New In‑Chat App Capabilities for Claude

Anthropic announced that its Claude chatbot now supports a suite of interactive applications built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Users can open tools such as Slack, Canva, Asana, Figma, Hex, Amplitude, monday.com, Clay, Box, and upcoming Salesforce utilities directly inside the chat window. This allows actions like drafting and previewing Slack messages, customizing Canva decks in real time, creating interactive charts, and managing projects without switching to separate browsers or apps.

From Text Replies to Visual Interaction

Previously, linking external tools to an AI assistant resulted only in textual outputs. The new MCP‑based integration lets users see, explore, and refine results visually. Anthropic described the experience as similar to “mini” apps embedded in messaging platforms such as Telegram and Discord, offering a more tactile and immediate way to work with data and design assets.

Implications for AI Platform Design

The expansion positions Claude as more than a conversational agent; it begins to resemble an operating system that can host a variety of functional modules. Anthropic likened this evolution to an “everything app” model, referencing platforms like Tencent’s WeChat. A comparable trend is noted with ChatGPT, which launched its own app ecosystem last year, indicating broader industry movement toward AI‑driven app marketplaces.

Model Context Protocol as an Open‑Source Standard

Anthropic credited MCP for enabling the seamless embedding of interactive interfaces. The new extension, called MCP Apps, allows any MCP server to deliver an interactive UI within any supporting AI product, not just Claude. This opens the door for other AI tools to adopt similar in‑chat app experiences.

Adoption and Ecosystem Development

Initially created at Anthropic in 2024, MCP has been adopted by major technology firms including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Anthropic later donated the protocol to the Linux Foundation and helped launch the Agentic AI Foundation alongside OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Block, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare. The foundation’s goal is to advance open‑source, agentic AI technologies.

Future Outlook

With a growing roster of integrated applications and a collaborative open‑source framework, Claude’s new capabilities suggest a future where AI assistants serve as centralized hubs for a wide range of productivity tools. The expanding ecosystem could reduce the need for developers to build and maintain multiple proprietary interfaces, streamlining user workflows across the AI landscape.

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