Configuring MCP servers

Create and deploy Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers from your OpenAPI specifications, or configure existing external MCP servers.

Before you begin

Before you begin, verify that you have the following:

  • Visual Studio Code with API Agent installed. For more information, see Getting started.
  • An OpenAPI 3.0 specification file (YAML or JSON format) for creating a custom MCP server. For example, you can use an orders.yaml file that defines your API operations.
  • For external MCP servers: The server deployment URL and authentication credentials.

About this task

Use the MCP client tool to extend your your API Agent's capabilities by connecting to external services and tools.

By using the MCP tool, you can do the following key actions.
  • Dynamically create and deploy MCP servers from OpenAPI 3.0 specifications
  • Enable and interact with external or internal MCP servers
  • Run operations on any compliant server by using natural language prompts
  • Automatically generate tool interfaces and schemas based on server definitions

Procedure

Creating a custom MCP server from an OpenAPI specification

  1. Open Visual Studio Code and ensure your OpenAPI specification file, for example, orders.yaml is available in your workspace.
    Note: The OpenAPI file must be in YAML or JSON format and accessible within your Visual Studio Code workspace for API Agent to process it.
  2. Open API Agent in Visual Studio Code.
  3. In the Type something field, enter the following prompt, replacing the placeholder with your actual file name. 
    Create an MCP server from @orders.yaml

    API Agent displays the proposed plan.

  4. Click Start.
  5. After API Agent generates the MCP server code, download the compressed file, for example, output.zip, and save it in your Visual Studio Code workspace.
  6. To deploy the server locally, click the Deploy the application code using [zip file] instruction in the proposed plan.
  7. Replace the placeholder [zip file] with your actual file name by selecting the compressed file from your workspace.
  8. In the proposed plan, click Start.
  9. To verify the deployment status, enter the following prompt by using your actual file name. 
    Give me the deployment status for the application code file @output.zip
    After successful deployment, API Agent displays the URL where your custom MCP server is deployed.
  10. Optional: To configure an existing external MCP server, such as a GitHub integration or another prebuilt MCP server, enter a prompt similar to the following example. 
    Enable the MCP server for github with description 'GitHub integration for
repository management', deployed_url: https://github-mcp.example.com, authentication: ghp_your_token_here
    Note:
    • Replace the URL and authentication token with the actual values provided by your external MCP server provider.
    • If you face any issue during configuration, see troubleshooting or limitations.