Tambo AI Documentation

Connect external tools and data sources to Tambo using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Learn how to connect MCP servers to Tambo, giving your AI access to external tools, data sources, and services.

Learn about MCP concepts

Understand how MCP works and its capabilities

What You Can Do With MCP

MCP servers extend Tambo's capabilities by providing:

Tools - Functions the AI can execute (query databases, call APIs, perform calculations)
Resources - Access to files, documentation, and data sources
Prompts - Pre-configured prompt templates with context
Elicitations - Interactive data collection from users

Connection Methods

Tambo supports two ways to connect MCP servers:

Server-Side Connections (Recommended)

Configure MCP servers through the Tambo dashboard. These run on Tambo's backend infrastructure and provide the most efficient communication.

Best for: Production applications, shared services, OAuth-authenticated services

Setup:

Navigate to your project in the Tambo Cloud dashboard
Go to the "MCP Servers" section
Click "Add Server"
Enter the server connection details:
- Server Name - A descriptive name for your reference
- Server URL - The MCP server endpoint
- Authentication - Configure OAuth or API key headers if required
Click "Connect" to establish the connection
Test the connection by viewing available tools and resources

Server features are now available to your AI agent automatically. When users ask questions or request actions that match the server's capabilities, Tambo will use the appropriate tools and resources.

Client-Side Connections

Connect MCP servers from your browser using the @tambo-ai/react SDK. This approach runs the MCP connection in the user's browser.

Best for: Development, testing, user-specific credentials, local services

Setup:

Dependency note

The @tambo-ai/react/mcp subpath declares @modelcontextprotocol/sdk, zod, and zod-to-json-schema as optional peer dependencies. If you import this subpath, install these packages:
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk@^1.24.0 zod@^4.0.0 zod-to-json-schema@^3.25.0

Configure MCP servers in your React application:

app/layout.tsx

import { TamboProvider } from "@tambo-ai/react";
import { MCPTransport } from "@tambo-ai/react/mcp";

export default function RootLayout({
  children,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
}) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>
        <TamboProvider
          projectKey={process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TAMBO_API_KEY}
          mcpServers={[
            {
              url: "http://localhost:8123/",
              serverKey: "local", // Optional: stable prefix for namespacing
              customHeaders: {}, // Optional: custom headers like API keys
              transport: MCPTransport.HTTP, // Optional: defaults to HTTP
            },
          ]}
        >
          {children}
        </TamboProvider>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

TamboProvider automatically establishes connections to the specified MCP servers and makes their capabilities available to Tambo.

Transport options:

MCPTransport.HTTP (default) - For HTTP-based MCP servers
MCPTransport.SSE - For Server-Sent Events transport

Note: Client-side connections require the MCP server to support browser-based connections. Most MCP servers support HTTP transport, which works well from browsers.

Authentication

OAuth Authentication (Server-Side Only)

For OAuth-protected MCP servers:

Configure the OAuth flow in the Tambo dashboard
Complete the OAuth authorization when prompted
Tambo will handle token refresh automatically

Current limitation: OAuth tokens are shared across all users in your project. All users will act as the same identity when using OAuth-authenticated servers. Per-user OAuth is planned for a future release.

API Key Authentication

For API key-based servers:

Server-side: Configure custom headers in the dashboard with your API key.

Client-side: Pass headers in the customHeaders field:

<TamboProvider
  projectKey={process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TAMBO_API_KEY}
  mcpServers={[
    {
      url: "https://your-mcp-server.com/",
      serverKey: "myserver",
      customHeaders: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${yourApiKey}`,
      },
      transport: MCPTransport.HTTP,
    },
  ]}
>
  {children}
</TamboProvider>

Testing Your Connection

After connecting an MCP server, verify it's working:

In the Tambo dashboard, view the "Tools" and "Resources" tabs to see what's available
Test a simple tool execution from the dashboard
In your application, ask the AI a question that requires the MCP server's capabilities
Check that the AI successfully uses the tools and returns results