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One of the first steps to getting started with Barndoor is to register your MCP servers so so its tools can be discovered and fine-grained access control policies can be applied to them. You can add servers that are built and hosted by Barndoor, curated by Barndoor but hosted by third parties, or hosted internally on your own infrastructure. MCP Server Activation

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Before You Begin

Before getting started with adding an MCP server in Barndoor, you’ll need:
  • A Barndoor account with admin privileges
  • Authentication credentials from your MCP provider (an OAuth Client ID/Secret, an API key, or another credential type, depending on the server)
To learn how to authenticate Barndoor to a specific MCP provider, visit the MCP Servers Catalog, select an MCP server, and follow the Setup Instructions. For example: here is how to connect Atlassian’s Rovo MCP server.

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Understanding MCP Server Types

Barndoor’s MCP server catalog (Admin > MCP Servers > Add MCP Server) organizes servers into three categories, filterable via the Custom / Barndoor / Official chips at the top of the catalog: Use the search box to find a specific service by name, or the Categories filter to browse by use case.
You are allowed to create multiple instances of MCP servers within Barndoor.

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Adding a Barndoor or Official server

  1. Navigate to Admin > MCP Servers and click Add MCP Server.
  2. Find your target service in the catalog and click its Add MCP Server button.
  3. In the Configure MCP Server Instance dialog:
    • Confirm or edit the MCP Server Name (prefilled with the connector’s name).
    • Optionally set a Slug — a URL-friendly identifier. If left blank, it’s auto-generated from the name.
    • Provide connection credentials (OAuth, API Key, etc. - the type of credential differs by server).
      • If the provider supports OAuth Dynamic Client Registration, you can click Register Client to automatically register and fill in a Client ID and Secret.
  4. Click Configure MCP Server.

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Adding a custom server

Review any custom MCP server carefully with your security team before registering it. Barndoor applies your access-control policies to it but doesn’t vet third-party code on your behalf.
Custom servers go through a short configuration wizard.
  1. Navigate to Admin > MCP Servers > Add MCP Server and click the Add New tile (“Create or connect a new custom MCP server”).
  2. Add Custom MCP Server — choose the MCP Server Source:
    • Internal — hosted and managed within your own infrastructure
    • 3rd Party — hosted externally by an outside provider
    • Enter the MCP Server URL, then click Add MCP Server.
  3. Add Custom MCP Server Details — fill in:
    • Name (prefilled from the URL) and an optional Description
    • An optional Icon (JPG, PNG, GIF, or WebP, up to 10MB)
    • MCP Server URL (carried over from step 2; Barndoor attempts to auto-discover OAuth metadata from it)
    • Protocol — Choose MCP (Streamable HTTP) or SSE (Server-Sent Events). (While SSE is supported, please note that it has been deprecated.)
    • Authentication Type — the type you choose determines which credential fields appear:
      • OAuth
        • Issuer: The unique URL of the authorization server for this MCP server.
        • Authorization Endpoint: The authorization server’s endpoint URL where a user will be redirected to log in and grant consent. This can either be a relative path to the Issuer URL above, or an absolute (full) endpoint URL.
        • Token Endpoint: The authorization server’s endpoint URL that Barndoor will use to exchange an authorization code for an access token. This can either be a relative path to the Issuer URL above, or an absolute (full) endpoint URL.
        • Allow OAuth Override: Allows the issuer (base URL) to be overridden per instance of this MCP server.
        • Scopes: A list of OAuth scopes (permissions) that Barndoor will request during the authentication flow (e.g., “read:profile read:issues write:comments”)
        • Categories: Select one or more categories for this MCP server which is used to improve server discovery.
        • Additional Metadata (JSON): Optional field of additional metadata to be passed between MCP clients and servers.
      • API Key — the key itself is supplied when configuring the instance.
      • Bearer Token — the token itself is supplied when configuring the instance.
      • Basic Auth — username and password credentials are supplied when configuring the instance.
      • Generic — define custom Credential Fields that users will need to provide when connecting. Each field is sent as an HTTP header. Fields can be edited in Form View or as raw JSON.
    • Optional Categories, which are used to improve server discovery.
    • Click Update MCP Server to continue.
  4. Configure MCP Server Instance — name the instance, optionally set a slug, and, depending on the authentication type chosen in step 3, supply the appropriate credential values. Click Configure MCP Server.
  5. Connect a Service Account — click Connect MCP Server to authorize the connection and let Barndoor discover the server’s tools.
If a server uses OAuth, confirm its OAuth client allowlists your Barndoor hostname as a valid redirect URI, or the connection step may fail with a redirect URI error.

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Publishing an MCP server

Successfully connecting a server doesn’t make it usable right away. A newly connected server sits in a Pending Publish state: it’s visible to admins, but end users can’t see it or connect to it yet.
Publishing requires at least one policy to be configured first - there’s no way to publish an unpoliced server.
To make a server available to end users:
  1. Configure at least one access control policy for the server in the Access Control Center, defining which AI agents and/or users are allowed to use it.
  2. Once a policy is in place, open the server (from the ⋮ menu on the MCP Servers list or its detail page) and choose Publish.
  3. Publishing the server makes it visible to end users, who can then connect to it themselves.

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Managing an existing MCP server

From the MCP Servers list, each row has a ⋮ menu with:
  • View Details — opens the server’s detail page (actions taken, AI agent usage, tool calls, and an activity log)
  • Manage Access — configure which AI agents and users can use the server
  • Publish — makes the server visible and connectable to end users
  • Edit — update the server’s configuration
  • Delete — permanently remove the server (this cannot be undone; Barndoor will warn you if any access policies still reference it)
A server’s status badge reflects where it is in this lifecycle:
  • Pending Publish (connected, but not yet visible to end users)
  • Pending Connection or Pending Credentials (setup not finished)
  • Connection Error (setup failed or credentials need attention)
  • Available (connected, policied, and published)
A Pending Connection or Error status usually means the connection setup needs to be resumed or its credentials re-entered — use Resume Setup from the list, or Edit from the MCP Server detail page.