MCP servers
Normally you teach your agent one action at a time: look up an order, create a ticket, send an email. An MCP server skips that. The app itself publishes a list of everything it can do, and your agent reads that list the moment you connect — dozens of ready-made actions from a single sign-in.
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, a shared standard that apps like Linear, Notion, Stripe and GitHub already speak. You never have to learn it; you just connect the app.
Why you'd use one
| Custom tool | MCP server | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | You define each action | The app provides them all |
| Best for | One specific thing you need | Working broadly inside an app |
| Who maintains it | You | The app's makers |
| Stays current | You update it | New actions appear when you sync |
If an app you use offers one, it's almost always the faster path.
What it looks like once connected
- Create issue
linear_create_issueMCPManaged by the app - List issues
linear_list_issuesMCPManaged by the app - Search projects
linear_search_projectsMCPManaged by the app
It sits on the Integrations page like any other connection, with an MCP badge and a lock on each action.
Three things that work differently
You choose which actions to keep. A server may offer sixty. Turning on only the handful your agent needs keeps it focused and quick — you can always enable more later.
The actions are read-only. The app decides what each one does, so you can switch them on and off but not rewrite them. To change behaviour, tell your agent when to use it in its instructions.
Lists change over time. When the app adds or removes actions, a sync brings the list up to date. Anything removed is switched off rather than deleted, and a changed action is flagged for you to approve — nothing new is ever turned on behind your back.
This page is about your Nirvai agent using an outside app.
Connect your agent is the reverse: letting an outside assistant such as Claude Code use your Nirvai account. Both use MCP, in opposite directions.
Any app, not just the popular ones
Nirvai ships a catalog of well-known servers to click, but the catalog is a convenience, not a limit. If an app publishes an MCP address — or your team runs its own — paste the address and it connects the same way, with the same sign-in choices and the same tool picker.