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Custom MCP Servers

If we don't support a tool your team relies on, you don't have to wait for us to build it.
 
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Our Custom MCP Connector framework lets you connect any third-party system's MCP server to TextCortex yourself.
 
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If your industry runs on a niche CRM, an internal tool, or anything not on our standard list, you can wire it in directly if the tool supports an MCP server. Once connected, it works like any other MCP connector: your skills can call it, read from it, and write to it.

Where to add a custom server

  • From a chat: open Tools -> Connectors and add a custom server. It's available to you as soon as it's connected.
  • Tenant admins: in the tenant admin settings, go to Authentication & Access -> MCP Connectors and click Add Custom Server in the Shared custom servers section. That's also where you share it with your workspace (see below).

Custom servers are only available if your workspace admin has enabled custom MCP connectors.

What you need

Setting one up takes 3 things:

  • Display name: What the connector will be called inside TextCortex. Pick something your team will recognize at a glance, like "Internal CRM" or "Warehouse API".
  • Server URL: The MCP endpoint for the third-party tool. You'll find this in that tool's MCP documentation, usually listed under something like "MCP server" or "agent integration". Copy the exact path: a server can respond on one path (for example /mcp) and return an error on another, so a bare domain often won't work.
  • Authentication method: How TextCortex proves it's allowed to connect. Choose one of the 3 options below.

Choosing an authentication method

  • No authentication: For public MCP servers that don't need any credentials.
  • API key: Paste the API key or token that authorizes TextCortex to connect, along with the header it should be sent in (the tool's docs tell you which one, often Authorization). Generate the key from the third-party platform's developer or API settings.
  • Sign in with the provider (OAuth): There's no key to copy. When you save, TextCortex sends you to the provider's sign-in and consent screen. Approve access and you're brought back to TextCortex with the connector added. This only works if the provider lets new apps register automatically for OAuth. If sign-in fails, check the provider's MCP docs or use an API key instead.

For no-auth and API key servers, you can click Test connection before saving to make sure the URL responds as an MCP server. This helps you see the available capabilities the tool has to offer. The test is optional. It isn't shown for OAuth servers, because there's nothing to test with until you've signed in.

Sharing a custom server with your workspace

Tenant admins can share a custom server so that other people see it as a connector card in the Connectors menu, under the Custom section, just like the built-in connectors.

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  1. In Shared custom servers, pick the server from Select a custom server.
  2. Choose who gets access: everyone in the workspace, or only the people on an allowlist.
  3. Set the approval mode and switch the server on.
  4. Save your changes.
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When you share, TextCortex first checks that the server responds. If it doesn't, you'll get a warning and can either cancel or choose Share anyway. This keeps a broken server from reaching your whole workspace by accident.

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What people need to do once a server is shared depends on how it authenticates:

  • No authentication: They switch it on. There's nothing else to set up.
  • OAuth: Each person clicks Connect and signs in with their own account on the provider. The admin's sign-in is never passed on to anyone. Reconnect and Disconnect only affect that person's own connection.
  • API key: Each person can add their own key. Admins can also offer their own key to the people they share with. The first time you do this, a consent dialog explains that anyone with access to the connector can use the key, that their usage counts against that key's permissions, quota and billing on the third-party platform, and that TextCortex never shows them the key. People can then choose between the admin-provided key and their own. Admins can revoke or rotate a shared key at any time.

Sharing a server never shares your key automatically. Your key only becomes available to others after you've confirmed that consent dialog.

Using custom servers in agents

Personal and shared custom servers also appear in the agent editor's Integrate catalog, so you can attach them to an agent. 

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Sharing that agent doesn't share access to the server: anyone using the agent still needs access to the connector and their own connection (or a shared key).

A note on security: API keys and tokens from the third-party system work like passwords. Never share them, don't paste them into chat, and store them in a secure location (a password manager or secrets vault, not a spreadsheet). If a key is compromised, revoke it immediately from the third-party platform, generate a new one and replace it in TextCortex. TextCortex stores saved keys encrypted and only ever shows them masked, so it can't display or recover a key for you. If the tool supports it, signing in with the provider means you never have to handle a key at all. Admins: if you share your own key, everyone you share it with uses your account's permissions and quota on the third-party platform.

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