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Glean as an MCP Host enables you to connect remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers so end users can securely discover and invoke third‑party tools, for example, Notion, Asana, Canva and so on directly from the Assistant & Agents experience. Glean provides you with centralized control over which MCP servers and tools are available to users in your organization. With this feature users can automate workflows, fetch live data, and complete tasks through the unified interface of Glean.
Connecting remote MCP servers to Gleans actions in Agents is currently in Beta.

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Capabilities

  • Admin‑gated connection to remote MCP servers for Assistant and Agent.
  • Centralized control of available MCP servers and tools at the tenant level.
  • Users can engage with connected MCP servers through Assistant and agents, with human‑in‑the‑loop experiences for write tools.
  • The following list of MCP servers are available for admins to configure with a few clicks:
    • Amplitude
    • Asana
    • Atlassian Rovo MCP Server
    • Box
    • Canva
    • GitHub
    • Hubspot
    • Intercom
    • Linear
    • Lucid
    • Notion
    • PagerDuty
    • ThoughtSpot
    • WisdomAI
    • ClickUp
    • Monday.com
    • Udemy
Use Glean as an MCP host when:
  • You already expose business workflows or data through MCP servers and want to reuse them inside Glean.
  • You need to support any MCP‑compatible model provider, not just a single LLM or vendor.
  • You want to keep sensitive logic or data access inside your own network or VPC, while still enabling Glean to invoke those tools.
If you primarily want to bring the knowledge graph of Glean into other MCP hosts, for example, Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, use Glean MCP Servers instead.

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Key concepts

  • MCP host (Glean): Glean runs the assistant experience (chat, agents) and invokes tools from remote MCP servers on behalf of users.
  • Remote MCP server (yours): Your server implements the Model Context Protocol. It exposes tools (e.g., search_tickets, run_report) that Glean can discover and call.
  • MCP action pack in Glean: An action pack configuration in the Admin Console that connects Glean to a specific MCP server and publishes its tools to Assistant and Agents.
  • Verified MCP servers: Pre‑built templates for specific third‑party MCP servers that Glean has validated for connectivity and workflow quality.
  • Custom MCP servers: Any MCP server you host yourself; you register it in Glean by URL and OAuth details.

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Supported MCP servers

Glean as an MCP host supports:
  • Any compliant MCP server, regardless of underlying model provider.
    Gemini models are not currently supported.
  • Verified MCP servers: Curated templates Glean provides for popular MCP servers. These include pre‑filled URLs, scopes, and recommended tool selections to simplify setup.
  • Custom MCP servers:
    • Your own internal MCP services, for example, ticketing, analytics, HR tools.
    • MCP servers running in your own VPC or infrastructure, exposed securely to Glean via allowlisted endpoints.

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Setup instructions

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Prerequisites

Before you connect a remote MCP server to Glean:
  • Admin access to Glean:
    • You must be able to open the Glean Admin Console and access Platform → Actions.
  • A running MCP server:
    • The server must:
      • Implement the Model Context Protocol.
      • Expose an HTTPS URL reachable from Glean (directly or via allowed proxy).
      • Support OAuth 2.0 with authorization code flow. Note that client credentials flow will not work.
  • OAuth details for the MCP server:
    • Typical requirements:
      • Authorization URL
      • Token URL
      • Client ID and client secret
      • Scopes the server requires
  • Private network or VPC deployments
    • If your MCP server is hosted in a private network or VPC, you must add it to the allowlist so that Glean can reach it.
    • Coordinate with your Glean Solutions Engineer or account team to:
      • Confirm the proxy endpoints and IP ranges to allowlist.
      • Validate connectivity and TLS requirements.
  • Optional: Role-based access to actions
    • If you plan to restrict who can add or configure MCP‑backed actions in agents, familiarize yourself with role‑based access to actions in the Admin Console.

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Configure a remote MCP server as an action pack

Learn how to connect a remote MCP server in the Glean Admin Console and publish its tools as actions.

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Step 1: Open the Actions configuration

  1. In Glean, open the Admin Console.
  2. Go to Platform → Actions.

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Step 2: Add an MCP action pack

  1. On the Actions page, click Add.
  2. You can either choose to add the MCP from the pre-filled templates available in MCP servers under Add pre-set actions or you can add the server from scratch using the Import tools from MCP server option.
  1. Go to MCP servers tab under Add pre-set actions.
  2. Select the template as per your requirement.
  3. Review the pre‑filled configuration:
    • MCP server name
    • Description
    • MCP server URL
    • Transport type
    • Authentication method
  4. Connect to server using the provided instructions.
  5. Enable actions.
    1. Click Edit settings.
    2. Adjust the settings for Agents and Actions as per your requirements.
  6. Click Save.
Override defaults only if directed by your Glean team or the MCP server owner. Verified servers are pre‑validated by Glean for connectivity and core workflows, which reduces setup time and configuration errors.
  1. On the Actions page, click Add.
  2. Under Add actions page, select Import tools from MCP server. Fill out the server configuration:
    • MCP server name
    • Description
    • MCP server URL: the HTTPS or SSE endpoint where your MCP server exposes its API (for example, https://example.com/mcp/sse).
    • Transport type: choose SSE or Streaming HTTP, depending on how your MCP server is implemented.
    • Authentication method: recommended is OAuth but you can choose from None, API key and Dynamic client registration. For OAuth, provide:
      • Authorization URL
      • Token URL
      • Client ID and client secret (if required)
      • Scopes for the tools you plan to expose
    After you save the configuration, Glean discovers tools from the MCP server and makes them available for publishing as actions.
  3. Connect to server using the provided instructions.
  4. Enable actions.
    1. Click Edit settings.
    2. Review the list of tools the MCP server exposes.
    3. For each tool you want to make available:
      • Enable it for Agents so agent creators can use it in Agent Builder.
      • Optionally, enable it for the Glean Assistant, so it can call the tool in conversational flows.
      • Optionally, apply role-based access so only specific creators or departments can add or configure sensitive tools in agents.
    4. Save your changes.
      The tools you enable in this step become MCP‑backed actions inside Glean, alongside native and other platform actions.
5.Click Save.

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Step 3: Test the connection

To validate that your MCP server is wired correctly:
  • From Agent Builder:
    1. Create a test agent.
    2. Add a plan and Execute step and use one of the available MCP servers.
    3. Run the agent with a sample query and confirm the MCP tool is invoked and returns expected output.
  • From the Glean Assistant:
    1. Ask a query that should use the MCP tool (for example, “Use the [MCP tool name] tool to …”).
    2. Verify the assistant calls the action and that results look correct.
If calls fail, see your internal MCP logs and any dedicated troubleshooting articles for MCP hosts, or contact your Glean account team.

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Using MCP-backed actions in Agents

After an MCP action pack is configured and published:
  • Agent creators can:
    • Open Agent Builder and add MCP tools as steps in their workflows in the Plan + Execute step, just like any other action.
    • Chain MCP tools with other Glean actions, for example, use an MCP tool to fetch data, then pass results to another action for summarization.
    MCP servers are only available in Plan and execute steps and in auto mode Agents (i.e autonomous agents) and not available in single step selections.
  • Access controls:
    • Role‑based access ensures only approved creators can wire certain MCP tools into agents.
    • End users running agents still experience permission‑aware behavior based on downstream app permissions and credentials.
This lets you reuse your existing MCP capabilities inside complex, multi‑step agent workflows without duplicating integration logic.

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Using MCP-backed actions in Assistant

If you publish MCP tools to Assistant:
  • Users can invoke them using natural language, for example:
    • “Use the [MCP server name] tool to run the monthly usage report for ACME.”
    • “Ask the internal ticketing MCP server for open Sev-1 incidents this week.”
  • The Assistant chooses MCP tools similarly to other actions, based on:
    • The tool schema exposed by your MCP server.
    • The user’s query and context.
All calls respect the underlying authentication and permissions defined by your MCP server and any downstream systems.

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Security and hosting considerations

  • Any model provider: Glean as an MCP host is compatible with any MCP‑compliant server regardless of which LLM or provider it uses internally.
  • Customer‑hosted servers:
    • You control where the MCP server runs (cloud, on‑prem, or VPC).
    • Glean only needs network access to the server endpoint (directly or via an allowlisted proxy).
  • Least‑privilege OAuth:
    • Use the smallest necessary scopes when configuring OAuth.
    • Rotate client secrets according to your internal policies.
  • Auditing and observability:
    • Use your MCP server’s logs to monitor tool invocations and troubleshoot failures.
    • Use Glean’s existing audit and insights capabilities to understand Assistant and Agent usage patterns where relevant.

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Best practices

  • Start with a narrow server:
    • Begin with a small set of high‑value tools so that LLMs can reliably pick the right action.
  • Align naming with jobs-to-be-done:
    • Name MCP tools and action packs after clear outcomes, for example, “Run billing report”, “Lookup internal user” to improve tool selection.
  • Coordinate with Glean SEs for VPC setups:
    • Involve your Glean Solutions Engineer early when you plan to expose MCP servers from private networks, so they can help design and validate the allowlist/proxy configuration.