Add an MCP Tool Action to Your Agent
Add the agent action that references your MCP tool to an agent from the asset library, so your agent can call the tool in conversation.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions. Required add-on licenses vary by agent type. |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To manage agent actions: | Manage AI Agents AND the required permissions for your agent type |
If you haven’t already, register an MCP server and allowlist the tools you want to use with your agent.
To make changes to your agent, it must be in a draft state. If you want to make changes to a committed agent, create a new draft of your agent.
These steps cover how to add an MCP tool action to an existing subagent in your agent. If you want to use a new subagent with your MCP tool, see Manage Subagents.
- From the Agents list in the Agentforce Studio app, open the agent you want to add an action to.
-
In the Explorer panel, hover over the subagent you want to add the action to, and then
click
.
- Select Add from Asset Library.
-
Select one or more actions from the asset library to add to your subagent, and then
save your changes.
Agent actions that reference MCP tools follow the naming pattern “Tool Name ServerName” and are indicated by the
icon. - After you’ve added an MCP tool action to your subagent, add reasoning instructions to tell your agent how it should use the action.
- Save your changes.
When you add an MCP tool action to your agent:
- The input and output labels for some data types (for example, numbers) may be replaced with the label “string.” This doesn’t affect your agent’s logic or reasoning, but for ease of use, we recommend replacing the labels with the original values from the MCP tool action in the asset library or the MCP tool input or output schema. A fix is on the way.
- The Reference Action Type field appears empty. The action can run without a reference action type, even though it’s identified as a required field, because the reference action is populated. If you click into or change the Reference Action Type field, the reference action is reset and can’t be manually reset to the MCP tool. In this case, remove the action from your agent and re-add it from the asset library. A fix is on the way.
Before committing and activating your agent, carefully test your agent to verify that your MCP tool action performs as expected. Adjust your reasoning instructions based on your results.
- MCP Tool Response Schemas and Agent Design
MCP server tools are added to your agent as agent actions that reference the server tool (MCP tool actions) and can be used just like other agent actions. However, not all valid MCP response schemas are fully supported in Agentforce Builder. As you build your agent, plan for differences in variable mapping, action chaining, and input and output rendering. Complex responses may require simpler agent design patterns. - Remove an MCP Tool Action from an Agent
Delete the agent action that references an MCP tool to remove your agent’s access. - Delete an MCP Tool Action from the Asset Library
Delete an agent action that references an MCP tool from the asset library so it can’t be added to any agents. When you delete an agent action from the asset library, the action is still available in any subagents and agents you’ve already added it to. We recommend removing the action from any agents before deleting it from the asset library.
