Create a custom connector

A connector is how an agent reaches an MCP server without launching one itself. A tenant administrator registers the server once; the platform discovers its tools, you review them, and agents declare the tools they need by referencing this connector in their manifest.

Availability: Custom connectors are enabled per tenant and need the manage capability in your workspace. See What is available where.

At a glance

1. Create the connector with its endpoint and authentication mode.
2. Test reachability and discover its tool inventory.
3. Review each tool you intend to expose.
4. Activate the connector.
5. Configure agent access using a direct connector declaration.

1. Create

From the Console, open Connectors and choose Add connector. Where the updated ownership controls are available, choose Workspace or Platform-wide explicitly. Workspace ownership belongs to the selected workspace; platform-wide ownership requires platform administration authority and the Platform context. Ownership describes who manages the connector, not which upstream data a user may access.

From the CLI, inspect the supported scope and tenant flags:

Terminal

tanomis mcp connector create --help

A connector has a name, the server endpoint, and an authentication mode: service authentication with a credential reference the connector owns, or none for an unauthenticated endpoint. Secret material is never placed in an agent manifest.

2. Test and discover

Terminal

tanomis mcp connector test CONNECTOR_ID
tanomis mcp connector discover CONNECTOR_ID
tanomis mcp connector tools CONNECTOR_ID

test probes reachability and tools/list. discover records the tool inventory and prints the diff since the last discovery, so a server that changed a tool’s schema shows up before an agent trips over it. tools lists the discovered inventory with the names you will use in allowlists.

3. Review

Terminal

tanomis mcp connector review CONNECTOR_ID --tool create_issue --status approved

A tool’s review status is what makes it available to agents. Review is per tool, so a server with thirty tools exposes only the ones you approved.

4. Activate

Terminal

tanomis mcp connector set-status CONNECTOR_ID active

Activation is an explicit step; probing and discovery never change status. The server enforces the transition rules and the authorization; the CLI only refuses values outside the vocabulary.

5. Make the connection available to an agent

Reference the connector directly in agent.yaml:

integrations:
  support:
    connector: tenant/support-desk
    tools:
      allow: [search_tickets]

Use the actual connector name and approved tools. Run tanomis mcp connector tools CONNECTOR_ID to inspect them. Deploy the agent; there is no catalog association or connection-selection step. See the manifest reference.

Where to go next

• MCP connectors: workspace setup and runtime authorization.
• Tool approvals and schema pins: reviewed tool definitions.
• tanomis mcp connector: endpoint administration commands.