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MCP

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to large language models (LLMs) and enables seamless connections between AI models and various data sources and tools. Learn more about MCP at modelcontextprotocol.io.

Getting Started​

1. Generate an API Key​

Before integrating with MCP, you'll need to generate a Workshop API key:

  1. Go to Settings → API Keys
  2. Click "Create API Key"
  3. Copy the key for the next step (it starts with npsws_sk_)

2. Enable the MCP Server​

The MCP server must be enabled in your Workshop instance before any MCP client can connect.

  1. Go to Settings → MCP
  2. Click the switch to enable the MCP server
warning

By default the MCP server only allows read-only access to the Workshop API, even if you have added write permissions to the API key or OAuth scope. You must enable read/write mode in the MCP settings to allow MCP clients to make changes.

Authentication Methods​

Workshop's MCP server supports two authentication methods:

API Key Authentication​

Create an API key with the desired permissions and pass it in the Authorization header. See Generate an API Key above.

OAuth Authentication​

MCP clients that support OAuth 2.0 can authenticate using your organization's identity provider. This provides a more seamless experience with automatic token refresh and user-based access control.

How it works:

  1. MCP clients discover the authorization server via /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource
  2. Users authenticate through the hosted login UI
  3. The identity provider issues tokens that the MCP client uses for requests
  4. Workshop validates tokens and applies role-based access control

Permissions:

OAuth users receive permissions based on their Workshop role assignment, the same as users logged in through the web interface. The MCP read/write toggle in settings provides an additional layer of control over write access.

Integrating with MCP​

Claude Desktop​

To integrate Workshop with Claude Desktop via MCP:

  1. Install Claude Desktop from claude.ai
  2. Open Claude Desktop Settings:
    • Click the gear icon in the bottom-left corner
    • Navigate to the "Developer" tab
  3. Configure MCP Server:
    • Edit your MCP configuration file (usually located at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS)
    • Add the Workshop MCP server configuration:
{
	"mcpServers": {
		"workshop": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": [
				"mcp-remote",
				"https://example.workshop.cloud/mcp",
				"--header",
				"Authorization: npsws_sk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
			]
		}
	}
}
  1. Restart Claude Desktop to apply the configuration changes

Note that this executes mcp-remote, a popular but experimental bridge between local and remote MCP servers. Unfortunately, you cannot currently use "Connectors" in the Claude desktop app, and instead you must use the developer option in order to provide the API key. For more information, see the official Claude MCP documentation.

LM Studio​

To integrate Workshop with LM Studio via MCP:

  1. Install LM Studio from lmstudio.ai
  2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to open settings
  3. Click the "Program" tab at the top
  4. Click the "Install" popup menu and choose "Edit mcp.json"
  5. Add the Workshop MCP server configuration:
{
	"mcpServers": {
		"workshop": {
			"url": "https://example.workshop.cloud/mcp",
			"headers": {
				"Authorization": "npsws_sk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
			}
		}
	}
}

For more details, see the LM Studio MCP documentation.

Examples​

The MCP server exposes all of the methods available in the Workshop API. Additionally, there is a _Documentation tool that allows clients to query and list available documentation files.

Example Prompts​

Show me a summary of all rules in Workshop and use terms from the documentation to explain them.

Why is <app name> blocked on <host name> in Workshop?

Are any of my Workshop hosts out of date?

Are my Workshop hosts ready to switch from Monitor Mode to Lockdown Mode?