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MCP servers

An MCP server is an extension that gives an AI extra tools: access to a database, a search engine, files, external services. The MCP servers section works like the skill storage: a server is first added to onplate, then installed into the AI tools you want.

Adding a server

Three ways:

By hand

The Add MCP server button. Fill in:

  • Transport — how the AI talks to the server:
    • stdio — the server runs as a local program on your computer;
    • http or sse — the server runs remotely, at an address on the internet;
  • Command and arguments (for stdio) — what exactly to run;
  • Environment variables and headers — settings and access keys.

Importing from JSON

Almost every MCP server puts an mcpServers config block in its README. Just copy it and paste it into the import window — onplate recognizes both a single entry and a whole list of servers.

From a registry

The MCP tab in the Marketplace: search the official MCP server registry and install in a couple of clicks. You can connect your own registry too.

Secrets are protected

API keys, tokens and passwords are the most valuable part of an MCP config. onplate treats them specially:

  • secret values are encrypted and never shown again after saving;
  • they are put into AI configs only at the moment of install;
  • on export and team publishing, secrets never end up in the artifacts.

Tick the secret checkbox on a value and it will be encrypted. The master encryption key can be rotated in the Security section.

Test the connection

Before installing a server into an AI, press Test connection — onplate connects to the server and shows the list of tools it provides. That way you know in advance that the server is alive and what it can do.

For stdio servers the test means running a local command on your computer, so onplate shows you the command first and asks for a confirmation: run only what you trust. If a server is marked dangerous (code execution, network access), the install asks for explicit consent too.

The findings panel on the card

The verdict badge on the server card is a button. Unfold it and onplate parses the spec of the current version and shows the findings the same way it does for skills and subagents: the rule title, “why this matters”, “what to do” and the evidence itself — the fragment of the spec that triggered the rule. The parse is lazy, on the first unfold; secrets are not substituted into it — the analyzer looks at the shape of the config, not at the values.

You do not have to simply agree with a finding:

  • False positive — the rule fired for nothing;
  • Accept the risk — you understand what the server does and deliberately keep it; onplate asks you to explain why the risk is acceptable;
  • Revoke — take back an earlier mark of yours.

After a mark, the verdict is recalculated from the remaining findings: a server with two dangerous findings, one of which you called a false positive, does not instantly become “safe”. The finding itself does not disappear from the list — otherwise it could not be revoked.

A mark is tied to the pair “rule + evidence”. If you change the command or the address of the server, the evidence becomes different and the old exception does not apply to the new finding. If the rule set is updated, the mark is flagged “acknowledgement outdated” and the finding counts again.

Installing into an AI

Same as with skills: pick the AI tool and the scope. onplate knows the config format of every AI and shows which file it is about to change before writing. Installs are visible in Bindings on the MCP tab.

How to check the result

After an install or an uninstall, Orbi shows the last confirmed action. Confirmation means onplate re-read the bindings and saw the expected entry in the AI config.

That confirms the config only — not that the MCP server itself starts. To be sure the command runs, the connection is established and the tools are available, press Test connection separately.

If Orbi says “Could not confirm…”, do not repeat the operation right away. The server record, the AI config or the encrypted secrets may have changed partially. Refresh the MCP servers section and the MCP tab in Bindings, check the actual state, and only then decide whether a second install is needed.

Versions and rollback

MCP servers have a version history just like skills: the Versions block on the card shows the list with a current mark, and any past version comes back with the Roll back button.

Deleting

  • Uninstall — remove the server from the config of a particular AI;
  • Delete from storage — remove the record from onplate (installs, if any, remain — onplate warns you);
  • Delete everywhere — remove the server from every AI config and from storage.

Deleting an MCP server from storage does not send it to the trash: the saved record and the secrets managed by onplate cannot be restored. Check the list of remaining installs before you confirm.