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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mcpmanager.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This walkthrough connects an AI client to a MCP Manager gateway: add the gateway URL to the client, authorize once in the browser, and the gateway’s tools are ready.
For many AI clients — Claude or ChatGPT on a team or enterprise plan — adding an MCP server is a privileged action that not every member can perform. In those setups an administrator connects the gateway once so it’s available to the whole team. This walkthrough is that connection, whether you’re doing it for yourself or on behalf of others. Connecting requires the Authenticate via OAuth capability, and you’ll only ever reach the gateways your team membership grants. See the Connection Experience for what the gateway does on the other side.

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What you’ll need

  • A gateway URL. Open the gateway on the Gateways page and copy its URL from the overview — it carries a gateway parameter that pins the connection to that specific gateway.
  • An MCP-capable client: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, or Claude.ai.
  • An MCP Manager account (you’ll sign in during the flow).

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Step 1: Add the gateway URL to your client

Pick your client and add the gateway as an MCP server. Replace <your-gateway-id> with the value from the URL you copied — the placeholder is intentionally not a valid URL, so a forgotten substitution fails loudly instead of connecting to the wrong place.
Run one command:
terminal
claude mcp add --transport http mcp-manager "https://app.mcpmanager.ai/gateway/v1/mcp?gateway=<your-gateway-id>"

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Step 2: Authorize in the browser

The first time your client connects, it opens MCP Manager in a browser to authorize.
1

Sign in

MCP Manager either sends a one-time code to your work email, or — if your domain is set up with an identity provider — sends you to that provider to log in and back. Enter the code or complete the provider’s login.
2

Bring an identity for any server that needs one

MCP Manager checks whether any server in the gateway needs you to authenticate with the downstream service, and walks you through them one at a time. For each, you can reuse an identity you’ve already added t MCP Manager or set up a new one:
  • If the server supports OAuth, it’s a quick web-based approval — for example, clicking Approve on the provider’s page.
  • If the server uses header-based auth, such as a GitHub personal access token, MCP Manager prompts you to paste the header values.
Servers configured with a shared identity need nothing from you.
3

Allow

Review what the gateway includes and click Allow. (When servers need your identity, the button reads Next and steps you through them first.) Your client lands back connected.

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Step 3: Use the tools

Return to your client and ask it to do something the gateway’s tools cover — for example, search a connected knowledge base or list your assigned issues. The tools appear automatically; there’s nothing else to configure.
Your client is connected through a governed gateway, and every call you make is logged. When your administrator adds or removes tools, they show up or disappear on your next session restart. If they unassign a server from the gateway, its tools stop working right away. And if they add a new server that requires authentication, you won’t be able to use its tools until you disconnect and reconnect — reconnecting runs the authorize flow above and adds a step to provide that server’s identity.

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Further reading

Build a team gateway

The administrator side: how the gateway you just connected to is built and scoped.

Connection Experience

What MCP Manager does during the authorize flow, and why there’s no half-connected state.

Gateway Deployment Strategies

How administrators distribute gateway URLs across an organization.

Run a headless agent

Connect from a script or CI job with a token instead of a browser.