Operations · Tools
Last Updated: September 10, 2026
Nimbalyst
Nimbalyst is a Windows app that runs Claude Code, an alternative to the Claude desktop app. It's fine for general project work. There's one thing to know before you rely on it: it switches off your connectors, the links that let Claude reach an outside tool like Tierra Data, Slack, or Google Drive, and you have to add them back by hand. This page explains the issue and walks you through the fix.
What Nimbalyst is
Nimbalyst is a separate app you install on Windows that gives you Claude Code in its own window. It carries its own copy of Claude inside it, so it doesn't need the Claude desktop app to run. Some of the team prefer how it feels to work in. On Mac, the equivalent is Conductor.
Everything on Claude Code 101 still applies: same projects, same skills, same everyday loop of pull, work, then commit and push. Nimbalyst just changes the window you do it in.
Use the Claude desktop app for audit work
The audit tool needs the Tierra Data connector to read data, and connectors are exactly the thing that breaks in Nimbalyst (see below). Until you're comfortable, do audit work in the Claude desktop app, where connectors just work. General project work is fine in Nimbalyst.
The connector issue
A connector is the link that lets Claude reach an outside tool, Tierra Data, Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, HubSpot, and so on. In the Claude desktop app you switch these on once in your account and they're always there.
Nimbalyst ignores them on purpose. Since an update in mid-2026, it starts every chat with only the tools it hands over itself, and your account's connectors aren't in that set. So inside a Nimbalyst chat, Tierra Data and the rest are simply absent, even though they're perfectly healthy in your Claude account. Nothing is broken on your end. It's a deliberate choice in Nimbalyst, not a sign-in problem.
How to tell it's this and not something else: if Claude in Nimbalyst says a connector like Tierra Data is missing, but that same connector works when you open the Claude desktop app, this is the issue. Don't waste time re-signing-in or reconnecting things in your Claude account, they're already fine.
The fix is to add the connectors you need back into Nimbalyst by hand, one time. That's the next section.
The fix — add your connectors back
You do this once. Nimbalyst remembers them after that.
- In Nimbalyst, open Settings, then Application, then MCP Servers. That's Nimbalyst's name for the list of outside tools Claude is allowed to use. It'll be empty or missing the ones you need, which is the whole problem.
- Add each connector you need as a remote server, meaning a tool that lives online and is reached by a web address. Use the name and address from the table below.
- When it asks you to sign in or authorize the connector, do it. This is the same sign-in you'd do in the Claude app.
- Start a fresh chat. Connectors only attach when a chat starts, so anything open before you added them still won't see them. Close it and open a new one.
Here are the addresses to paste in. For most of the team the only one you need is Tierra Data.
| Connector | Address |
|---|---|
| Tierra Data | Ask Brennan for the address. It is a private link that acts as the key to the connector, so it is not written on this page. |
| Slack | https://mcp.slack.com/mcp |
| Google Drive | https://drivemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 |
| Gmail | https://gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 |
| Google Calendar | https://calendarmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 |
| HubSpot | https://mcp.hubspot.com/anthropic |
| monday.com | https://mcp.monday.com/mcp |
| Otter | https://mcp.otter.ai/mcp |
If it still says the connector is missing
Check you started a brand-new chat after adding it, that's the step people skip. If it's still absent in a fresh chat, remove it from the MCP Servers list and add it again, then sign in when prompted.
Also worth knowing — the built-in Claude won't start
Nimbalyst's built-in copy of Claude tries to update itself while it's running, and when that gets interrupted there's nothing left for Nimbalyst to launch. You get a "Claude is missing or failed to launch" message and can't sign in. Two people here have lost an evening to it.
Prevent it before you install: open PowerShell as your normal user, not as administrator, and paste this one line. The folder you run it from doesn't matter.
If you've already hit it, the full fix is in Troubleshooting below.
Troubleshooting
Find your symptom below. If none of these match, send your GS a screenshot of exactly where you're stuck. Don't guess past an error.
Nimbalyst says its built-in Claude is missing or failed to launch, and I can't sign in. (Windows)
-
Nimbalyst carries its own copy of Claude, and that copy tries to update itself while it's running. If that gets interrupted, there's nothing left for Nimbalyst to start. Fix it in this order. First, quit Nimbalyst completely, including its icon in the tray by the clock. Second, open PowerShell as your normal user, NOT as administrator, and paste the line below, which stops the built-in copy updating itself again. The folder you run it from doesn't matter.
Third, reinstall Nimbalyst over the top of your existing install, without uninstalling first. Then reopen it and sign in. Don't remove any other copy of Claude you have installed, that makes it worse rather than better.
Related
- Claude Code 101 — the setup and everyday loop, same for Nimbalyst
- Paid Media Audit Tool — the tool that needs the Tierra Data connector