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Connect MCP

Connect your AI assistants to Willow to access all your enabled servers.

Opening the Connect Dialog​

Click Connect MCP at the bottom of the sidebar to open the connection dialog.

Connection Methods​

You can connect using either remote (Streamable HTTP) or local (STDIO) connection methods. You can also use the MCP-S CLI for terminal-based access.

MCP Gateway​

The standard connection method using Streamable HTTP. Your gateway URL follows this format:

https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=<MCP_NAME>

Where:

  • <org> is your organization's subdomain
  • <MCP_NAME> is the name of the MCP server you want to connect to

Dynamic MCP Gateway (beta)​

The Dynamic MCP Gateway automatically provides relevant tools from all your connected MCPs based on context:

https://<org>.mcp-s.com/dmcp

With Dynamic MCP, you don't need to specify individual servers - the gateway intelligently selects the appropriate tools for your task.

Quick Setup​

The Connect MCP dialog provides quick setup buttons:

  • Add to Cursor - Automatically configures Cursor IDE
  • Add to VS Code - Automatically configures VS Code

Selecting Your MCP Client​

The dialog shows icons for various MCP clients. Click on your client to get specific setup instructions. Examples include:

  • Cursor
  • Claude
  • Claude Code
  • Windsurf
  • VSCode
  • Internal AI Chat

Manual Configuration Examples​

Copy the Streamable HTTP URL and add it to your client's MCP configuration.

Cursor​

Add to your .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=github"
    }
  }
}

Or for Dynamic MCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/dmcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop​

Add to your Claude config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=github"
    }
  }
}

Using Multiple Servers​

To connect to specific servers, use the mcp parameter:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=github"
    },
    "jira": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=jira"
    }
  }
}

Or use Dynamic MCP to let the gateway handle tool selection automatically.

Machine User Authentication​

Machine users are programmatic accounts for bots, scripts, and automations. They authenticate differently from regular users — instead of browser-based login, they use a pre-provisioned access token.

See Machine Users for how to create and manage machine user accounts.

Streamable HTTP (Remote)​

For HTTP connections, include the machine user's access token in the Authorization header:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow": {
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp?mcp=github",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <MACHINE_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

STDIO (Local)​

For STDIO connections, pass the token via the AUTO_AUTHENTICATE_TOKEN environment variable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcp-s/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ORG": "<org>",
        "USER_ACCESS_KEY": "<USER_ACCESS_KEY>",
        "AUTO_AUTHENTICATE_TOKEN": "<MACHINE_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN>",
        "MCP": "github"
      }
    }
  }
}

This bypasses the interactive authentication flow, allowing headless and automated environments to connect without user interaction.

OAuth2 Client Credentials​

For enterprise environments, machine users can authenticate using OAuth2 Client Credentials instead of a static token. See Machine Users — With Client Credentials for setup instructions.

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