Remote MCP servers

Remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers are hosted externally and accessed by AI assistants over the network instead of running tools and integrations locally. This means a single MCP server can serve multiple users and multiple AI platforms, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Cursor. You can update and maintain remote MCP servers centrally without requiring changes to your client configurations.

FEATURE AVAILABILITY

MCP is available to all users in the US, EU, AU, and SG data centers. MCP servers are hosted in the US, EU, and APAC regions and respect data residency requirements where possible. Contact your Customer Success representative if you're interested in using MCP or require additional information.

Install remote MCP servers

You can install a remote MCP with a URL that authenticates with a token or through Workato Identity after you create an MCP server. The configurations in this section use Cursor and Claude Desktop.

NEED AN EXAMPLE?

Review the LLM, GitHub, and Workato Developer API use case for steps to create an MCP server integration that lets you create GitHub issues with natural-language commands in ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor.

Complete the following steps to install the MCP remote server with a URL:

1

Sign in to Workato.

2

Configure your MCP integration:

Cursor MCP remote server configuration with token authentication

Complete the following steps to configure an MCP integration in Cursor that authenticates using a token:

1

Go to AI Hub and select the MCP servers tab.

2

Click the MCP server you plan to use for your MCP remote server integration.

3

Click the User access tab.

4

Go to the Access Method section and ensure that Token-based access is selected.

5

Go to the Developer MCP Token section and click Copy.

Copy the MCP URL and token

6

Sign in to Cursor.

7

Go to Settings > Cursor settings.

8

Click MCP & Integrations in the sidebar.

9

Click + New MCP Server to open the mcp.json file.

Click + New MCP Server

10

Update the configuration to use the MCP URL and token you copied in the preceding steps. Your MCP URL must begin with https. For example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-tools": {
      "url": "https://387.apim.mcp.workato.com/abc247/example-collection-name-v1?wkt_token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

11

Save your changes.

12

Create a new chat with your Cursor agent to use the tools you added.

You must start a new chat with your agent. Cursor agents only have access to the tools and capabilities available when a chat begins. Agents can't detect or use new MCP configurations, servers, or tools added after starting a chat.

Cursor MCP remote server configuration with Workato Identity authentication

Complete the following steps to configure a Cursor MCP integration that authenticates using Workato Identity:

1

Go to AI Hub and select the MCP servers tab.

2

Click the MCP server you plan to use for your remote integration.

3

Click the User access tab.

4

Go to the Access Method section and ensure that Workato Identity is selected.

5

Click Add user groups.

Click Add user groups

6

Use the User groups drop-down menu to select the user groups you plan to provide with access to the MCP server.

7

Click the Overview tab.

8

Go to the Remote MCP URL section and click Copy URL.

Copy your remote MCP URL

9

Sign in to Cursor.

10

Go to Settings > Cursor settings.

11

Click MCP & Integrations in the sidebar.

12

Click + New MCP Server to open the mcp.json file.

Click + New MCP Server

13

Update the configuration to use the MCP URL you copied in the preceding steps. For example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-tools": {
      "url": "https://201.apim.mcp.workato.com/abc247/example-collection-name-v1"
    }
  }
}

14

Save your changes.

15

Restart Cursor.

16

Go to Settings > Cursor settings > MCP & Integrations in Cursor.

17

Locate the MCP tools you added and click Connect. Tools that require authentication are labeled with Needs authentication.

Click Connect

18

Click Open when Cursor prompts Do you want Cursor to open the external website?. This opens your organization's SSO login page.

Click Open

19

Sign in to your organization's SSO provider.

20

Click Open Cursor when prompted.

21

Create a new chat with your Cursor agent to use the tools you added.

You must start a new chat with your agent. Cursor agents only have access to the tools and capabilities available when a chat begins. Agents can't detect or use new MCP configurations, servers, or tools added after starting a chat.

ChatGPT MCP remote server configuration

1

Go to Settings > Apps & Connectors > Advanced settings and enable the Developer mode toggle.

2

Go to Settings > Apps & Connectors.

3

Click Create. This button is only visible when the Developer mode toggle is enabled.

4

Enter a name for your MCP connector. For example: GitHub tools MCP.

Configure your ChatGPT MCP connector

5

Paste your MCP URL and token in the URL field.

6

Optional. Enter a description in the Description field.

7

Use the Authentication drop-down menu to select No Auth.

8

Select the checkbox to accept the risk of adding a custom MCP server.

9

Click Create.

10

Create a new chat in ChatGPT to use your MCP tools.

Claude Desktop MCP remote server configuration with token authentication

Complete the following steps create an MCP integration with Claude Desktop using an MCP URL and token:

1

Go to AI Hub and select the MCP servers tab.

2

Click the MCP server you plan to use for your remote integration.

3

Click the User access tab.

4

Go to the Access Method section and ensure that Token-based access is selected.

5

Go to the Developer MCP Token section and click Copy.

Copy the MCP URL and token

6

Sign in to Claude Desktop.

7

Go to Settings > Connectors.

8

Click + Add new connector.

9

Enter a name for your MCP connector in the Name field.

Configure your Claude MCP connector

10

Paste your MCP URL and token into the Remote MCP server URL field.

11

Click Add. The newly created MCP connector appears in the list of connectors.

12

Click Configure.

13

Use the permissions drop-down menu to select Always ask permission or Allow unsupervised. Always ask permission is selected by default.

Add a remote MCP server to an AI model

You can use your REMOTE_MCP_URL to configure your remote server with the following AI models:

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Cursor
• Microsoft Copilot

ChatGPT MCP configuration

Complete the following steps to add your MCP server to ChatGPT:

1

Sign in to Workato.

2

Go to AI Hub > MCP Servers.

3

Select the MCP server and copy the Remote MCP URL.

4

Go to Settings > Apps & Connectors > Advanced settings and enable the Developer mode toggle.

5

Go to Settings > Apps & Connectors.

6

Click Create. This button is only visible when the Developer mode toggle is enabled.

7

Enter a name for your MCP connector. For example: GitHub tools MCP.

Configure your ChatGPT MCP connector

8

Paste your MCP URL and token in the URL field.

9

Optional. Enter a description in the Description field.

10

Use the Authentication drop-down menu to select No Auth.

11

Select the checkbox to accept the risk of adding a custom MCP server.

12

Click Create.

13

Open ChatGPT and start a new chat to use your MCP tools.

Claude MCP configuration

Complete the following steps to add your MCP server to Claude:

1

Sign in to Workato.

2

Go to AI Hub > MCP Servers.

3

Select the MCP server and copy the Remote MCP URL.

4

Go to Settings > Connectors.

5

Click + Add new connector.

6

Enter a name for your MCP connector in the Name field.

Configure your Claude MCP connector

7

Paste your MCP URL and token into the Remote MCP server URL field.

8

Click Add. The newly created MCP connector appears in the list of connectors.

9

Click Configure.

10

Use the permissions drop-down menu to select Always ask permission or Allow unsupervised. Always ask permission is selected by default.

11

Create a new chat in Claude to use your MCP tools.

Cursor MCP configuration

The following process authenticates with an MCP URL and authentication token. Refer to Cursor MCP remote server configuration with Workato Identity authentication if you plan to authenticate with Workato Identity.

Complete the following steps to add your MCP server to Cursor:

1

Go to Settings > Cursor settings.

2

Click MCP & Integrations in the sidebar.

3

Click + New MCP Server to open the mcp.json file.

Click + New MCP Server

4

Update the configuration to use the MCP URL and token you copied in the preceding steps. For example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-tools": {
      "url": "https://387.apim.mcp.workato.com/abc247/example-collection-name-v1?wkt_token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

5

Save your changes.

6

Create a new chat with your Cursor agent to use your MCP tools.

You must start a new chat with your agent. Cursor agents only have access to the tools and capabilities available when a chat begins. Agents can't detect or use new MCP configurations, servers, or tools added after starting a chat.

Microsoft Copilot MCP configuration

Microsoft Copilot supports OAuth authentication and API-based access for MCP servers. Refer to the Microsoft Copilot MCP server configuration (opens new window) documentation for more information.

Complete the following steps to add your MCP server to Microsoft Copilot:

1

Sign in to your Microsoft Copilot Studio account.

2

Select Agent in the sidebar and create a new agent.

3

Provide a name for your agent in the Name field.

4

Optional. Provide a description for your agent in the Description field.

5

Add your MCP server as a tool. Steps for adding an MCP server vary based on your authentication method:

Microsoft Copilot OAuth authentication

1

Go to the Tools section and click + Add tool > Model Context Protocol.

Add tools

2

Paste your MCP URL into the Server URL field.

3

Go to the Authentication section and select OAuth 2.0.

4

Go to the Type section and select Dynamic discovery.

Microsoft Copilot API-based access

1

Go to the Tools section and click + Add tool > Custom connector. Microsoft redirects you to Power Apps to create the new connector.

2

Click + New custom connector and select Import an OpenAPI file.

3

Import the following YAML file, replacing <MCP Server Name>, <MCP Server Description>, <MCP Server Path>, and <WKT_TOKEN> with your MCP server configuration information:

swagger: '2.0'
info:
  title: <MCP Server Name> #Change name here
  description: <MCP Server Description> #Change description here
  version: 1.0.0
host: 558.apim.mcp.workato.com
basePath: /
schemes:
  - https
paths:
  <MCP Server Path>: #change path here, for example:/gregf247/github-jira-cursor-tools-v1
    post:
      summary: <MCP Server Name> #Change name here
      description: <MCP Server Description> #Change description here
      operationId: InvokeServer
      x-ms-agentic-protocol: mcp-streamable-1.0
      parameters:
        - name: wkt_token
          in: query
          required: true
          type: string
          enum:
            - <WKT_TOKEN> # Add wkt_token from Workato here
          default: <WKT_TOKEN> # Add wkt_token from Workato here
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Immediate Response
securityDefinitions: {}
security: []

6

Return to Microsoft Copilot Studio and connect to the newly created MCP server.