Working with external data and applications

Overview of how Delegate and Cartographer connect to your business applications and services, through Integration Service connectors and MCP servers.

Delegate and Cartographer connect to your business applications and services from Add-ons & Integrations. Two connection methods are available: Integration Service connectors for managed SaaS integrations, and MCP servers for custom or local tool connections. Some MCP servers also support MCP Apps, letting their tools render an interactive interface inline in the conversation instead of only text.

Connexion Integration Service

Integration Service provides secure, authenticated connections to popular business applications — Outlook, Slack, Salesforce, and every other connector in the Integration Service catalog. When you connect one, the agent can read and write data, act on your behalf, and work in the background without browser automation.

See Connecting to popular business applications to create, test, and manage a connection.

Serveurs MCP

MCP is an open protocol for connecting AI assistants to external data sources and tools. MCP servers can be remote (hosted elsewhere, accessed over HTTP) or local (a program running on your machine), and most are added with one click from the Orchestrator-backed catalog or the third-party marketplace rather than configured manually.

See Configuring external tools with MCP servers to add a custom server, manage existing ones, or use MCP Apps.

When to use MCP vs. Integration Service

Use case	Approche recommandée
SaaS populaire (Outlook, Slack, Salesforce)	Integration Service
A proprietary tool without an Integration Service connector	MCP
A custom internal API or a local database or files	A custom MCP server

Prochaines étapes

• Connecting to popular business applications — Create, test, and manage Integration Service connections
• Configuring external tools with MCP servers — Add and manage MCP servers, including custom ones and MCP Apps
• MCP servers reference — The Orchestrator catalog and third-party marketplace
• Connections reference — The Connections screen, field by field
• Repeating work with Routines — Save workflows that use your connected tools
• Sharing skills with your team — Find pre-built skills for your connected services