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

# MCP servers

> Connect external MCP servers to extend what your project's agent can reach.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for exposing tools to an AI agent. If a system you use runs an MCP server — an internal service, a vendor's hosted server, something your team built — you can connect it to a project and its tools become available to that project's agent.

This is the extension point for anything the built-in connectors and [skills](/concepts/skills) don't already cover.

## Adding a server

MCP servers are managed per project in the **Customize** panel (**Connect** in the sidebar), under the **MCP Servers** tab. Add a server with its URL and, where it needs one, its authentication.

Once connected, the server's tools appear to the agent alongside its native ones. The agent picks the right tool for the task the same way it picks any other — from the tool's name and description.

## Access control applies

An MCP server is access like any other. It's added to a specific project, so agents in other projects can't use it, and what a tool can do is bounded by the credentials you gave the server.

Actions that reach the outside world still pass the same [approval gates](/concepts/review-approvals) as any other outbound action, and every tool call the agent makes is recorded on the case's trace.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Skills" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/concepts/skills">
    Packaged instructions and code, the other extension point.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Integrations" icon="plug" href="/concepts/integrations">
    Native connectors, workflows, and agent tokens.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>