Files
Timothy Jaeryang Baek e6e00efc8e Update mcp.mdx
2025-11-23 23:10:02 -05:00

61 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
title: Model Context Protocol (MCP)
sidebar_position: 1200
---
Open WebUI natively supports **MCP (Model Context Protocol)** starting in **v0.6.31**. This page shows how to enable it quickly, harden it for production, and troubleshoot common snags.
:::info
Requires **Open WebUI v0.6.31+**.
:::
## 🚀 Quick start
1. Open **⚙️ Admin Settings → External Tools**.
2. Click **+ (Add Server)**.
3. Set **Type** to **MCP (Streamable HTTP)**.
4. Enter your **Server URL** and **Auth** details (OAuth 2.1, if required).
5. **Save**. If prompted, restart Open WebUI.
You can now call tools exposed by your MCP server from Open WebUI.
## 🧭 When to use MCP vs OpenAPI
:::tip
For most deployments, **OpenAPI** remains the **preferred** integration path.
:::
Choose **OpenAPI** if you want:
* **Enterprise readiness**: deep SSO, API gateways, audit, quotas, typed SDKs.
* **Operational resilience**: standard HTTP verbs, idempotency, caching, rich error codes.
* **Observability**: first-class tracing and policy integration.
Choose **MCP (Streamable HTTP)** if you need:
* A **common tool protocol** already used by your MCP servers/clients.
* **Streamed** tool events over HTTP with emerging ecosystem support.
> You dont have to pick one: many teams expose OpenAPI internally and **wrap MCP** at the edge for specific clients.
:::warning
Browser-based, multi-user deployments increase the surface area (CORS/CSRF, per-user isolation, reconnects). Review your orgs auth, proxy, and rate-limiting policies before exposing MCP externally.
:::
## ❓ FAQ
**Do you support stdio or SSE transports?**
Native MCP support in Open WebUI is **Streamable HTTP only**. This design choice reflects our architecture: Open WebUI is a **web-based, multi-tenant environment**, not a local desktop process.
Browsers operate within strict **sandboxed and event-driven HTTP constraints**, making long-lived stdio or SSE connections difficult to maintain securely across users and sessions.
If you need to bridge those other MCP transports, check out [**mcpo**](https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo) — an open-source proxy that translates **stdio or SSE-based MCP servers into OpenAPI-compatible endpoints**. It effectively lets you run traditional MCP tools inside Open WebUI without modifying their transport layer.
**Is MCP considered stable here?**
Supported and improving. The broader ecosystem is still evolving; expect occasional breaking changes.
**Can I mix OpenAPI and MCP tools?**
Yes. Many deployments do both.