Resources · Claude connector

Claude Maryland Community Compass connectorWhat Claude can do in your Maryland Community Compass account.

The Claude Maryland Community Compass connector exposes 20 tools, all 20 of them read tools. 0 write, 0 undocumented. Claude queries Maryland's parcels, zoning, community plans and public funding programs. Below: what you get from each.

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Overview

Any Maryland address, vetted in one question

Compass is the State of Maryland's neighborhood development platform, open to anyone, built with Anthropic. Connected to Claude, it lets you ask what's known about an address, a parcel or an area: zoning, environmental records, historic listings, neighborhood indicators, available funding.

Run a site feasibility check. geocode_address pins it, lookup_parcel pulls the tax record, and lookup_zoning_and_context returns the zoning and the incentive areas covering it.

Assemble a capital stack. recommend_programs ranks funding against a profile (organization type, county, industry, need), then get_program_details spells out eligibility, application steps and deadlines. The directory sheet mentions over 2,600 programs from more than 100 sources.

Read the exact zoning rule. search_zoning_text finds the right section of a jurisdiction's ordinance, and read_zoning_section returns its full text.

What the connector won't do: per the publisher, its calls change nothing on Compass, and geocoding covers Maryland only. By default its sheet only exposes reading. Nothing runs in the background either. For automatic monitoring, the Integrations hub gathers tools that do a different job.

Per the publisher, no token, API key or password is needed.

Vocabulary

Words to know before connecting Compass

Five terms, explained once.

Connector
The bridge you set up once between Claude and a service you already use, so Claude can work with it while answering you.
Tool
A named capability the connector opens to Claude. Claude picks what it needs on its own; the directory sheet lists every one.
Authorization
The service's own screen where you hand Claude the access it will use. Granted once per person, and revocable.
Approval
The confirmation Claude waits for before an action that changes something in an account, shown in the chat at the right moment.
MCP
The open standard connectors are built on: it lets an assistant like Claude hold a conversation with an outside service.
Connect

Connect the Claude Maryland Community Compass connector

  1. 01

    Find Compass in Claude

    In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, and spot Compass. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, an Owner or Primary Owner enables it for the organization first; each member then connects on their own.

  2. 02

    Start the connection

    Click Connect on the Compass row, then follow the window the service opens. If the link ever breaks, hit Disconnect and connect again from the same row.

  3. 03

    Read the authorization screen

    Go through the authorization screen before you accept. It belongs to the service, not to Claude, and it sets what the access covers. You can also take that access back later from the service itself.

Tools

Compass's 20 lookup tools

Maryland Community Compass gives Claude 20 tools: 20 that read your account, 0 that change something in it.

Twenty tools, all described by the tool list the State of Maryland's service publishes. Names stay in English, as Claude shows them.

  • 20 read

What Claude looks up (20)

20 tools

Twenty search and read tools; the publisher states none of them changes anything on Compass.

geocode_address

Turns a Maryland street address into map coordinates, with confidence and warning fields. Usually the first step before every point-based lookup.

When it helps
you want to start every check from nothing more than a mailing address.
Watch out
an out-of-state address may land on a similarly named Maryland place instead of returning an error.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

get_program_details

Opens the full record of one funding program: eligibility, application process, deadlines, contacts, source links and requirements. The drill-down after a search or a recommendation.

When it helps
a program from a search caught your eye and you want its conditions before applying.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

get_statistics

Counts funding programs along one dimension: agency, assistance type, county, industry, eligible organization type, funding source, business stage or data quality. It can return every group sorted by count, or only the top ones.

When it helps
you want to see which counties or agencies hold the most programs.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

list_community_plans

Lists the comprehensive or community plans covering a given point. If none contains it, it returns the three nearest plans within three miles, with the distance.

When it helps
you want to know which plan applies to a specific point.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

list_filter_options

Enumerates the valid filter values for funding searches: agencies, assistance types, counties, industries, organization types, funding sources, business stages and incentive areas. You can restrict it to some fields or ask for all of them.

When it helps
you need an agency's or industry's exact label before filtering a funding search.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

list_zoning_jurisdictions

Lists every Maryland jurisdiction whose zoning ordinance is loaded, with its type and platform. It's the list to check before list_zoning_sections or search_zoning_text, which each work on one jurisdiction.

When it helps
before a code search, you confirm the jurisdiction you care about is among the loaded ordinances.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

list_zoning_sections

Lays out the table of contents of one jurisdiction's zoning ordinance: section ID, title, size and source link for each, in the code's own order. Each section is then read with read_zoning_section.

When it helps
you want to skim an ordinance's structure before reading a section.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_environmental

Searches around a point for sites in the state's land restoration program (brownfields and similar) and for sensitive areas such as wetlands or the Chesapeake Bay tidal buffer.

When it helps
you want to know whether a lot sits near a site tracked for land restoration before committing.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_historic

Finds Maryland Historical Trust register entries near a point and says whether each site contains, intersects or sits near the location. The default radius is 0.5 miles.

When it helps
you want to know whether a building is on a historic register before planning work.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_natural_resources

Returns the conservation easements and green infrastructure areas that the state's natural resources department has recorded within a given radius of a point.

When it helps
you want to see the protected land around a site before planning an expansion.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_neighborhood_indicators

Reports census-tract indicators on demographics, housing, economic growth and development activity, each compared with the county and state medians so you can read them in context.

When it helps
you compare two neighborhoods before choosing where to locate a project.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_parcel

Reads Maryland's tax assessment data for the parcel at a point: zoning code, acreage, assessed values, construction quality, sale history and utility service, with raw codes turned into readable labels.

When it helps
you want a parcel's sale history and assessed value before negotiating.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_vacancy_notices

Shows active Baltimore City vacant building notices on or near a point. Outside Baltimore City, the answer simply says the tool doesn't apply. The default radius is 0.1 miles.

When it helps
you want to spot the vacant building notices on a Baltimore street.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

lookup_zoning_and_context

Gives a parcel's zoning plus the state or local incentive areas overlapping it (Enterprise Zone, Opportunity Zone, Sustainable Community, transit-oriented development and others) and the relevant community plans.

When it helps
you want to know whether a location sits inside a state or local incentive area.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

read_community_plan

Returns the full text of a community plan, split into pages beyond 120 KB, with a link to the original PDF so you can cite it.

When it helps
you need to quote a plan precisely, with the link to its PDF.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

read_zoning_section

Hands back the body of one zoning section, up to 60 KB in one go with the rest paginated. You can also request a narrow window of the text.

When it helps
you want the exact text of an ordinance section rather than a summary.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

recommend_programs

Suggests funding by scoring each program against a profile: organization type, county, industry, stage, demographics and need. By default it keeps only open programs of at least medium quality.

When it helps
you don't know what to search for and just describe your profile and need.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

search_community_plan_text

Searches the text of one community plan and returns short snippets with their position, eight hits by default. Handy before opening the whole plan.

When it helps
you want what a neighborhood plan says about bike lanes without reading it cover to cover.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

search_funding

Queries the catalogue of state and local incentives (grants, loans, tax credits, training, technical assistance) by free text and filters. Common agency acronyms expand automatically. For instance, DHCD matches the Department of Housing and Community Development.

When it helps
you look for a state agency's loans by typing its acronym.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

search_zoning_text

Runs a full-text search through one jurisdiction's zoning ordinance and returns matching sections with a snippet and the match position, ranked by relevance across subsection titles and content.

When it helps
you want every mention of a zone code in an ordinance.

Sourcecompass.maryland.gov · October 1, 2026 ↗

Approvals

What Claude asks first, and who can switch Compass off

By default, Claude stops and asks for your go-ahead before each action it takes on an account for you. Compass's twenty tools are lookups, and the publisher describes a per-tool setting inside Claude.

On Team and Enterprise, workspace owners decide whether a member may let certain actions through without being asked again. They can also limit what Compass may do for the whole organization, keeping reading open and closing writes for example, with a setting nobody bypasses from their own account. Finally, Claude works with the connected person's rights: what that person can't reach, Claude can't reach either.

Plans

Which plans include it

None of the 819 directory sheets shows plan availability. Connector by connector, that information isn't published anywhere: it's a real gap in the catalogue.

The general rule is public: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile, while desktop extensions install on Claude Desktop. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner opens the connector for the organization first. For the current status on your account, the only reference is the Maryland Community Compass sheet in the official directory, which the button on this page opens.

Limits

Where Compass stops inside Claude

A connector isn't an automation: Claude calls these tools while answering you, and nothing watches for a new program or notice. Only the publisher, the Maryland State Innovation Team, documents this connector.

The sheet exposes reading only, which is an observed floor, not a guarantee. The directory badge isn't a security audit, and Anthropic notes on every sheet that it doesn't control a publisher's tools. Other connectors are gathered on the Claude connectors page.

A connected community connector has exactly the same access as any other. Compass, for its part, never asks for no token, API key or password.

Need help

Need help connecting Maryland Community Compass to Claude?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Claude Maryland Community Compass connector: common questions

01What can Claude do with the Maryland Community Compass connector?
Claude can query the public neighborhood development data published by the State of Maryland: geocode an address, read a parcel's tax record, zoning and incentive areas, spot contaminated sites, historic listings, protected land and Baltimore vacant notices, compare neighborhood indicators, search or get recommendations for public funding, and read zoning ordinances and community plans. The twenty tools on the sheet cover all of that, and all of them only read, never write.
02Can Claude file an application or change anything on Compass?
No, based on the available sources: the twenty tools search and read, and the publisher writes that nothing on its end is changed by these calls. A list that only shows reading is still an observed floor, not a guarantee, since an admin can open capabilities missing from public sheets. The publisher presents these tools as a small set of read-only lookup functions on its server. No Compass account is needed to use them.
03Does Claude ask before using Compass?
That depends on the setting you pick. Compass's documentation describes a tool permissions panel in Claude where each tool is set to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. The publisher recommends Always allow, since its tools only read. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, owners also decide whether members can let certain actions through without a prompt, and can restrict the connector organization-wide with one setting. Without a specific setting, Claude's default rule is to ask before each action it takes on an account for you.
04Which Claude plans support the Maryland Community Compass connector?
No official source publishes plan availability connector by connector, and the directory sheet doesn't show it. The general rule says remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable the connector for the organization first. Compass being free says nothing about Claude plans, so check the directory sheet on your own account before relying on it.
05Does Claude see personal data through Compass?
Compass asks for no account: its tools read public state registers covering parcels, zoning, historic sites, environment and funding. The parcel record does include assessed values and sale history, which are public but specific facts about a property. On Claude's side, the general rule holds: it works with the connected person's rights and nothing more. Compass publishes its own privacy policy on its website. Compass needs no token, API key or password.
06Why doesn't the Compass connector work from outside the US?
Because the directory sheet states that requests must come from a US-based network, even though no authentication is required. From a network abroad, calls may fail. The connector is also centered on Maryland: its geocoder resolves addresses in that state only, and an address elsewhere may return a similarly named Maryland place instead of an error. The publisher advises checking the confidence and warning fields before chaining the coordinate into other tools.
07Claude or an automation tool for Compass?
They do different jobs, so it depends on the use. Claude with Compass answers a research question about a site or a project: it cross-checks parcel, zoning, environment and funding when you ask, then explains the result. An automation tool is built to chain steps that run unattended. This connector watches neither new programs nor new vacancy notices; it waits for your question. Per the publisher, its tools only read and change nothing on Compass.