A grok bot custom mcp connector lets your Grok Bots use a tool that is not in the built-in app catalog. You add it from Connect apps with Add a custom connector, or you ask a Bot to add it for you, and it then works for every Bot on your account.
📺 Watch: NEW Grok Bot Update Is INSANE!
🔥 Get the Agent OS as a free bonus: AI Profit Boardroom members get the full Agent OS zip, prompt libraries, daily tutorials and weekly live coaching calls. → Get inside
MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is a standard way for an AI agent to plug into an outside tool and call its actions. A custom MCP connector is how you point Grok Bot at a server the catalog does not list, such as an internal tool, a niche SaaS app, or something you run yourself.
Julian Goldie shares the agent setups he uses in his own business inside the AI Profit Boardroom. If you want help picking which tools to connect first, book a free AI strategy session.
Two ways to add a grok bot custom mcp server
The Grok Bot docs give you two routes. Both end in the same place: a connector under Installed that every Bot you run can use.
Route 1: the Add a custom connector form
This is the desktop app route.
- Open Connect apps from the sidebar.
- Scroll to the bottom and choose Add a custom connector.
- Enter a Name.
- Pick a Type: Remote HTTPS or Command.
- Fill in the fields for that type.
- Choose Add plugin to save it.
If your team admin's MCP policy blocks the server, the form will not save it.
Route 2: ask a Bot
You can also just tell a Bot what you want. For catalog apps, the docs give the example "Add the Linear app." The Bot searches the catalog, installs the app on your account and shows a Connect card if you need to sign in. The app's tools are ready from your next message.
For tools outside the catalog, a Bot can add an MCP server by URL, or by a command that runs on its computer. Two rules apply:
- A server started by a command is available to your other Bots too.
- Adding a server on a private network, or one that uses a private certificate authority, asks for your approval first.
Remote HTTPS vs Command
The Type you pick decides where the server runs and how the network rules treat it. Here is the split, from the docs:
| Detail | Remote HTTPS | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Fields in the form | Server URL, optional HTTP headers, optional OAuth Client ID (a Client Secret field appears once you enter one) | Command and its Arguments |
| Where it runs | On the vendor's or your own server, reached from Cursor's servers | On the Bot's cloud computer |
| Covered by an allowlist network policy | Only when Apply to MCP servers is on | Yes, the network policy already applies |
| Good fit for | Hosted SaaS tools that publish an MCP endpoint | Open-source servers you install and run |
Command servers run on the shared cloud computer. All of a user's Bots share one cloud computer, each with its own screen, and Bots run on Cursor-hosted cloud computers. That is why a command server one Bot starts is there for the others.
📺 Watch: NEW Grok Bot Update is INSANE!
After you add it: Authenticate and attach
Installing a connector and signing in to it are two steps. The docs are direct about this: Added means the app is installed, not that you are signed in.
- If an app shows Needs auth or Disconnected, open it and choose Authenticate. On the phone the button is Authorize.
- If sign-in does not finish, choose Reconnect on the app, or Reopen on the in-chat card.
- Confirm the app appears under Installed.
To point a Bot at a connector for a specific job, type @ in the chat and attach the app to the task.
Apps are account-wide
A connected app is available to every Bot you run. You do not set it up per Bot. A teammate's shared Bot asks before it uses your accounts.
Logins stay off the computer. The docs say OAuth tokens are held on Cursor's connector backend, and the Bot invokes tools without receiving them. Removing an app takes everything it added with it and signs you out, so a reinstall means signing in again. Apps your team requires cannot be removed.
📺 Watch: Grok Bot Just Took AI Agents to Another Level!
Team MCP policy and the Enterprise allowlist
On a team, Grok Bot does not have its own connector list. It inherits your team's Cursor connector policy, and that policy applies in full, allowing or blocking each connector.
- Where admins set it. Admins choose which servers members can use from the Team Marketplace on the Plugins & MCPs page of the Cursor dashboard, at cursor.com/dashboard/plugins. It is not on the Grok Bot page.
- Allowlist. The MCP allowlist is Enterprise only.
- Blocked apps. A blocked connector shows Disabled by team admin. Blocking an app does not block that service's website; closing that path takes Network Controls, which is Enterprise only.
- No pushing. Admins cannot push connectors to members as mandatory or default-on.
The changelog for version 1.0.1, dated 11 November 2026, adds a Team Bot detail. Custom MCP connectors on a Team Bot show as shared with everyone, without a Share my account option. For more on shared Bots, see the Grok Bot Teams guide.
If a member sees Disabled by team admin, the docs list the fix. Enable the server in Teams Marketplace, add its server URL to the MCP allowlist if you use one, and have the member restart the app. If a permitted app still fails with a vendor-side permission error, check the provider's rules. Some vendors limit their MCP endpoints to their own administrators.
The Apply to MCP servers switch
This is the setting most teams miss. The network policy controls where team computers send traffic. Remote MCP servers are different: Bots reach them from Cursor's servers, not from the cloud computer. So an allowlist network mode does not cover them on its own.
To hold remote MCP servers to the same list, an admin turns on Apply to MCP servers. The docs place it in Grok Bot Network Access, below Allowed destinations and above Lock for all groups. It only appears while Default, plus the allowlist or Allowlist only is selected.
- Off is the default for every team. Bots can connect to any MCP server the connector policy permits, whatever the network policy says.
- On means a remote MCP server must also match an entry in Allowed destinations. A server that does not match is refused when a Bot tries to use it, and the member sees which destination to ask an admin to add.
Command servers are unaffected, because the network policy already applies to them. Directory groups inherit the switch and cannot turn it off. Saving it does not restart computers; it applies to the next MCP connection, and the docs say a change can take up to about a minute. It is also separate from MCP Configuration in Team Settings, which governs Cursor in the editor.
Putting custom connectors to work
A good first connector is the tool your team already opens every day. Add it once, authenticate, and every Bot can use it. A Bot that takes notes in calls, covered in the Grok Bot meeting guide, can then file action items straight into that tool. You can even ask for it out loud through Grok Bot voice mode. For a look at MCP in search work, see GEO MCP.
For how AI models compare on real tasks, see the Goldie Bench. For how Julian connects agents across his business, read the Agent OS guide.
Want your stack mapped to the right connectors? Book a free AI strategy session. For weekly agent playbooks, join the AI Profit Boardroom.
FAQ
What is the difference between Remote HTTPS and Command?
Remote HTTPS connects to a server at a URL, with optional headers and OAuth. Command runs the server on the Bot's cloud computer from a command and its arguments.
Do I need to add a custom MCP connector to each Bot?
No. Apps are account-wide, so a connected app is available to every Bot you run.
Why does my connector say Disabled by team admin?
Your team's connector policy blocks that server. An admin enables it in Teams Marketplace, adds its URL to the MCP allowlist if the team uses one, and you restart the app.
Does an allowlist network policy block remote MCP servers?
Not by itself. An admin has to turn on Apply to MCP servers, which is off by default. If you want help planning that setup, book a free AI strategy session.
