Turning off the account connector (when it overlaps a folder connection)

Claude Code and Desktop's `</> Code` attach your claude.ai account connector separately from the folder connection. With two AiAkiv connections, saves split between the folder project and Main, so turn the account connector off, but only where you use a folder connection.

In one line. One AiAkiv connection per conversation. Claude Code attaches your claude.ai account connector separately from the AiAkiv in the folder's .mcp.json, so where you use a folder connection, turn off the account connector's AiAkiv. Where you don't use a folder connection, leave it on.

What a folder connection (folder binding) is lives in Folder binding, and the steps for using one in Desktop live in Claude Desktop. This page covers only how to turn one off when the two overlap.

What goes wrong

The account connector is the AiAkiv you registered on your claude.ai account. It saves by following your account's Main.

Claude Code (the terminal CLI from version 2.1.46, and Claude Desktop's </> Code) attaches this account connector to the session separately from the AiAkiv in the folder's .mcp.json. That leaves two AiAkiv connections in one conversation.

AiAkiv from the folder's .mcp.json  ──>  saves to the folder project
AiAkiv from the account connector   ──>  saves to Main

The two have identical tool names. So nothing guarantees which one the AI uses, and depending on which it picks, saves split between the folder project and Main. There's no error and no warning, so the screen looks fine.

This overlap happens even when the folder connection is approved. Approval decides whether the folder connection attaches at all (Claude Desktop §4); the account connector attaching alongside it is a separate matter.

Who doesn't need to turn it off

To be clear up front: this page is not telling everyone to turn the account connector off.

Some places use only the account connector, with no folder connection: claude.ai web chat, and Desktop conversations opened where there's no folder config (.mcp.json). Turn the account connector off there and AiAkiv disappears entirely.

So there's one rule.

One AiAkiv connection per conversation. Turn the account connector off only where you use a folder connection.

Where AiAkiv attached What to do
Claude Code in a folder with .mcp.json (terminal, Desktop </> Code) Folder connection + account connector (two) Turn the account connector off
A conversation opened where there's no .mcp.json Account connector (one) Leave it on
claude.ai web chat Account connector (one) Leave it on
ChatGPT · ChatGPT classic Works differently See below

Checking whether they overlap

Look for two AiAkiv entries in the /mcp list. Or ask your AI.

how many AiAkiv connections do you have?

If there are two, they overlap. Then asking for the save target (get_save_target) answers folder or main depending on which connection you asked. That answer alone can't tell you it's safe, so cut it down to one first, then check the save target.

How to turn it off, by where you work

Claude Desktop (</> Code)

In the composer, open the + menu → Connectors and turn AiAkiv off.

  • This doesn't delete the connector from your account. It turns it off for Desktop sessions, so your web chat settings stay as they are.
  • It also changes the default for new Desktop sessions. So in a conversation opened on a folder with no .mcp.json, AiAkiv will be gone. To use it there, turn it back on in the same menu.
  • The terminal setting below (deniedMcpServers) doesn't reach Desktop. In Desktop, use this menu.

Terminal CLI (Claude Code)

Put the following in that folder's .claude/settings.local.json.

{
  "deniedMcpServers": [{ "serverName": "claude.ai AiAkiv" }]
}
  • Each entry is an object, not a string. Write it in the { "serverName": "..." } shape.

  • It blocks only in that folder. Other folders and web chat are unaffected.

  • If the same file already has approval settings (enabledMcpjsonServers, enableAllProjectMcpServers), write it inside the same braces. A second pair of braces breaks the file.

    {
      "enabledMcpjsonServers": ["AiAkiv"],
      "deniedMcpServers": [{ "serverName": "claude.ai AiAkiv" }]
    }
    

    The approval side (enabledMcpjsonServers) is an array of name strings; the blocking side (deniedMcpServers) is an array of objects. The shapes differ, which makes them easy to mix up.

Turning off every account connector in the terminal

To turn it off in one go instead of per folder, use one of these.

  • The environment variable ENABLE_CLAUDEAI_MCP_SERVERS=false
  • The setting "disableClaudeAiConnectors": true

⚠ This turns off every other account connector too, not just AiAkiv. If you use other connectors registered on your claude.ai account, the per-folder setting above is the better choice.

claude.ai web chat

No need to turn anything off. Web chat has no folder, so the account connector is the only connection. Turn it off and you can't use AiAkiv in web chat.

The ChatGPT apps

ChatGPT and ChatGPT classic work differently. You keep the account connector and register the folder connection under a different name to tell the two apart → Connecting ChatGPT.

That approach doesn't work in Claude. Even with different names the AI can still use the account connector, so in Claude you turn the account connector off.

Checking after you turn it off

  1. Look at the /mcp list again, or ask "how many AiAkiv connections do you have?". There should be one.
  2. With one, ask for the save target ("where are you saving right now?"). The AI calls get_save_target and reports back.
    • Check that binding is "folder". If you attached with an API key it shows "api-key". Both mean pinned.
    • Check that the project name doesn't carry (Main). If it does, it's following the account Main.
  3. To be sure, open a new conversation and check again. When the setting reaches a conversation that's already open can differ from place to place.

Every value binding can take, and what each means, is in Confirming it attached in Folder binding.

Common problems

  • After turning it off, AiAkiv disappeared in other folders. Turning it off in Desktop changed the default for new sessions. When you work in a folder with no .mcp.json, turn it back on under + menu → Connectors.
  • I added the terminal setting but Desktop still shows two. deniedMcpServers doesn't reach Desktop. In Desktop, turn it off under + menu → Connectors.
  • I added the setting but nothing is blocked. Check two things. That you didn't write the entry as a string ("claude.ai AiAkiv"): it must be an object ({ "serverName": "claude.ai AiAkiv" }). And that the server name exactly matches the account connector's name in the /mcp list (claude.ai AiAkiv).
  • After turning it off, there's no AiAkiv at all. The folder connection wasn't approved, so it was skipped. An unapproved folder connection drops out with no error, and until now only the account connector was there. Approve it per §4 of Claude Desktop.
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