BEFORE / AFTER
Without a connector, a LinkedIn follow-up with Claude is a string of copy-pastes: you open LinkedIn, reread the conversation, copy the context into Claude, ask for a message, paste it back into LinkedIn and send it. Then you start again for the next person.
With Paulo, you write "follow up with the people who saw my demo on Tuesday" and Claude does the rest: it finds the right conversations, writes one message per person based on what was said, and sends it. Your job comes down to reviewing and approving.
| Follow-up step | Without a connector | With Paulo |
|---|---|---|
| Find the conversation | You, in LinkedIn | Claude |
| Give the context | Copy-paste into Claude | Claude reads the exchange |
| Write the message | Claude | Claude |
| Send it | You, by hand | Claude, when you ask |
| Move to the next one | Start over | Already done |
CLAUDE AND MCP CONNECTORS
Claude can use external tools through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard Anthropic published in late 2024 and that most AI assistants have since adopted. An MCP connector gives Claude a list of actions it can trigger during the conversation: read data, write it, send something.
When you make a request, Claude picks the useful actions and shows you each call in the conversation. Depending on your settings, it asks for your permission before using a tool: you can allow it once, or always for that connector.
Paulo is an MCP connector dedicated to LinkedIn, and it's hosted: no server to install or maintain. It also handles the sending pace, so your account behaves like a human's.
WHAT YOU NEED
Three things:
| What | Why | Check |
|---|---|---|
| A Claude account | That's where you add Paulo | Every plan accepts a custom connector; the free plan accepts one |
| Paulo access | It links Claude and LinkedIn | The beta opens in waves, in signup order |
| Your LinkedIn account | It's the account Claude acts on | An account that has been active for a while does better than a brand-new one |
Good to knowOn a Team or Enterprise plan, workspace owners add custom connectors; each member then connects their own account. If you don't see the option, ask your admin.
CONNECTING, STEP BY STEP
Once your Paulo access opens:
- In Paulo, connect your LinkedIn account. Paulo gives you your connector's address.
- On claude.ai, open Customize, then Connectors, then Add.
- Choose Custom, then Web. Give it a name ("Paulo") and paste the connector address.
- Confirm, then sign in to Paulo to approve access.
- In a conversation, open the "+" menu, then Connectors, and check that Paulo is on.
- Make a first, risk-free test: "List my 5 latest LinkedIn conversations and tell me who is waiting for a reply."
Good to knowStart with read requests (list, summarize) to check that everything works, before asking Claude to send anything.
WHAT CLAUDE CAN DO ON YOUR LINKEDIN
When you ask, here's what Claude can do with Paulo:
| Action | Example request | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Follow up | "Follow up with the 12 people who saw my demo on Tuesday. Short, personal, not pushy." | A different message per person, based on each exchange |
| Reply | "Reply to messages waiting more than 2 days, show me your drafts first." | You review the drafts, Claude sends the ones you approve |
| Invite | "Invite HR managers at IT consultancies in Bordeaux, with a note that mentions their latest post." | One invitation per profile, each with its own note |
| Search | "Find backend devs in Nantes with 5 years of experience." | A list of profiles in the conversation |
| Prepare a meeting | "Summarize the profile of the person I'm seeing at 2pm and suggest two opening questions." | A brief: background, current topics, angles |
| Publish | "Reply to the comments on yesterday's post, in my tone." | The replies are posted under your post |
WHY CLAUDE FOR LINKEDIN
Claude follows tone and length instructions well. "Short, personal, not pushy", "first names, four lines max", "no stock phrases": this kind of instruction holds from one message to the next, which matters when you send thirty follow-ups in the same morning.
It's also good at reading a long conversation and keeping what matters: the unanswered question, the date that came up, the objection raised. That's the difference between a generic follow-up and a message people want to answer.
And you stay in the tool you already use. No new interface to learn: you talk to Claude as usual, and LinkedIn follows.
GIVE CLAUDE YOUR STYLE ONCE AND FOR ALL
Instead of repeating your instructions in every request, write them once. Claude's projects let you give it instructions and documents it keeps in mind for every conversation in the project. Create a "LinkedIn prospecting" project and put in:
your target: industries, roles, company size; your offer in three sentences, and what sets it apart; your style: first names or formal, maximum length, words to avoid; two or three messages you wrote that worked well; your sending rules, for example a mandatory preview before any batch send.
Here's an example of project instructions:
"I recruit tech profiles for a 12-person agency in Lyon. I write formally and briefly (5 lines max) and always mention a specific detail of the person's background. I never mention salary in the first message. Before sending more than 5 messages at once, show me the list and the texts."
Good to knowYou can also create a custom writing style in Claude from a few of your own texts: it applies to everything Claude writes for you, LinkedIn included.
THREE ROUTINES TO SET UP
Monday morning: "List the conversations waiting on my reply, then follow up with those who haven't answered in 7 days." In a few minutes, your LinkedIn inbox is up to date.
Before each meeting: "Summarize the profile of the person I'm seeing at 2pm and their latest posts, and suggest two opening questions." You show up prepared without opening a single tab.
Once a week: "Draft a post from what we learned this week, in my style, and suggest a publishing time." You review, adjust, Claude schedules.
EXAMPLE REQUESTS TO CLAUDE
Simple sentences, the way you'd say them to an assistant:
"Follow up with the 12 people who saw my demo on Tuesday. Short, personal, not pushy."
"Find backend devs in Nantes with 5 years of experience and write them a first message."
"Reply to the comments on yesterday's post, in my tone."
"Which conversations did I leave unanswered this week?"
"Show me the messages before you send them."
LINKEDIN LIMITS TO RESPECT
LinkedIn spots accounts that behave like bots: dozens of invitations in a minute, the same message sent to everyone, activity that spikes overnight. The exact thresholds aren't published. The markers below come from practitioners, not from LinkedIn:
| Action | Careful marker | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Invitations | Around twenty a day, about a hundred a week | Jumping from 10 to 60 from one day to the next |
| Messages to your contacts | A few dozen a day, spread out | The same text sent in bursts |
| Pending invitations | Withdraw those that have sat for weeks | Hundreds of unanswered requests |
Good to knowPaulo spreads sends over time. But the best protection is still a relevant message sent to the right people: a good acceptance rate matters as much as volume.
STAY IN CONTROL
Claude only acts when you ask, and you see every action in the conversation. For an important send, ask it to show you the messages first: you approve, it sends.
An AI can get things wrong: misread a conversation, mix up two people. In the first weeks, keep the preview habit for every batch send.
You can turn Paulo off in a conversation, remove it from your connectors or disconnect your LinkedIn account at any time. Your data is never sold.