MCP Servers

Connecting an MCP server lets Traversal call that server’s tools during investigations — pulling in context and capabilities from systems that don’t have a dedicated Traversal integration.

How it works

Each MCP server is its own integration instance — connect as many as you need, each with its own URL and authentication.
Traversal connects to remote servers over HTTP-based transports — both Streamable HTTP and SSE are supported.
Traversal discovers the tools the server exposes, and you choose which ones to enable from the integration’s tool list in the Traversal UI.

Traversal is read-only by design. If an MCP server exposes tools that write or mutate state, add them to the server’s blocked tools list so Traversal never calls them.

Authentication

Traversal supports three authentication methods for MCP servers. Choose the one your server uses when you configure the integration.

Bearer token
Client credentials
OAuth

A static token that Traversal sends as the Authorization: Bearer <token> header on every request. Use this when your server authenticates with a long-lived API key or personal access token.

Get a token from your MCP server

Generate an API key or access token in the system that hosts the MCP server. Copy it — you’ll paste it into Traversal.

Configure in Traversal

Go to Company Knowledge > Integrations, add an MCP Server, and enter:

Server URL — the server’s streamable-http endpoint (e.g. https://mcp.example.com/mcp)
Auth method — Bearer token
Token — the token you copied

A service-account client ID and client secret that Traversal exchanges for a short-lived bearer token at a token endpoint before each session. Use this for the OAuth 2.0 client_credentials grant and similar service-to-service token flows.

Create service-account credentials

In your identity provider, create a service account (or app registration) and note its client ID and client secret, plus the token endpoint URL that issues tokens for it.

Configure in Traversal

Go to Company Knowledge > Integrations, add an MCP Server, and enter:

Server URL — the server’s streamable-http endpoint
Auth method — Client credentials
Token URL — the endpoint that issues tokens (e.g. https://auth.example.com/token)
Client ID and Client secret — sent as HTTP basic auth to the token endpoint

If your provider needs a custom request body or returns the token under a non-standard JSON key, set the optional request body and token response key fields. The token key defaults to access_token.

Traversal fetches a fresh token as needed, so you never store a long-lived bearer token — only the service-account credentials.

Enabling tools

After a server connects, Traversal lists the tools it exposes. In the Traversal UI you choose which tools to enable and give each one an agent-facing description — the text the agent uses to decide when to call the tool. A tool with no configured description won’t be surfaced to the agent, so write a clear description for every tool you enable. Two limits apply, both enforced when you save:

Limit	Value
Enabled tools	Up to 20 enabled tools across all connected MCP servers combined
Tool description length	500 characters or fewer per tool

Enabled tools and their descriptions are configured per server in the Traversal UI.

Servers on a private network

If your MCP server — or its OAuth token endpoint — isn’t reachable from the public internet, Traversal routes requests through your Traversal Connector, the same relay used by other integrations. No changes to the server are required beyond making it reachable from the connector’s network.

Settings

Setting	Description
Server URL	The MCP server’s streamable-http endpoint.
Auth method	`Bearer token`, `Client credentials`, or `OAuth`.
Blocked tools	Tools Traversal will never call, even if the server exposes them.
Tool call timeout	How long Traversal waits for a single tool call before giving up. Defaults to 30 seconds.

More information

Model Context Protocol
Security, data & permissions — data access, controls, and authentication for security and compliance reviews
Traversal MCP server — for driving Traversal from your AI clients

Get Started

Architecture

Set up

Using Traversal

API

Security & Trust

Changelog

How it works

Authentication

Enabling tools

Servers on a private network

Settings

More information

​How it works

​Authentication

​Enabling tools

​Servers on a private network

​Settings

​More information

How it works

Authentication

Enabling tools

Servers on a private network

Settings

More information