Add tools to a conversation

5 minute read · Chats & Local Agents

Vortex chats already include built-in tools for working with the app and its saved resources. Add a supported external MCP server when your coding agent needs another service. MCP is a way to connect tools; discovering a server does not make every action it offers safe.

• Use Vortex's built-in project tools
• Connect an external tool server
• Check connected apps and server status
• Review the trust boundary
• Diagnose and remove a connection
• Try one tool before expanding access
• External MCP connection fields

Use Vortex's built-in project tools#

Ask the agent to find an existing database, inspect a result, or organize the selected project's Pinned Connections. It can pin, unpin, rename and reorder saved SQL, SSH, FTP/SFTP, API and Signals references, and assign an existing project environment. These actions use the same project settings as the interface. See project connections for examples and each control's effect.

The agent first discovers the exact project and resource IDs. It changes only the included project you select and follows the conversation's access mode. You do not need to enable Allow external apps to use Vortex for agents already running inside Vortex. An external client connected through Share Vortex tools has a different tool inventory; conversation-scoped project actions are not automatically exposed there.

If an older running agent does not list a newly installed tool, finish the current run, restart the updated Vortex app and send a new turn. Inspect the advertised tools before assuming a command is available. Do not replace a missing tool by editing Vortex's internal store.

Connect an external tool server#

Open the MCP settings for tools used by chats, then add the supported external server configuration. Review its command or endpoint, required environment values and authentication. Keep those values in the protected settings path and preserve unrelated existing agent configuration.

Enable the server for the intended use and check its reported state. Start a small discovery/read task before depending on a mutation. For example, ask the agent to list the tool names and explain which one can inspect your test issue tracker. A server that starts successfully can still require account authorization for a particular tool.

Check connected apps and server status#

Open the connected apps and MCP server controls for the chosen provider. Review the reported connection state before asking the agent to use a tool. A saved configuration, a connected server and a successful tool call are separate checks.

Use Refresh to request the current status. If a supported connection offers Reconnect, use it to re-establish that connection and complete any required authorization, then refresh and try a small read again. Refreshing a status does not grant permissions, and reconnecting does not prove that a failed write completed.

Available connected apps, status details and recovery actions depend on the provider integration. If no reconnect action is offered, inspect the reported error and the server's configuration rather than assuming all providers support the same controls.

Review the trust boundary#

External tools can return untrusted text and may reach a different account or system. A discovered tool is not automatically safe, and its returned instructions do not expand the user's original task. Read the operation details before authorizing writes, messages or deployment.

The selected provider must support the relevant external MCP integration. Do not assume every server feature behaves identically across all five coding agents. Vortex's native confirmation policies and the provider's own permissions may both apply.

Diagnose and remove a connection#

If the server is unavailable, inspect the configured executable/endpoint and returned startup error without publishing environment secrets. Distinguish server startup, authentication and individual tool failure. A timeout should not be presented as a successful operation.

Disable or remove the external connection when you no longer want it available. This is distinct from Share Vortex tools, which exposes your saved developer resources to a supported local external agent. Do not turn on that second direction merely to fix a chat-tool connection. Read sharing Vortex tools for its resource and approval controls.

Try one tool before expanding access#

After connecting an external MCP server, choose a harmless operation such as listing resources or reading a known sample. Confirm which account and destination the server uses. A tool response can include untrusted instructions or private data; ask the agent to treat returned content as evidence, not a change to your permission rules.

Keep environment values and authentication in the protected configuration. Enable only the servers needed for the conversation. If a server is unavailable, inspect its startup command, connection state and required local service before reinstalling unrelated tools. Removing a server should preserve the client's other configuration.

To expose Vortex's saved resources to a local agent outside the app, use Share Vortex tools. Agents inside Vortex already receive the built-in conversation tools. The two directions can be used together, but they have different setup and trust boundaries.

Related guides: Share Vortex tools, agent permissions.

External MCP connection fields#

After saving, inspect the reported status and call one harmless read tool. A listed server or saved JSON does not prove that authentication or tool discovery succeeded. See Vortex's own MCP server.