Skip to main content

Client configuration

ToolHive automatically configures supported AI clients to work with MCP servers. This guide shows you how to set up and manage client configurations.

Understanding client configuration​

Before an AI application can use ToolHive MCP servers, it needs to know where to find them. You can configure clients in two ways:

  1. Connect a supported client: Connect your client with ToolHive so it automatically manages and updates the client's configuration as you start, stop, and remove MCP servers.
  2. Manual configuration: For clients that ToolHive doesn't directly support, manually configure them to connect to ToolHive-managed MCP servers using the SSE or Streamable HTTP protocol.

For a complete list of supported clients and compatibility details, see the Client compatibility reference.

Manage clients​

ToolHive automatically discovers supported AI clients installed on your system. To choose which clients ToolHive configures, open the MCP Servers page and click Manage Clients. This opens a dialog that lists detected clients with on/off toggles. Discovery is dynamic: if you install a new client, ToolHive updates the list.

Connect a client​

To connect a client to ToolHive:

  1. Go to MCP Servers and click Manage Clients.
  2. Turn on the toggle for the client you want to connect.
  3. Click Save to apply your changes.

When you connect a client and save, ToolHive configures it to use your running MCP servers. Any new servers you start are also added automatically. When you stop or remove an MCP server, ToolHive updates the client's configuration to remove the server.

Disconnect a client​

To disconnect, open Manage Clients, turn off the client's toggle, then click Save. ToolHive removes the MCP server configurations from that client. The client can no longer use ToolHive-managed MCP servers.

Save your changes​

Changes you make in Manage Clients are not applied until you click Save. If you close the dialog or click Cancel without saving, your toggle changes are discarded.

Why don't I see my client?​

If you don't see your client in Manage Clients, ToolHive might not support it, or its configuration file might not be in a location ToolHive recognizes.

For a list of supported clients and how ToolHive detects them, see the client compatibility reference.

Why do I still see a client I uninstalled?​

Many clients leave behind configuration files even after you uninstall them. ToolHive detects these files and continues to show the client in the Manage Clients dialog. If you want to remove the client from ToolHive, delete its configuration files manually.

Manual client configuration​

For clients that ToolHive doesn't support directly, you can still configure them to connect to ToolHive-managed MCP servers using the SSE (Server-Sent Events) or Streamable HTTP protocol.

To do this, you need the URL of the MCP server you want to connect to. You can get this URL from the MCP Servers page in ToolHive. Click the menu (︙) on the MCP server card to copy the URL.

You can then configure your client to use this URL. The exact steps depend on your client or library, so refer to its documentation for details. See the client configuration reference for some common examples.