Last updated April 21, 2026
MCP Servers
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is how you extend ContextDX beyond its built-in capabilities. Register an MCP server, and its tools, resources, and prompts become available to the chat agent — giving your AI architect access to databases, APIs, monitoring systems, or anything else you expose through the protocol.
What's an MCP server?
An MCP server is an external process that exposes capabilities through a standardized protocol. It can run locally (via stdio) or remotely (via SSE). Each server declares what it can do:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Tools | Functions the AI can call — query a database, fetch metrics, run a script |
| Resources | Data the AI can read — files, API responses, live system state |
| Prompts | Templated instructions the AI can use for specific tasks |
Think of MCP servers as plugins for chat's brain. Each server you connect gives the AI new abilities to understand and interact with your systems.
Transport modes
MCP servers connect using one of two transport types:
The server runs as a local process. You specify a command and optional arguments. Best for development, local tools, and servers that need filesystem access.
JSON{ "type": "stdio", "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres"], "env": { "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://..." } }
When to use: Local development, database access, filesystem-based tools, anything that needs to run on the same machine.
Registering a server
Register your first MCP server
- Go to Settings → MCP Servers in your org dashboard
- Click Add Server
- Enter a name and description for the server
- Choose transport type — stdio for local, SSE for remote
- Fill in the transport config (command/args for stdio, URL/headers for SSE)
- Toggle which capability types are enabled (tools, resources, prompts)
- Add categories and tags for organization
- Click Save and verify the connection test passes
When you save, ContextDX validates the config, tests the connection, and immediately tries to discover capabilities. You'll see the test result before you leave the page.
Testing connections
After registering (or anytime), you can verify a server is reachable:
- Find the server in Settings → MCP Servers
- Click Test Connection
- The result shows success or failure with an optional diagnostic message
The server detail view tracks last-connected time and current status so you can monitor health at a glance.
Discovering capabilities
Once a server is connected, ContextDX discovers its capabilities:
- Navigate to the server's detail page
- The Capabilities tab lists all discovered tools, resources, and prompts
- Filter by type to narrow the list
- Click Refetch to re-discover capabilities if the server has been updated
What ContextDX captures per capability
Tools
Each discovered tool includes:
- Name and LLM-friendly name — how the AI references it
- Input schema — structured definition of required parameters
- Response type information — what the tool returns and how reliable the output schema is
- Categories and usage examples — for discoverability
- Enabled toggle — turn tools on or off without removing the server
Resources
- URI and optional URI template for parameterized access
- MIME type — what format the data is in
- Subscribable flag — whether the resource supports real-time updates
Prompts
- Arguments — named parameters with descriptions and required flags
- Template — the prompt text
- Tags and usage count — for organization and analytics
Discovered capabilities are stored in the platform's catalog. When the chat agent needs to pick tools for a task, it draws from this catalog — so well-described tools get selected more often.
Making tools available to chat
Once an MCP server is registered and its capabilities are discovered, its tools are automatically available to the chat agent. When a user starts a conversation, chat resolves which tools are relevant based on:
- The board's context and connected sources
- The user's tool preferences
- The server's capability categories
You don't need to manually wire tools to conversations — chat discovers and selects them dynamically.
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Managing servers
- Update — modify server config, transport settings, or capabilities
- Delete — uninstall a server and remove its capabilities from the catalog
- Search and filter — find servers by name or tags when you have many registered
Deleting an MCP server removes all its discovered capabilities from the platform. Any chat conversations that relied on those tools will no longer have access to them.