MCP Servers
MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers expose external tool capabilities over a standard protocol. Register a server once and you can instantly import its tools as regular Autessa tools, or point an MCP agent at it to use everything the server offers automatically.
What it's for
If a vendor or your own team already ships an MCP server — GitHub, an internal API gateway, anything speaking the protocol — you don't have to rebuild each capability as a hand-configured tool. Connecting the server gives you two ways to use it:
- Import its tools — one click creates a regular Autessa tool for each tool the server exposes. Imported tools are first-class: you can edit, share, test, and attach them to any agent.
- Drive it with an MCP agent — an agent with type MCP automatically uses whatever tools its linked server exposes, with no per-tool setup. See Agents.
Navigating here
From the dashboard sidebar, open Agentic Workflows → MCP Servers. The page lists your registered servers in a card or list view, with Add MCP Server in the top right.
Every MCP server is automatically available to your whole company — there is no per-user sharing step for servers themselves.
Key concepts
Server registration
A server registration is just a name, the server's URL, an optional description, and how to authenticate to it. Autessa supports four authentication types plus unauthenticated servers:
| Authentication type | What you provide |
|---|---|
| No Authentication | Nothing — public or network-trusted servers |
| API Key | The key plus the header name to send it in (defaults to X-API-Key) |
| Bearer Token | A token sent as Authorization: Bearer ... |
| Basic Auth | Username and password |
| Custom Headers | Any number of header name/value pairs |
Credentials are encrypted server-side and never returned to the browser. When you edit a server, entering new authentication details replaces the stored credentials; the UI only ever shows whether auth is configured (a green Authenticated badge), not the secret itself.
Imported tools are regular tools
Importing creates ordinary tools that live on your Tools page with the MCP tool type. Deleting a server later does not delete tools already created from it — they keep working as long as the server is reachable with the stored credentials.
Tools, resources, and prompts over the API
Beyond tools, MCP servers can expose resources and prompts. The builder UI focuses on tool import; the API additionally lets you test a server's connection and enumerate its tools, resources, and prompts (/mcp/servers/test-connection, /list-tools, /list-resources, /list-prompts). See the MCP Poweruser API.
How to connect an MCP server
- Go to Agentic Workflows → MCP Servers and click Add MCP Server.
- Enter a Server Name (e.g. "GitHub MCP Server") and the Server URL (e.g.
https://mcp.example.com). - Pick the Authentication Type and fill in the credentials the server expects.
- Optionally add a description, then save. The server is immediately available to your whole company.
How to import a server's tools
- On the MCP Servers page, find the server card and click its Import tools action — or, from the Tools page, choose Create Tools from MCP Server and select the server.
- Click Create Tools. Autessa connects to the server, reads every tool it exposes, and creates one Autessa tool per MCP tool.
- A confirmation shows how many tools were created. Find and refine them on the Tools page — descriptions and argument docs carry over from the server, but you can edit them like any other tool.
Import is all-or-nothing per server; delete any imported tools you don't want afterwards.
How to update credentials
- Open the server's edit dialog from the MCP Servers page.
- Choose the authentication type and enter the new credentials — saving replaces the existing stored credentials entirely.