Data: Cowork plugin MCP discovery and connection

MCP Discovery and Connection

How to find and connect MCPs during plugin customization.

Available Tools

search_mcp_registry

Search the MCP directory for available connectors.

Input: { "keywords": ["array", "of", "search", "terms"] }

Output: Up to 10 results, each with:

• name: MCP display name
• description: One-liner description
• tools: List of tool names the MCP provides
• url: MCP endpoint URL (use this in .mcp.json)
• directoryUuid: UUID for use with suggest_connectors
• connected: Boolean - whether user has this MCP connected

suggest_connectors

Display Connect buttons to let users install/connect MCPs.

Input: { "directoryUuids": ["uuid1", "uuid2"] }

Output: Renders UI with Connect buttons for each MCP

Category-to-Keywords Mapping

Workflow

1. Find customization point: Look for ~~-prefixed values (e.g., ~~Jira)
2. Check earlier phase findings: Did you already learn which tool they use?
   • Yes: Search for that specific tool to get its url, skip to step 5
   • No: Continue to step 3
3. Search: Call search_mcp_registry with mapped keywords
4. Present choices and ask user: Show all results, ask which they use
5. Connect if needed: If not connected, call suggest_connectors
6. Update MCP config: Add config using the url from search results

Updating Plugin MCP Configuration

Finding the Config File

1. Check plugin.json for an mcpServers field:

   {
     "name": "my-plugin",
     "mcpServers": "./config/servers.json"
   }
   

   If present, edit the file at that path.

2. If no mcpServers field, use .mcp.json at the plugin root (default).

3. If mcpServers points only to .mcpb files (bundled servers), create a new .mcp.json at the plugin root.

Config File Format

Both wrapped and unwrapped formats are supported:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Use the url field from search_mcp_registry results.

Directory Entries Without a URL

Some directory entries have no url because the endpoint is dynamic — the admin provides it when connecting the server. These servers can still be referenced in the plugin's MCP config by name: if the MCP server name in the config matches the directory entry name, it is treated the same as a URL match.

Example: Fully Configured .mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
      }
    },
    "asana": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "https://mcp.asana.com/sse"
    },
    "slack": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://slack.mcp.claude.com/mcp"
    },
    "figma": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.figma.com/mcp"
    },
    "datadog": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.datadoghq.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "DD-API-KEY": "${DATADOG_API_KEY}",
        "DD-APPLICATION-KEY": "${DATADOG_APP_KEY}"
      }
    }
  },
  "recommendedCategories": [
    "source-control",
    "project-management",
    "chat",
    "documents",
    "wiki-knowledge-base",
    "design-graphics",
    "analytics-bi"
  ]
}