MCP Client (Beta) connection

Introduction

An MCP Client (Beta) connection, created using the MCP Client (Beta) connector, establishes access to a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. This connector is an MCP client that connects to an external MCP server to use its tools and capabilities. Once a connection is configured, you can create instances of MCP Client (Beta) activities associated with that connection to be used either as sources (to provide data in an operation) or as targets (to consume data in an operation).

Create or edit an MCP Client (Beta) connection

A new MCP Client (Beta) connection is created using the MCP Client (Beta) connector from one of these locations:

• The design component palette's Project endpoints and connectors tab (see Design component palette).
• The Global Endpoints page (see Create a global endpoint in Global Endpoints).

An existing MCP Client (Beta) connection can be edited from these locations:

• The design component palette's Project endpoints and connectors tab (see Design Component Palette).
• The project pane's Components tab (see Component actions menu in Project pane Components tab).
• The Global Endpoints page (see Edit a global endpoint in Global Endpoints).

Configure an MCP Client (Beta) connection

Each user interface element of the MCP Client (Beta) connection configuration screen is described below.

• Connection name: Enter a name to identify the connection. The name must be unique for each MCP Client (Beta) connection and must not contain forward slashes (/) or colons (:). This name is also used to identify the MCP Client (Beta) endpoint, which refers to both a specific connection and its activities.

• MCP server URL: Enter the full HTTP endpoint of the MCP server. The URL must include the protocol (http:// or https://) and the specific endpoint path (such as /mcp). For example, https://api.example.com/mcp.

• Authentication mechanism: Select the authentication mechanism, either Access Token or No Auth.

  • No Auth: Select this option if authentication to the MCP server is not required.

  • Access Token: Select this option if authentication to the MCP server is required.

    • Bearer token: Enter a bearer token for authentication to the MCP server. The MCP server administrator or service provider issues this token.

• Optional settings: Click to expand additional optional settings:

  • Protocol Version: Select the MCP protocol version to use. You can select from 2025-06-18 (default), 2025-03-26, or 2024-11-05. The default version is recommended unless the MCP server requires a specific version.

  • Timeout (in milliseconds): Enter the maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the MCP server to respond. The default is 30000 milliseconds (30 seconds). Increase this value for slow networks or long-running server operations.

  • Custom Request Headers (Sent with every request to the MCP server): Enter any additional headers to include with all requests sent to the MCP server. You can use this field to pass any server-specific headers. To add a request header row, click the add icon and enter a Header Key and Header Value.

    To save the row, click the submit icon in the rightmost column.

    To edit or delete a single request header row, hover over the rightmost column and use the edit icon or delete icon.

    To delete all request header rows, click Clear All.

    Important

    Fields in the table display the variable icon only in edit mode. For these fields' variable values to be populated at runtime, the agent version must be at least 10.75 / 11.13.

  • Use Proxy Settings (Private Agent Only): When using a private agent, this setting can be selected to use private agent proxy settings.

• Test: Click to verify the connection using the specified configuration. When the connection is tested, the latest version of the connector is downloaded by the agent(s) in the agent group associated with the current environment. This connector supports suspending the download of the latest connector version by using the Disable Auto Connector Update organization policy.

• Save Changes: Click to save and close the connection configuration.

• Discard Changes: After making changes to a new or existing configuration, click to close the configuration without saving. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

• Delete: After opening an existing connection configuration, click to permanently delete the connection from the project and close the configuration (see Component dependencies, deletion, and removal). A message asks you to confirm that you want to delete the connection.

Next steps

After an MCP Client (Beta) connection has been created, you place an activity type on the design canvas to create activity instances to be used either as sources (to provide data in an operation) or as targets (to consume data in an operation).

Menu actions for a connection and its activity types are accessible from the project pane and design component palette. For details, see Actions menus in Connector Basics.

These activity types are available:

• List Tools: Retrieves available tools from an MCP server and is intended to be used as a source in an operation. Use the returned data to configure the Invoke Tools activity.

• Invoke Tools: Executes a specific tool on an MCP server and is intended to be used as a target in an operation. Use the List Tools activity first to see available tools and their required fields.