Using Contral
MCP servers
Add MCP servers to Contral from the marketplace or by hand, and manage and approve their tools.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers give Contral's Build agent extra tools, such as reading GitHub issues, querying a database, driving a browser or fetching library docs. Contral offers a curated MCP marketplace with one-command installs, and you can add any other MCP server yourself.
MCP transports Contral supports#
- stdio: a local program Contral starts on your machine (for example an
npxoruvxcommand). - HTTP: a remote server reached over Streamable HTTP at a URL.
Install an MCP server from the Contral marketplace#
- Sign in to Contral. The marketplace needs a signed-in account.
- In the Contral chat, type
/mcpto open the marketplace card, or search it. - Install a server by its ID:
/mcp install context7- If the server needs credentials (for example a GitHub token), Contral asks for them. Secrets are stored in your editor's secure storage (your OS keychain), not in plain text.
- Confirm the prompt: "Add MCP server "{name}"? Only add servers you trust. Local stdio servers can run commands on this machine."
MCP servers in the Contral marketplace#
| ID | Server | What it adds | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
filesystem | Filesystem | File operations scoped to your workspace | None |
git | Git | Git status, history, diffs | uvx |
github | GitHub | Repos, issues, pull requests, Actions | Docker, GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN |
memory | Memory | Persistent knowledge-graph memory | None |
sequential-thinking | Sequential Thinking | Structured multi-step reasoning | None |
fetch | Fetch | Fetch web pages as readable text | uvx |
scrapling | Scrapling | Advanced web scraping | uvx |
time | Time | Time zones and current time | uvx |
context7 | Context7 | Up-to-date library and framework docs | None |
playwright | Playwright | Browser automation and screenshots | None |
chrome-devtools | Chrome DevTools MCP | Inspect live pages, console, network | None |
markitdown | MarkItDown | Convert PDFs and Office files to Markdown | Docker |
tavily | Tavily | Web search (HTTP) | TAVILY_API_KEY |
firecrawl | Firecrawl | Crawl sites to Markdown | FIRECRAWL_API_KEY |
sentry | Sentry | Production errors and traces | SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN |
postgres | Postgres | Read-only schema and SQL queries | DATABASE_URL |
slack | Slack | Channels, threads and messages | SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_TEAM_ID |
notion | Notion | Notion pages and docs | NOTION_API_KEY |
linear | Linear | Issues, teams and projects | LINEAR_API_KEY |
supabase | Supabase | Projects, schemas and SQL | SUPABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN |
stripe | Stripe | Customers, subscriptions, invoices | STRIPE_SECRET_KEY |
ollama | Ollama | Local models (HTTP, 127.0.0.1:11434) | Ollama running locally |
Servers launched with npx need Node.js; servers launched with uvx need uv; servers marked Docker need Docker running.
Add your own MCP server#
Add a local (stdio) server:
/mcp add my-server --command npx --args "-y @scope/my-mcp-server" --env API_KEY=xxxxAdd a remote (HTTP) server:
/mcp add my-remote --url https://example.com/mcp --header Authorization=Bearer-xxxxAdd a server published in a GitHub repository:
/mcp add-github owner/repoManage your MCP servers#
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/mcp list | List your servers |
/mcp tools [server] | Show the tools a server exposes |
/mcp enable <name> / /mcp disable <name> | Turn a server on or off without removing it |
/mcp remove <name> | Remove a server |
/mcp smoke | Start each server and check it responds |
/status also shows a summary of your MCP servers.
Approving MCP tool calls#
When the Build agent wants to use an MCP tool, Contral asks: "Allow MCP tool {server}/{tool}?" with Allow Once and Deny. Nothing runs without your approval.
MCP server safety#
Only add MCP servers you trust. A stdio server is a program running on your computer with your permissions, and any server can see the data the agent sends it. Keep tokens scoped to the minimum access needed, and prefer read-only tokens where you can.
MCP server problems#
- "Sign in to fetch the hosted MCP marketplace from contral.ai." Sign in with
/login, then try/mcpagain. - A server won't start. Run
/mcp smoketo see the error. Check that the required tool (Node.js,uvxor Docker) is installed and on your PATH, and that required environment variables are set. - The agent doesn't use a server's tools. Check the server is enabled with
/mcp list, then mention the tool or service by name in your request.
Still stuck? Ask the support assistant in the corner of this page, or open a support ticket.