Create MCP servers

Once you've enabled Glean MCP server, you can create custom MCP servers tailored to specific use cases. Each server has its own URL and can be configured with a specific set of tools.

Default MCP server

Glean automatically provides a default MCP server for new deployments and deployments that haven't overridden Glean's suggested default server. The default server is designed as a general knowledge server for your company and includes the following tools:

search
chat
read_document
employee_search
user_activity
memory
memory_schema

You can customize the default server with broadly useful write tools, such as tools for creating Google Docs or sending Slack messages. Create additional servers when specific teams need their own tools, such as code search and Jira tools for engineering, or Salesforce tools for sales.

Create a new MCP server

Navigate to MCP servers

Go to Admin console → Platform → Glean MCP server and click Create server.

Configure server details

Fill in the server configuration form:

Server name: Choose a short, user-friendly name to easily identify this server. Use descriptive names that indicate the server's purpose, such as "Engineering tools" or "Product research". This name is visible to users when they connect MCP host applications.

Server path: Define a simple path identifier for the server.

Use simple names like sales or engineering-tools
Avoid special characters or spaces

Server URL: This is automatically generated based on your path and cannot be edited.

Format: https://tenant_id-be.glean.com/mcp/[your-path]. Copy your full backend URL from app.glean.com/admin/about-glean under Server instance (QE), and replace https://tenant_id-be.glean.com with it.

Select tools

Choose which built-in Glean tools and agents to enable for this server. You can add:

Built-in Glean tools, such as search, chat, and code search
Glean agents as tools

See the sections below for details on available tools.

Select external tools

After you connect data sources, remote MCP servers, or custom OpenAPI endpoints to Glean, you can add their external tools to your Glean MCP servers.

We recommend adding only external write tools that match the server's audience and purpose. For guidance, see MCP server best practices.

If you need to add external read tools for a specific workflow, click Show read tools and add the read tools you want to include.

Enable the server

Toggle the server status to Enabled to make it active and available for connections.

Server design best practices

tip

Design each server for a single, specific purpose. Keep enabled tools to the minimum needed because some hosts cap the number of tools available per server.

Examples of well-designed servers

Use these examples as starting points:

Company knowledge: search, chat, read_document, employee_search, user_activity, memory, memory_schema
Engineering: search, read_document, code_search, employee_search, Jira write tools
Sales: search, chat, read_document, employee_search, Salesforce write tools

Avoid creating one server with all tools enabled. This can:

Overwhelm the LLM in the host application
Make tool selection less accurate
Hit host-specific tool limits

For more design guidance, see MCP server best practices.

Built-in tools

Glean provides the following built-in tools that can be added to any MCP server. You can mix and match any combination of these tools based on your server's purpose:

Search

Search across your entire knowledge base with permission-aware results.

Tool name: search

Chat

Interactive conversations with Glean's AI assistant.

Tool name: chat

Memory

Read, add, update, and delete user memories and personalization.

Tool name: memory

Memory Schema

Discover available memory categories, payload schemas, storage limits, and filterable fields.

Tool name: memory_schema

Read Document

Retrieve specific documents by ID or URL.

Tool name: read_document

Code Search

Search your codebase and repositories.

Tool name: code_search

Employee Search

Find people and expertise in your organization.

Tool name: employee_search

User Activity

Retrieve the user's recent Glean activity to help summarize work, prepare status updates, or recover recently used documents.

Tool name: user_activity

Gmail Search

Search Gmail messages and threads.

Tool name: gmail_search

Meeting Lookup

Find meeting recordings and notes.

Tool name: meeting_lookup

Outlook Search

Search Outlook emails and calendar.

Tool name: outlook_search

Adding agents as tools

Unlock Custom AI Capabilities

Transform your Glean Agents into reusable MCP tools that can be invoked from any MCP host application. This powerful feature lets you create specialized, company-specific capabilities that extend beyond standard search and retrieval.

Example use cases:

PR Review Agent

Analyze pull requests and provide structured feedback on code quality, patterns, and best practices

Competitive Analysis

Research competitors and synthesize insights from internal documents, market data, and customer feedback

Onboarding Glean

Help new hires find relevant docs, team contacts, and setup guides tailored to their role

Getting started:

See the Agents as tools guide for:

How to add an agent as a tool
Agent constraints and limitations
Best practices for agent design

Managing existing servers

To modify an existing server:

Go to Admin console → Platform → Glean MCP server.
Click on the server name to view its configuration
Make your changes, such as adding tools, removing tools, or renaming the server.
Changes take effect immediately for new connections.

note

Existing connections: Users with active MCP connections may need to refresh or reconnect their host application to see updated tool availability.

Server URLs

Each server has a unique URL that is automatically generated based on the server path you provide:

https://tenant_id-be.glean.com/mcp/[server-path]

Copy your full backend URL from app.glean.com/admin/about-glean under Server instance (QE), and replace https://tenant_id-be.glean.com with it.

For example, a server with path engineering would automatically generate a URL like:

https://tenant_id-be.glean.com/mcp/engineering

This URL is displayed in the configuration form (read-only) after you enter the server path. Share this URL with users who need to connect to this specific server from their MCP host applications.

Next steps

Configure agents as tools to add custom capabilities to your servers
Review MCP server best practices for optimal configuration
Share the end-user guide with your team

Default MCP server​

Create a new MCP server​

Server design best practices​

Examples of well-designed servers​

Built-in tools​