Connect a custom MCP server
How do I connect a custom MCP server?
Capabilities is where you give your agent reach beyond Synup: your CRM, your inbox, your calendar, your own data. Open Sydekick → Agent → Capabilities. Some capabilities come with your plan, and you can search for many more in Discover. Search there first. Use Add custom server when the tool is not in the catalogue and publishes its own MCP address, or when you have a REST API with a key.
Key facts
| Where it lives | Sydekick → Agent → Capabilities |
| Add your own | Add custom server, top right, opens a menu with MCP server and Custom API |
| Two groups | Connected (what your agent can reach) and Discover (a catalogue to search) |
| Connected filters | All, Connected apps, MCP servers, APIs, Built-in, a Needs attention chip, a text filter and Who |
| Card states | Included, Ready, Needs setup, Paused, Connecting, Not working |
| Who can use it | Linked clients on a card chooses which clients a capability applies to |
| Page access | Access to Capabilities is set per team member |
Steps
Open Sydekick → Agent → Capabilities. If the page says Starting up your agent, wait; it retries on its own.
Read Connected first. The line under the title counts what the agent can reach and how many cards need attention. Use the tabs, Needs attention, the filter box or Who to narrow the cards.
Search Discover for the tool you want. Anything you connect there appears under Connected.
If the tool is not in the catalogue, select Add custom server and choose MCP server (or Custom API).
Fill in the dialog and select Add server. Synup registers the server and tries to connect straight away. If the vendor supports sign-in, you are sent to its consent screen and brought back here.
Check the new card. Ready means your agent can use it. If it reads Needs setup or Not working, use Configure or Reconfigure on the card.
Select Linked clients to choose which clients the capability applies to.
Read the page in two groups
The page's subtitle reads "Connect apps your agent can use and choose which clients each serves." Everything you can reach is a card under Connected, whether it is a connected app, an MCP server, an API or a built-in, and the tabs filter that single list. Below it, Discover is a catalogue: type a name or choose a chip such as Customer records, Reviews & reputation, Email & messaging, Scheduling or Payments. Discover lists third-party apps from outside Synup, so what it offers can change, and it is the path for nearly everything.
What the card states mean
The badge on a card tells you who is responsible for it and whether your agent can use it right now.
- Included: comes with your plan and needs nothing from you. The card reads "Account-wide · managed for you". Included capabilities today are things like web scraping, SEO data and web search; the set can change.
- Ready: "Your agent can use this now." A server you connected carries Reconfigure, Linked clients and Disconnect.
- Needs setup: "Your agent can't use this yet — it still needs credentials." Use Configure.
- Paused: "Set up, but switched off. Your agent won't call it."
- Connecting: "Waiting for you to approve access." An authorization is in progress.
- Not working: "Your agent tried to use this and was refused." This usually means a key was rotated or access was revoked at the other end. Reconfigure is the fix.
A server you added by hand shows a small MCP badge and its address on the card.
Adding a server of your own
Select Add custom server, then MCP server.
The dialog, Add a custom MCP server, is short.
Name is a short label (for example notion). URL must be a full address such as https://mcp.vendor.com/mcp; a partial one is refused. Description (optional) is for whoever reads this page after you. Then select Add server: Synup registers it and tries to connect on its own first, and most servers need nothing else.
Advanced settings is collapsed by default. Open it only if the vendor's documentation says you have to: a Header(s) row for a plain API key (a name such as Authorization and its value), or an OAuth client ID and OAuth client secret if the vendor issued you a pair. Its own note says: "Usually unnecessary. Use only if the vendor's docs require app registration."
Two outcomes are worth recognising:
- If the vendor supports it, you are redirected to its consent screen, then returned. When you come back the card reads Ready, and the page says Connected "name". Your agent starts using it the next time it refreshes.
- If it did not connect automatically, the dialog reads "Added "name". Didn't connect automatically. If the vendor requires a manually-registered app, expand Advanced settings, add its client ID (and secret, if issued), and click Add again." The server is registered; try again with the credentials.
A name that is already in use is refused: "A server named "name" is already registered. Disconnect it first if you want to reconnect under this name."
Add a custom API instead
If you have a REST API and a key rather than an MCP server, choose Custom API.
It reads "Sydekick and your clients' portal cards can read data from this API. Your key is stored securely and never shown again." You choose Who can use it (all linked clients, or one client), give it a Name and an https:// Base URL (requests only go to that address), pick the sign-in method and paste the Key; after saving only its last four characters are shown. Endpoints is optional, one per line, such as /v1/summary, and Sydekick and cards only read the endpoints you list. An API card has a Test button that tells you whether the API answered with the key.
Choose which clients can use it
Linked clients opens Linked clients — name. Pick a client, add an account ID if the service needs one, and select Link. A server you added by hand shows All clients on its card until you link specific clients; Included capabilities are account-wide by design and have no such control. When clients can connect their own account, the dialog offers Connect their account or Use agency account for each, and the last linked client cannot be unlinked without making the capability available to every client, so link another client first or remove the server.
Two kinds of "connect"
This page is about giving Sydekick reach into other tools. Letting an outside AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, use your Synup account over MCP is a different feature, set up under Developer, and it needs a paid plan. Do not confuse the two.
What you'll see when it's done
- A new card under Connected, with an MCP or API badge and the state Ready
- The capability available to the clients you linked
- The agent using it the next time it refreshes
Watch out for
- Needs setup and Not working both mean the agent is not using it. Fix the credentials with Configure or Reconfigure.
- It goes live on the next refresh. A newly connected server may take a moment before the agent uses it.
Questions people ask
How many capabilities come with my plan?
There is no fixed number. Included capabilities, such as web scraping, SEO data and web search, are managed for you and the set can change, so read the Included cards on your own page.
Should I add a server or search Discover?
Search Discover first. Add a server only when the tool has no catalogue entry and publishes its own MCP address, and use Custom API for a REST API with a key.
Can Sydekick add a server for me in chat?
Not as far as has been tested. Credentials and authorization happen on this page.