Model Context Protocol (MCP)

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a common standard for sharing tools and data with AI. It works in two directions:

• Use outside tools. An MCP connection brings the tools of an outside MCP server, such as a time-zone service or your company's internal tools, into the site. The assistants you choose can then use them.
• Share your own. The MCP Server lets other AI apps, such as a desktop AI assistant, use the tools you select on this site. It can also offer prompts (ready-made instructions) and resources (files and data an app can read).

To give tools to an AI assistant in the web browser instead, on the pages a signed-in person opens, see WebMCP.

Menu	Artificial Intelligence > Model Context Protocol > MCP Hosts, Prompts, Resources; Settings > Artificial Intelligence (the MCP Server section)
Permission	Manage MCP Connections; Manage MCP Prompts; Manage MCP Resources; Manage the MCP Server settings; Access the MCP Server (for apps that connect)
Feature	Model Context Protocol (MCP) Client; Model Context Protocol (MCP) Local Client; Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server; Model Context Protocol (MCP) FTP Resource; Model Context Protocol (MCP) SFTP Resource

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

The video covers why a common standard for AI tools helps, how the MCP client and server fit together, and each task below except sharing resources, which has its own video.

Each part is its own feature, so you only see the menus of the features that are turned on: MCP Hosts comes with the client, and Prompts and Resources come with the server.

Connect to an MCP server

1. Open Artificial Intelligence > Model Context Protocol > MCP Hosts and click Add Connection.
2. In Available Sources, click Add on the kind of server:
   • Server-Sent Events: a server on the web.
   • Standard Input/Output: a program that runs on the site's own server (see below).
3. Enter a Title and the Endpoint, which is the address of the server.
4. Choose the Authentication (see Choose how to sign in).
5. Click Save.

The site does not contact the server when you save. A wrong address or key shows up the first time an assistant uses the connection, so try each new connection with an assistant before you rely on it.

The list shows each connection with its Connection type and when it was Last modified. Use Edit to change one, and Delete to remove it.

Connect to a local program

A Standard Input/Output connection starts a program on the site's own server instead of calling an address. It is available only when the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Local Client feature is on. Because it runs a program on your server, turn it on only when your technical team asks for it.

Field	What it does
Title	The name shown in the list and on profiles.
Command	The command that starts the program.
Command arguments	Optional arguments for the command.
Working directory	Optional folder the program runs in.
Environment variables	Optional values the program needs.

Your technical team provides the values for these fields.

Choose how to sign in

The Authentication list of a Server-Sent Events connection offers:

Option	Use it when
Anonymous (No Authentication)	The server is open to everyone or sits on a private network.
API Key	The server wants a key in a header. Set the Header Name (it defaults to Authorization), an optional Key Prefix such as Bearer, and the API Key.
Basic Authentication	The server wants a Username and Password.
OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials	The site gets a token from a Token Endpoint with a Client ID and Client Secret, and optional Scopes.
OAuth 2.0 + Private Key JWT	The same, signing in with a Private Key (PEM) and an optional Key ID (kid).
OAuth 2.0 + Mutual TLS (mTLS)	The same, signing in with a Client Certificate (Base64 PFX) and an optional Certificate Password.
Custom Headers (Advanced)	The server asks for other headers, which you list under Additional headers.

Secrets are stored securely and never shown again. When you edit a connection, leave a secret field blank to keep the stored value.

Give an assistant the tools

A connection does nothing until an assistant uses it:

1. Open Artificial Intelligence > Profiles and edit the profile.
2. On the Capabilities tab, tick the connection under MCP Connections.
3. Click Save.

The assistant now sees the tools of that server and decides by itself when to call them. Profile templates and chat interactions have the same list (in a chat interaction it is called Connections).

Tools really act

A tool can change things on the other system. Give a connection only to the assistants that should be able to use it, and check what the server's tools do first.

Share your tools with other AI apps

With the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server feature on, apps outside the site can use the tools you choose:

1. Open Settings > Artificial Intelligence and find the MCP Server section.
2. Choose the Authentication type: OpenID Connect, API key or None (Anonymous access). Use None only for testing.
3. With API key, enter the key that apps must send. With OpenID Connect, tick Require access permission to also ask for the Access the MCP Server permission.
4. Under Tools (and Tool Instances, when that feature is on), tick what to share, or use Select All Tools. Nothing is shared until you pick it.
5. Click Save. The site reloads its settings.

Expose all tools shares every tool and tool instance and ignores your selection. Use it only when you trust every app that connects. You need the Manage the MCP Server settings permission. How outside apps connect is described in the Technical Manual.

Share prompts

A prompt is a ready-made instruction that other AI apps can offer to their users, with blanks to fill in.

1. Open Artificial Intelligence > Model Context Protocol > Prompts and click Add Prompt.
2. Enter a Title, a unique Name (other apps ask for the prompt by it), and a Description that says what it does.
3. Under Arguments, click Add Argument for each blank. Give it a Name, and optionally a Title and Description, and tick Required when the app must supply it.
4. Under Messages, click Add Message. Choose a Role, User or Assistant, and write the Content. An argument's name in double curly braces is replaced by the value the app supplies.
5. Click Save.

Share resources

A resource is a file or other data that an app can read. With a resource, the app asks your site for the file when it needs it, so it always reads the current version instead of a pasted copy.

The video shows what resources are, the types below, and how to add a File, a Media, an SFTP and an FTP resource.

The resource types

Open Artificial Intelligence > Model Context Protocol > Resources and click Add Resource. Available Resource Types lists:

• File reads from the site's file providers.
• Media shares files of the media library.
• FTP/FTPS and SFTP read from a file server. They are available when the FTP or SFTP resource feature is on.
• Recipe, Recipe Schema and Recipe Step Schema share the site's recipes with developer tools. You do not need them for everyday documents.

Share a file

1. Click Add on File.
2. Enter a Display Text (the name in the list) and a Name (how apps identify the resource).
3. Add a Description that says what the file holds. AI apps read it to decide whether the resource is useful.
4. Leave the MIME Type, which tells the app what kind of content it is, on text/plain or change it to match the file.
5. Enter the Path. The Full URI line under the field shows the address an app uses. A placeholder in curly braces, such as {fileName}, turns one resource into many: the app fills in the file it wants.
6. Click Save. The resource is listed with its type.

Share media

Click Add on Media and fill in the same fields. In the Path, the placeholder {path} stands for the location of a file in the media library, so an app can ask for any file. To share a single file instead, replace the placeholder with its location. Click Save.

Share files from a file server

1. Click Add on SFTP, then enter a Display Text, a Name and a Description.
2. Enter the Host, the Port (22 by default) and the Username of the file server.
3. Sign in with a Password, or with a Private Key and its Passphrase. Both are stored securely and never shown again.
4. Proxy Settings, a Connection Timeout (seconds) and a Keep-Alive Interval (seconds) are optional, and help with firewalls and slow networks.
5. Click Save.

An FTP/FTPS resource has the same Host, Port, Username and Password, plus an Encryption Mode (None (Plain FTP), Explicit (STARTTLS), Implicit (Port 990) or Auto Detect), a Data Connection Type, Accept Any Certificate and timeouts. Saving only stores the settings, so try each resource from an AI app before you rely on it.

Use cases

• Live facts. Connect a time-zone, weather or ticket service so a support assistant answers from current information.
• Company tools. Give your assistants the tools your technical team already built, through one connection.
• Other AI apps. Let staff use their favorite AI app with the tools of your site.
• Shared wording. Publish the prompts every team should use, so everyone asks in the same way.

Keep it safe

• Share only the tools you are comfortable having called. Prefer API key or OpenID Connect for the server, and keep None for testing.
• Start small: add one connection, give it to one assistant, and check the answers before you offer it more widely.
• Give the Manage MCP ... permissions only to the roles that need them.

Related

• Tools, agents and connections: built-in tools, tool instances, agents and A2A connections.
• Profiles: the Capabilities tab.
• Technical Manual: MCP