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Toolkits and connections

A toolkit is a set of capabilities an agent can use to get work done. CortexHub separates four decisions that are easy to confuse:

  1. Is the toolkit in the platform catalogue or an organisation's custom OpenAPI inventory?
  2. Has an org admin enabled it for this organisation?
  3. Has an admin published it to the agent or member group that may use it?
  4. Which credential does that principal use when a tool runs?

The resulting model is:

Catalogue or custom toolkit
        -> org admin enables it
        -> group entitlement publishes it
        -> member connects once, or admin configures an org-shared credential
        -> agent discovers and invokes only governed tools

Toolkit kinds​

KindDescription
Hosted MCPRemote MCP integration published in the platform catalogue
OpenAPI / RESTAn OpenAPI spec converted into governed tools
Organisation custom OpenAPIAn admin-supplied OpenAPI spec scoped to one organisation

Admin setup​

  1. Enable the toolkit. In Org space -> Toolkits, an org admin selects a catalogue toolkit to add to the organisation inventory. Custom toolkits are created there by uploading or fetching an OpenAPI spec.
  2. Publish an entitlement. The admin publishes the toolkit to a member group or an Org Agent group and configures its allowed authentication methods, OAuth scopes where applicable, and policies.
  3. Configure the credential path. A member connects their own vendor credential, or an admin authorizes an org-shared credential for a toolkit that an Org Agent must use.

Adding a toolkit to the catalogue or inventory does not grant access. Unpublished drafts and toolkits without a matching group entitlement are unavailable to the agent.

Member connections​

A member connects a toolkit once from My space -> Toolkits (or from an in-client Connect prompt). The connection is keyed to that member and toolkit, then reused by the member's hosted co-worker and external MCP clients that authenticate as that member. There is no per-agent attach or per-agent enable step.

The connect method depends on the toolkit:

  • Managed or BYO OAuth: the member completes vendor sign-in in the provider's authorization screen. CortexHub stores the resulting tokens securely and refreshes them when supported.
  • API key, bearer, or basic credentials: the member enters the credential in CortexHub Cloud. It is stored securely and injected only when an entitled tool runs.
  • No connection needed: some toolkits have no vendor credential and can run as soon as governance permits them.

Connecting a toolkit does not grant new permissions. Group entitlements and the layered policy floor still decide which tools can run. Disconnecting removes that member's stored credential; it does not change anyone else's connection or the organisation's entitlement.

Org Agent connections​

An Org Agent has no member owner. Its access comes from an Org Agent group. For a hosted or SDK Org Agent, an admin must enable the toolkit, publish it to the agent group, and configure the organisation-scoped credential where the toolkit requires one. The agent then uses that org-shared credential; it does not borrow a member's personal connection.

An SDK runtime using an organisation gateway key is a separate model: the backend attests its external end user and supplies the downstream provider credentials it owns. See Choose your authentication model and Org Agents.

Vendor authentication methods​

MethodMeaning
Managed OAuthA CortexHub-operated OAuth application for the provider
Bring your own OAuthYour organisation registers and owns the provider OAuth application
Dynamic client registrationThe provider supports OAuth client registration at connect time
API key / bearer / basicThe provider uses static credentials

Admins can restrict the methods and OAuth scopes available to a group during publish. Members see only the methods and scopes that the entitlement allows.

Slack has two surfaces​

The Slack toolkit lets an entitled member or Org Agent use governed Slack tools. A hosted Org Agent can also be installed as a named Slack bot from its Slack settings. Bot installation is an organisation integration and does not grant toolkit access by itself. The bot's agent group and policies still govern every action. See Org Agents.

See also​