Connect a custom MCP server

A workspace admin can connect a remote MCP server so Brief Chat can use tools that your team provides. Only add servers you trust: a server can receive conversation data and take actions on your behalf.

This connection brings an external server's tools into Brief Chat. It is separate from connecting a coding agent to Brief, which gives an outside client access to your Brief workspace.

Add a server

1. Open Integrations → Connect a Tool Into Brief → Connect a Tool….
2. Choose Custom MCP server in the catalog, then select Done.
3. Open its entry and select Connect. In Add custom MCP server, enter a Name and Remote MCP server URL.
4. Select Add server. Brief checks the URL and detects authentication. If it needs credentials, enter them and select Register server. Servers with no authentication can register immediately. OAuth servers can register automatically when client registration succeeds; otherwise, enter the OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret under Advanced settings, then select Register server.
5. If the server uses OAuth, select Connect on its Integrations entry and finish sign-in.

Your server entry shows its discovered tool count. Select Check Now to probe the server. For an OAuth server, this probe does not use your personal sign-in, so an authentication error here does not by itself mean your tools are unavailable in Chat. Workspace admins can use Edit Server… to change its configuration or Delete Server to remove it. To change an OAuth server's URL or switch a server to or from OAuth, delete it and register it again.

Use a publicly reachable HTTPS URL without embedded credentials or query parameters.

Authentication and connection settings

Advanced settings lets an admin choose Authentication instead of auto-detection. The supported choices are OAuth 2.1 (each person connects an account), Bearer Token, API Key, Basic Auth, and No authentication. You may also see mTLS in the menu, but Brief currently rejects registration or edits with that choice. For a shared credential, enter the token, key, or username and password the chosen method requires. API Key supports a header name or query parameter name. For OAuth, you can enter a client ID and secret together, plus optional scopes, when your server requires them.

The same panel has an optional Description, Timeout (ms), Max retries, Rate limit / min, and Rate limit / hour. The defaults are 30,000 ms, 3 retries, and 60 calls per minute; the hourly limit is blank. The form accepts 1,000–300,000 ms, 0–10 retries, 1–1,000 calls per minute, and, if set, 1–10,000 per hour. Leave existing credential fields blank during an edit to keep the saved credentials.

Make tools available in Chat

In Edit Server…, keep the server Enabled. Brief includes its tools in Chat when tool discovery succeeds. For an OAuth server, each person needs a usable personal connection before using its tools. Use Check Now to probe the server; a passing health check is not required for a server without OAuth to appear in Chat. For OAuth access, check Personal Connection and try one of the server’s tools in Chat.

If no tools appear, open a new Chat after connecting the server so Brief can discover its tools. Check Now checks the connection; it does not discover tools. If tools remain unavailable, check the server URL and authentication details in Edit Server…, and make sure Enabled is on. If OAuth says Not connected, select Connect for your own account. A workspace admin can update shared credentials; members can connect their own OAuth account and try a tool in Chat.

If automatic authentication detection fails, open Advanced settings, choose the server's Authentication method, provide its credentials if required, and select Register server.

Background agents have a separate permission step for custom tool writes. In an agent's Custom tool permissions, a workspace admin can choose Always allow, Deny, or Revoke permission for a requested tool. Permission applies to later calls; it does not retry a call already held for approval. See Brief Agents.