Enable tools for Glean Assistant, Agents, and the Glean MCP server

When you add a tool in the Glean Admin console, you must define the specific surfaces where teammates can interact with the tool: Glean Assistant, Agents, the Glean MCP server, or any combination.

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In the Admin console, this setting is labeled either Chat or Assistant & Export, depending on your deployment. Both labels control tool availability in Assistant. The Assistant & Export label also controls tool-backed export actions in Assistant and agent runs, such as exporting a response to Google Docs.

What the toggles control

Toggle	What it enables
Chat, or Assistant & Export	Users can invoke the tools conversationally in Glean by typing a request like "Create a Jira ticket for this." The same setting controls tool-backed export actions, such as exporting a response to Google Docs.
Agents	The tool is available as a step when building or running agents.
Glean MCP Server	The tool is available in Glean MCP servers for all or some teammates.

You can enable one without the other. For example, you might enable Jira tools for Agents only while you pilot the feature with a small group, before opening it up in Assistant.

Why the Assistant toggle may be unavailable

Not all tools are supported in Glean Assistant. The Chat or Assistant & Export toggle is only available for tools that are validated for conversational, single-turn use. Tools designed specifically for multi-step agent workflows may only expose the Agents toggle.

If the toggle is dimmed for a tool, that tool is Agents-only and cannot be invoked directly from the Glean Assistant interface.

Configuration steps

To configure tool availability for Glean Assistant or agents:

1. Open the Glean Admin console.

2. Go to Platform → Tools.

3. Select the tool you want to configure, then open the Configuration tab.

4. Under Enable tools, click Edit settings.

5. Choose where to make the tools available:

   • Agents: Use this to enable or disable the tools in agents.
   • Chat, or Assistant & Export: Use this to enable or disable the tools in Glean Assistant and in Assistant export actions.
   • Glean MCP Server: Use this to make the tools available in Glean MCP servers for all or some teammates.
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   Tools must be assigned to at least one member or team. If a tool is unassigned, it is automatically disabled in both Glean Assistant and Agents.

6. Click Save. Changes take effect immediately. You do not need to re-crawl or restart anything.

Troubleshooting

If a user reports that a tool works when run inside an agent but isn't available in Glean Assistant, the most likely cause is that the Chat or Assistant & Export toggle is turned off for that tool. Check Admin console → Platform → Tools → Edit settings and verify the toggle is enabled.

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This is separate from user-level access. Even if the tool is enabled for Assistant, users whose group is not included in the access scope see the tool dimmed instead of selectable. When they hover over it, Glean shows a message such as "You don't have permission to use this action in Assistant & Export. Contact your admin to enable it in the action pack." See Managing tool access for more information.

Export actions that depend on a tool are selectable only when that tool is enabled for Assistant and the user is in the access scope. If a user can't export a response to a destination such as Google Docs, verify the tool for that destination is enabled under Enable tools, then confirm the user is included in the access scope.

Unavailable exports stay visible but dimmed. When the user hovers over a dimmed export, Glean shows a message such as "You don't have permission to use this action in Assistant & Export. Contact your admin to enable it in the action pack."

If an agent creator cannot find a specific tool in the agent builder, confirm the Agents toggle is enabled for that tool and that the creator is included in the access scope.

For any further issues or questions, reach out to the Glean support team.