Add MCP Server tools to agents with AI Foundry's Tool Catalog
In Microsoft Foundry, a tool is an external capability that an agent can call to perform actions or retrieve data beyond the model’s built-in knowledge. Tools enable agents to interact with APIs, services, or local resources to complete tasks more effectively.
The Tool Catalog in the Foundry Toolkit extension for Visual Studio Code lets you connect tools and add them to your agents.
This article explains how to:
- Connect Foundry tools
- Connect local MCP server tools
- Add tools to agents in Agent Builder
When to use each option
- Foundry tools Use with prompt agents running in Microsoft Foundry
- Local MCP servers Use with local agents that rely on tools running in your environment
Connect a Foundry tool
Use Foundry tools when building prompt agents backed by Microsoft Foundry.
- In the Foundry Toolkit panel, select My Resources > Your project name > Tools
- Select the + icon next to Tools to open the Tool Catalog
- Go to the Catalog tab
- Browse available tools
- Select a tool and choose the Connect button
- On the Connect dialog, you'll provide a name, endpoint, parameters, authentication credentials, and so on.
- Select the Connect button.
After connecting, the tool is available for use in your agents.
Connect a local MCP server tool
Use local MCP servers when building agents that run locally.
- In the Foundry Toolkit panel, select My Resources > Your project name > Tools
- Select the + icon next to Tools to open the Tool Catalog
- Go to the Custom tab
- Choose one of the following options:
- Edit mcp.json to define a server
- Configure (stdio) to run a local command
- Configure (HTTP / SSE) to connect to a remote endpoint
- Save or complete the configuration
Once configured, the MCP server appears as an available tool.
Add a tool to an agent
After connecting a tool, add it to your agent:
- Open Agent Builder for a given agent using the Foundry Toolkit panel. There are several ways to do this, including selecting an existing agent in My Resources > Your project name > Prompt agents, or selecting Developer Tools > Build > Create Agent
- In the Agent Builder, on the Playground tab, in the Tool section, select +
- The Select a tool dialog appears. From here you can add a pre-configured tool, a catalog tool, or a custom tool. This is similar to the options in the Tool catalog. Select your desired tool, configure the options.
- Select Add Tool button
The tool is now attached to your agent and can be used during execution.