Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Connect agents to external systems through the standardized MCP interface.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables Agents to interact with external systems through a standardized interface. You can connect your Agents to any MCP server, using Agno’s MCP integration.

pip install "agno[mcp]" anthropic openai

Local stdio servers require their own command runtimes. Install Node.js for the npx filesystem example and install uv for the uvx Git examples below.

Below is a simple example that connects an Agent to the Agno MCP server:

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.models.anthropic import Claude
from agno.tools.mcp import MCPTools

# Create the Agent
agno_agent = Agent(
    name="Agno Agent",
    model=Claude(id="claude-sonnet-4-5"),
    # Add the Agno MCP server to the Agent
    tools=[MCPTools(transport="streamable-http", url="https://docs.agno.com/mcp")],
)

The Basic Flow

1. Find the MCP server you want to use

   You can use any working MCP server. To see some examples, you can check this GitHub repository, by the maintainers of the MCP themselves.

2. Initialize the MCP integration

   Initialize the MCPTools class and connect to the MCP server. The recommended way to define the MCP server is to use the command or url parameters. With command, you can pass the command used to run the MCP server you want. With url, you can pass the URL of the running MCP server you want to use.

   For example, to connect to the Agno documentation MCP server, you can do the following:

   from agno.tools.mcp import MCPTools
   
   # Initialize and connect to the MCP server
   mcp_tools = MCPTools(transport="streamable-http", url="https://docs.agno.com/mcp")
   await mcp_tools.connect()
   
3. Provide the MCPTools to the Agent

   When initializing the Agent, pass the MCPTools instance in the tools parameter. Remember to close the connection when you’re done.

   The agent will now be ready to use the MCP server:

   from agno.agent import Agent
   from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses
   from agno.tools.mcp import MCPTools
   
   # Initialize and connect to the MCP server
   mcp_tools = MCPTools(url="https://docs.agno.com/mcp")
   await mcp_tools.connect()
   
   try:
       # Setup and run the agent
       agent = Agent(model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"), tools=[mcp_tools])
       await agent.aprint_response("Tell me more about MCP support in Agno", stream=True)
   finally:
       # Always close the connection when done
       await mcp_tools.close()
   

Example: Filesystem Agent

Here’s a filesystem agent that uses the Filesystem MCP server to explore and analyze files:

filesystem_agent.py

import asyncio
from pathlib import Path
from textwrap import dedent

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses
from agno.tools.mcp import MCPTools


async def run_agent(message: str) -> None:
    """Run the filesystem agent with the given message."""

    file_path = "<path to the directory you want to explore>"

    # Initialize and connect to the MCP server to access the filesystem
    mcp_tools = MCPTools(
        command=f"npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem {file_path}",
        include_tools=[
            "list_allowed_directories",
            "list_directory",
            "read_file",
        ],
    )
    await mcp_tools.connect()

    try:
        agent = Agent(
            model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"),
            tools=[mcp_tools],
            instructions=dedent("""\
                You are a filesystem assistant. Help users explore files and directories.

                - Navigate the filesystem to answer questions
                - Use the list_allowed_directories tool to find directories that you can access
                - Provide clear context about files you examine
                - Use headings to organize your responses
                - Be concise and focus on relevant information\
            """),
            markdown=True,
        )

        # Run the agent
        await agent.aprint_response(message, stream=True)
    finally:
        # Always close the connection when done
        await mcp_tools.close()


# Example usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Basic example - exploring project license
    asyncio.run(run_agent("What is the license for this project?"))

Connecting your MCP server

Using connect() and close()

It is recommended to use the connect() and close() methods to manage the connection lifecycle of the MCP server.

mcp_tools = MCPTools(command="uvx mcp-server-git")
await mcp_tools.connect()

After you’re done, you should close the connection to the MCP server.

await mcp_tools.close()

This is the recommended way to manage the connection lifecycle of the MCP server when using Agent or Team instances.

Automatic Connection Management

If you pass the MCPTools instance to the Agent or Team instances without first calling connect(), the connection will be managed automatically.

For example:

mcp_tools = MCPTools(command="uvx mcp-server-git")
agent = Agent(model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"), tools=[mcp_tools])
await agent.aprint_response("What is the license for this project?", stream=True)  # The connection is established and closed on each run.

Here the connection to the MCP server (in the case of hosted MCP servers) is established and closed on each run. Additionally the list of available tools is refreshed on each run.

This has an impact on performance and is not recommended for production use.

Using Async Context Manager

Use MCPTools as an async context manager for automatic resource cleanup:

async with MCPTools(command="uvx mcp-server-git") as mcp_tools:
    agent = Agent(model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"), tools=[mcp_tools])
    await agent.aprint_response("What is the license for this project?", stream=True)

This pattern automatically handles connection and cleanup, but the explicit .connect() and .close() methods provide more control over connection lifecycle.

Automatic Connection Management in AgentOS

When using MCPTools within AgentOS, the lifecycle is automatically managed. No need to manually connect or disconnect the MCPTools instance. This does not automatically refresh connections. You can use refresh_connection to do so.

See the AgentOS + MCPTools page for more details.

This is the recommended way to manage the connection lifecycle of the MCP server when using AgentOS.

Connection Refresh

Set refresh_connection on an MCPTools instance to check its MCP session before each run. An unhealthy session is reconnected, then the available tools are refreshed.

mcp_tools = MCPTools(command="uvx mcp-server-git", refresh_connection=True)
await mcp_tools.connect()

agent = Agent(model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"), tools=[mcp_tools])
await agent.aprint_response("What is the license for this project?", stream=True)  # The connection is checked and tools are refreshed on each run.

await mcp_tools.close()

How it works

• When you call the connect() method, a new session is established with the MCP server. If that server becomes unavailable, that connection is closed and a new one has to be established.
• If you set refresh_connection to True, each time the agent is run the connection to the MCP server is checked and re-established if needed, and the list of available tools is then refreshed.
• This is particularly useful for hosted MCP servers that are prone to restarts or that often change their schema or list of tools.
• It is recommended to only use this when you manually manage the connection lifecycle of the MCP server, or when using agents/teams with MCPTools in AgentOS.

Transports

Transports define how MCP messages are sent and received. Agno supports the two standard MCP transports plus deprecated standalone SSE compatibility:

• stdio for local subprocess servers
• Streamable HTTP for remote servers
• Standalone SSE for legacy servers. This transport is deprecated in Agno v3.0.4 and will be removed in a future release.

The stdio transport is the default in MCPTools. Use Streamable HTTP for new remote servers.

Best Practices

1. Resource Cleanup: Always close MCP connections when done to prevent resource leaks:

mcp_tools = MCPTools(command="uvx mcp-server-git")
await mcp_tools.connect()

try:
    # Your agent code here
    pass
finally:
    await mcp_tools.close()

2. Error Handling: Always include proper error handling for MCP server connections and operations.

3. Clear Instructions: Provide clear and specific instructions to your agent:

instructions = """
You are a filesystem assistant. Help users explore files and directories.
- Navigate the filesystem to answer questions
- Use the list_allowed_directories tool to find accessible directories
- Provide clear context about files you examine
- Be concise and focus on relevant information
"""

Developer Resources

• See how to use MCP with AgentOS here.
• Find examples of Agents that use MCP here.
• Find a collection of MCP servers here.