartsheet workflows. Since September 9, 2026, Claude can list, create, enable, disable and delete the automation workflows attached to a sheet.
For “tell me what’s late and fix the dates,” it’s a genuinely good tool.
Setting up the Smartsheet connector in Claude
Per Smartsheet’s setup guide:
- In Claude, open Customize → Connectors.
- Search for Smartsheet, select it, and choose Connect.
- Sign in with your Smartsheet credentials and pick your region (US, EU or AU).
- Optional: under Customize → Connectors → Smartsheet → Configure, set each tool to always allow, needs approval, or blocked.
Two gates to check first. Smartsheet requires a Business or Enterprise Smartsheet plan. And on a Claude Team or Enterprise account, an Owner has to enable connectors for the organization before members see it. Claude only reaches the sheets and workspaces you already have permission to open.
Where the connector stops
Smartsheet’s own guide is plain about it: Claude touches your data “only when you initiate a request.” Close the chat and nothing keeps watching the sheet.
ChatGPT can start a task from an event, but only when the app's plugin supports it. OpenAI documents three: a new Gmail message, a new Slack message and GitHub pull request activity. On September 29, 2026 it said other supported plugins can start automations too, without publishing which. Claude's scheduled tasks still run on a clock alone. A deal moving, a form coming in, an invoice clearing: neither one promises to wake up for any of it. Carly watches all of them, across the thousands of apps it connects to.
The new workflow tools soften this a little. Claude can create a Smartsheet workflow that keeps running after you leave, but that workflow does what Smartsheet’s rule builder does: send an alert, request an update, route an approval, change or move a row. It won’t read the client email that should have created the row, check your calendar, or draft the reply. That work lives outside Smartsheet, in your inbox and calendar.
Running Smartsheet work on its own with Carly
Carly is an AI assistant built for the part that happens outside a chat:
- Starts on its own. A new email, a calendar event, or a Carly form submission kicks off the workflow, with your laptop closed.
- Works across all of your mailboxes and calendars. Connect every Gmail and Outlook account you use, and Carly reads, sends and books across all of them.
- Keeps Smartsheet current as one step. An intake email becomes a new row, a status change becomes a note to the owner, and a Friday rollup lands in your team’s inboxes.
- Connects to thousands of apps, so the same workflow can touch your CRM, your task list and your chat tool too.
- Builds the workflow with you. Describe it in plain English; Carly interviews you, then sets it up.
If you’d rather stay in Claude, add the Carly connector there as well and ask for results in the same chat.
Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
Connecting Smartsheet to Carly
- In Smartsheet, select your profile image at the bottom of the left navigation, go to Personal Settings → API Access, and choose Generate new access token. Copy it right away; Smartsheet shows it once. API access comes with Business and Enterprise plans.
- Paste the token into Carly on the integrations page.
- Describe the workflow: “When a client emails a change request, add a row to the intake sheet, then email me a summary.”
To start Carly from a sheet change, add an alert to a Smartsheet workflow and send it to an inbox Carly watches. Alerts can reach any email address when the sheet’s automation permissions are set to Unrestricted (under Automation → Manage automation workflows → Settings). Your System Admin sets the ceiling for the whole plan, so if Unrestricted is greyed out, ask them.
You can revoke or regenerate the token in Smartsheet at any time.
What Emily’s intake sheet looks like
Emily runs client projects out of Smartsheet. A client emails a scope change at 9pm. Carly adds the row with the requester, date and priority, flags the owner, and puts a review call on Emily’s calendar. When Michael marks the row approved the next morning, the Smartsheet alert lands in Carly’s watched inbox and Carly sends the client the confirmation from Emily’s work address.
Claude’s Smartsheet connector vs Carly
| Claude (Smartsheet connector) | Carly | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads and writes sheet data | Yes, in chat | Yes, in chat or a workflow |
| Builds Smartsheet workflows | Yes | Uses Smartsheet alerts as a trigger |
| Starts on a new email or calendar event | No | Yes |
| Runs while your laptop is closed | Only through Smartsheet’s own rules | Yes, in the cloud |
| Works across all of your inboxes and calendars | No | Yes (Gmail and Outlook) |
| Builds the workflow with you | No | Yes |
Claude’s connector is a sharp Smartsheet analyst inside a chat. Carly is the coordinator that keeps the sheet and your inbox in step when you’re not there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Claude integrate with Smartsheet?
Yes. Smartsheet launched an official Claude connector on March 2, 2026. It reads and updates sheets, rows and columns, works with comments, reports and dashboards, and since September 2026 can create Smartsheet workflows. It runs when you ask inside a conversation.
How do I connect Claude to Smartsheet?
In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, search for Smartsheet, choose Connect, sign in, and pick your region. You need a Smartsheet Business or Enterprise plan, and on a Claude Team or Enterprise account an Owner must enable connectors first.
Can Claude update Smartsheet automatically when an email comes in?
Not on its own. The connector acts when you prompt it. For updates that start from an incoming email or calendar event, connect Smartsheet to Carly with an API token and describe the workflow.
Does Smartsheet have an API?
Yes. Smartsheet’s REST API uses bearer-token authentication and covers sheets, rows, columns and attachments. Generate a token under Personal Settings, API Access. API access is available on Business and Enterprise plans.
How much does Carly cost?
Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Smartsheet API access is part of your existing Smartsheet plan.
More: Claude connectors · ChatGPT + Smartsheet · Best Smartsheet integrations · Best AI project management tools · Best AI workflow automation tools · Can Claude send emails · Claude vs Carly · Claude Cowork alternatives
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
