Connect Claude to your wiki

CommonGround is a curated, version-controlled wiki, kept by a team or just by you, so every Claude session starts from the same context instead of being told it again. Nothing can read or write it until you connect one Claude. You can connect both.

Before you start

You need a CommonGround account and a wiki. If someone invited you, use their link; it creates your account and puts you on their wiki in one step. Otherwise you can create your own at app.commongroundapp.io.

claude.ai Chat

Chat can’t install plugins, so it reaches the same backend through a connector. You do not need an API key; sign-in is a browser approval, and Claude holds a short-lived token that refreshes itself.

In claude.ai, on the web or mobile, open Settings → Connectors.
Choose Add custom connector.
Fill both fields:
Name
URL
Save, then Connect. A browser window opens to approve access to your wiki. Approve it, and the connector shows as connected.

Custom connectors need a plan that allows them: Pro or Max for personal use, Team or Enterprise to enable it across a workspace. If you don’t see Add custom connector at all, that’s the reason; it isn’t a CommonGround problem.

The connector is bound to one wiki, chosen when you approve it. To point Chat at a different one, remove the connector and add it again.

Seeding is guided in Claude Code. If you’re the admin filling a new wiki, set that up too; Chat is at its best once the wiki has content.

Claude Code

Claude Code runs in several places and they do not all install plugins the same way. Pick the one you are actually in; the end result is identical.

Ask Claude to do it

The fastest route: paste this into any Claude Code chat, in the app or the terminal, and Claude runs the install itself.

It ends by telling you the one command that switches the plugin on. Cloud sessions install plugins at start-up instead; for those, use the settings file below.

In the Claude Code app

You are adding a plugin marketplace, then installing the plugin from it. Open Plugins (from the + beside the message box, or from Customize, depending on your build) and choose Browse plugins. In the directory that opens, add a marketplace (the + button) and pick Add from a repository, which asks for a GitHub repo:

Repo

Sync it, then install commonground from the list it shows.

The exact wording moves around between versions and surfaces. If none of the labels match what you see, you are looking for anything that adds a plugin marketplace from a git repository, or use the terminal commands below, which are the same thing.

In a terminal

/plugin on its own opens a browser with the same marketplaces, or you can type both steps directly:

In claude.ai/code, or for a whole repo at once

Cloud sessions install plugins at start-up rather than on demand, so they are declared in the project instead. Commit this as .claude/settings.json and anyone who opens the repo is offered the plugin automatically, which is also the tidiest way to put a whole team on it:

However you installed it, the next thing to do is fill your wiki: /commonground:seed runs from any Claude Code session; it signs you in, asks which wiki if you have more than one, and walks you through a short interview (or imports a folder you already have).

Then point the projects you actually work in at it: /commonground:point writes a short CommonGround block into that folder’s CLAUDE.md so Claude consults your wiki there, and asks whether to read the wiki live or keep a local copy on disk. Run it again in each project you want answered from this wiki; it is the same command the first time and every time after.

Once connected, just ask questions normally; Claude consults the wiki and cites the pages it used. /commonground:status shows where you stand at any time.

Plugins installed in the desktop app do not carry over to cloud sessions, and the plugin browser isn’t available in cloud or WSL; the settings file above covers both.

Put something in it

A new wiki is empty. Connecting Claude gives it a way in; it still needs content, and that is the step most people don’t realise is theirs to take. In any connected project, run:

Run

It offers three ways in, and you can mix them:

Talk it through: a short interview, tailored to what you do. Roughly fifteen minutes for a usable first wiki.
Import what you have: point it at a folder or an Obsidian vault and it brings the content in as-is, then tidies the structure with you.
Hand it your documents: paste notes or a transcript, or give it docs to read.

It tracks what’s still missing and asks about that next, so you can stop and come back without losing your place. Running it again picks up where you left off.

Only admins and curators can seed a shared wiki. If you’re a member and it looks empty, that isn’t a fault; someone else fills it first.

If something looks broken

You can read the wiki but can’t change it: That’s your role, and it’s deliberate. Members are read-only; admins and curators curate. The write tools aren’t hidden or failing; they’re simply not offered to your role. Ask an admin if you need to curate.
The CommonGround tools disappeared mid-session: That’s the connection, not your permissions; a plugin update or a dropped session does it. Run /mcp to reconnect, or restart the session. Nothing has been lost and nobody has revoked your access.
Claude says the wiki is empty: It probably is; a new wiki has no pages until someone seeds it. That’s the Put something in it step above, not a fault.