> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nekt.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MCPs

> Attach external MCP servers to Nekt so your agent can use their tools alongside your catalog data through a single endpoint.

<Info>MCPs are available on all **paid plans**.</Info>

## What are MCPs?

MCPs let you attach third-party MCP servers (Slack, HubSpot, Stripe, Grafana, PostgreSQL, Supabase, custom internal servers, and more) to your Nekt workspace. Once attached, their tools are exposed through the **Nekt MCP Gateway** together with your catalog data, Semantic Layer, and context documents.

Your agent connects to a single endpoint (your Nekt MCP Gateway) and gets:

* **Nekt's own tools** for querying tables, running Queries and Notebooks, and reading context documents.
* **Tools from every MCP you've attached**, discovered and invoked through the same dispatcher.

This lets the agent reason across your warehoused data and your live systems in one conversation, using the context documents in your [Semantic Layer](/semantic-layer/overview) to route each question to the right place.

## Attach an MCP

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the MCPs module">
    Go to **Activate → MCPs** in the sidebar and click **+ New MCP**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a connector">
    Choose from the list of supported MCP integrations. Custom MCP servers can also be added by URL.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it and add a description">
    Give the MCP a short name and a description explaining what it's used for. Descriptions are read by the agent to help it choose between MCPs of the same type (for example, "Slack for marketing" vs "Slack for engineering").
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authenticate">
    Connect to the MCP server using its native auth flow. OAuth for most SaaS connectors, API key or connection string for databases.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select tools">
    Pick which tools from the MCP your agent will be allowed to use. Each tool is annotated as **Read** or **Write** so you can enable them intentionally.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set access">
    Choose which users and groups in your workspace can use this MCP through the Gateway.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## How the agent uses attached MCPs

Tools from your MCPs are not listed individually to the agent. Instead, the Nekt MCP Gateway exposes two dispatcher tools that cover all of them:

* [`discover_live_tools`](/mcp-server/tools#discover_live_tools) returns the attached MCPs, their tools, and the input schemas.
* [`run_live_tool`](/mcp-server/tools#run_live_tool) invokes a specific tool with arguments.

The agent typically calls `get_semantic_context` first to decide whether a question should be answered from warehoused data or routed to a live tool. After a successful routing, it can save a context document so the next similar question goes to the right place automatically.

<Tip>Write-capable tools require explicit confirmation from the agent before each call.</Tip>

## Managing MCPs

From the MCPs list you can:

* **Enable or disable** an MCP without deleting it.
* **Tag** MCPs to group them by team, purpose, or environment.
* **Edit permissions** to change who can use it.
* **Update the tool selection** as the underlying MCP server adds or removes tools.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Nekt MCP Gateway" icon="server" href="/mcp-server/overview">
    The endpoint your agent connects to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Live Data tools" icon="wrench" href="/mcp-server/tools#live-data">
    How attached MCPs surface to agents technically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Semantic Layer" icon="book" href="/semantic-layer/overview">
    Context documents that steer routing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP Server setup" icon="gear" href="/mcp-server/setup">
    Enable the Gateway on Express, GCP, or AWS.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>