MCP Tools

Nova supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for extending agent capabilities with external tool servers. MCP servers run as subprocesses managed by the Orchestrator, and their tools become available to all agents automatically.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI models to external tools and data sources. An MCP server exposes a set of tools (functions) that agents can call during their execution. Nova’s Orchestrator connects to MCP servers at startup and makes their tools available alongside the built-in tools (file I/O, shell, git).

How agents use MCP tools

1. The Orchestrator loads MCP server configurations from the database at startup
2. It connects to each enabled server and discovers its available tools
3. When an agent runs, get_all_tools() returns both built-in tools and MCP tools
4. The agent can call any MCP tool by name (prefixed with mcp__<server>__<tool>)
5. The Orchestrator dispatches the call to the appropriate MCP server and returns the result

Available MCP servers

Nova ships with a built-in catalog of pre-configured MCP servers. You can add any of these from the Dashboard’s MCP page with one click.

Core tools

Server	Description	Package
Filesystem	Read, write, and navigate files	@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem
Git	Inspect and operate on Git repositories — log, diff, status, commit	mcp-server-git (uvx)
Memory	Persistent key-value memory store that survives across sessions	@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory

Development

Server	Description	Package
GitHub	Manage repos, issues, pull requests, and code search	@modelcontextprotocol/server-github
GitLab	Interact with GitLab projects, merge requests, and issues	@modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab

Web and search

Server	Description	Package
Brave Search	Web and local search via the Brave Search API	@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search
Fetch	Fetch URLs and convert web pages to Markdown	mcp-server-fetch (uvx)
Puppeteer	Browser automation — screenshot, click, fill forms, scrape	@modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer

Databases

Server	Description	Package
PostgreSQL	Query a PostgreSQL database	@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres
SQLite	Read and query SQLite database files	@modelcontextprotocol/server-sqlite

AI and reasoning

Server	Description	Package
Sequential Thinking	Structured multi-step reasoning for complex problem decomposition	@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking

Communication

Server	Description	Package
Slack	Read channels, send messages, and search Slack workspaces	@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack

Infrastructure

Server	Description	Package
Cloudflare	Manage Workers, KV, R2, D1, DNS, and Tunnels	@cloudflare/mcp-server-cloudflare
Tailscale	Manage devices, ACLs, DNS, and network configuration	@hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server

Adding MCP servers via the Dashboard

1. Navigate to MCP in the Dashboard sidebar
2. Click Add from Catalog to browse available servers
3. Select a server and fill in any required configuration (API keys, paths)
4. Click Add — the Orchestrator will connect to the server and discover its tools
5. The server’s tools are immediately available to all agents

Adding custom MCP servers

You can register any MCP server, not just those in the catalog. From the Dashboard’s MCP page:

1. Click Add Custom Server
2. Provide the server name, command, arguments, and any environment variables
3. The Orchestrator will attempt to connect and discover tools

Or via the API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/v1/mcp-servers \
  -H "X-Admin-Secret: your-admin-secret" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-server",
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@my-org/mcp-server-custom"],
    "env": {"API_KEY": "..."},
    "enabled": true
  }'

Managing MCP servers

Action	API	Dashboard
List servers	GET /api/v1/mcp-servers	MCP page
Add server	POST /api/v1/mcp-servers	Add from Catalog / Add Custom
Update config	PATCH /api/v1/mcp-servers/{id}	Edit button
Remove server	DELETE /api/v1/mcp-servers/{id}	Delete button
Reconnect	POST /api/v1/mcp-servers/{id}/reload	Reload button

Environment variables

Some MCP servers require API keys or configuration via environment variables. These are set per-server and passed to the subprocess when it starts. Required variables for catalog entries are documented in the catalog and prompted during setup.

Server	Required variables
Brave Search	BRAVE_API_KEY
GitHub	GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN
GitLab	GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN, optionally GITLAB_API_URL
Slack	SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_TEAM_ID
Cloudflare	CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN, CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID
Tailscale	TAILSCALE_API_KEY, TAILSCALE_TAILNET