Management tools and your backend tools.
The 16 mcp_registry_* tools stay visible to every client, and the tools of your backends join them under their own names.
Add, remove and restart backends.
| Tool | Use it to | Parameters |
|---|---|---|
mcp_registry_add | Register a backend and start it. The name you give becomes the prefix of every tool the backend exposes. | name, command or url, transport (default stdio), args, env, headers, preload |
mcp_registry_remove | Stop a backend and unregister it, so its tools leave the list. | name |
mcp_registry_reload | Restart a backend, for example after it crashed. It also clears a paused reconnect loop. | name |
See the fleet and its logs.
| Tool | Use it to | Parameters |
|---|---|---|
mcp_registry_list | See every backend with its state and tool count. A state reads, for example, Connected, Reconnecting, Error or NeedsAuth, which tells you what needs attention. | none |
mcp_registry_find | Search the registered backends by name or by the command that starts them. | query |
mcp_registry_logs | Read a stdio backend's recent error output, to see why it fails to start or misbehaves. | name, max (default 100 lines) |
Move a fleet between machines and clients.
| Tool | Use it to | Parameters |
|---|---|---|
mcp_registry_import | Add the backends listed in a fleet file. Existing names are left alone; new names start backend work. | path |
mcp_registry_sync | Make the registry match a fleet file exactly, including removing backends that are no longer listed and applying changed launch settings. | path |
mcp_registry_export | Write the registry to a fleet file you can share or reuse. Request headers are cleared; other secrets are kept, so protect the file. | path |
mcp_registry_resource_save | Fetch a resource that a backend publishes and write it to a file on the registry host. | uri (a namespaced or raw backend address), path (destination file; a relative path starts from the server's working directory) |
Why: one reviewed file defines the fleet. Import adds missing names and can start backend work; sync also removes absent entries.
Find tools that are not in the list.
| Tool | Use it to | Parameters |
|---|---|---|
mcp_registry_tool_search | Find tools across all connected backends, including the ones their settings keep out of the standing list. You get names and short summaries, without the full input definitions. | query, server, limit |
mcp_registry_tool_enable | Add chosen tools, or all tools of one backend, to this session's list. You get their full definitions back, and a best-effort list-refresh hint is attempted. | names or server |
Why: a backend's preload setting decides which of its tools appear in the standing list: leave it out for all, [] for none, or give names and prefix_* patterns. Enabled tools last for the session only. preload is not access control: a withheld tool can still be called by its full name. It needs the stdio or Unix transport and per-connection sessions, which is the default.
Prefix in, prefix out.
Tool and prompt names and resource addresses use <backend>__<name>. A tool git_diff on a backend registered as git is called git__git_diff, and the backend receives git_diff: the registry removes the prefix before it forwards the call.
What to expect.
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Management tools | 16, always visible |
| Transports | stdio, Unix socket or HTTP; keep HTTP on loopback, or put an authenticated, encrypted proxy that you operate in front of it |
| Remote backend refusing a credential | A recognized authorization refusal waits in NeedsAuth until credentials or configuration are repaired |
| Access | Admit only clients you trust with full fleet administration |
See Troubleshooting.