MCP Server Registration

SDK 2.5.1

Use mcp_server_name in evaluate_action() to trigger Layer 13 governance enforcement at action submit time. See MCP Policies for enforcement behavior.

Field	Value
Document ID	ASCEND-MCP-003
Version	2026.04
Last Updated	April 2026
Author	Ascend Engineering Team
Publisher	OW-KAI Technologies Inc.
Classification	Enterprise Client Documentation
Compliance	SOC 2 CC6.1/CC6.2, PCI-DSS 7.1/8.3, HIPAA 164.312, NIST 800-53 AC-2/SI-4

Reading Time: 6 minutes | Skill Level: Intermediate

Overview

MCP servers must be registered with ASCEND before AI models can interact with them. Registration defines the server's capabilities, trust level, and governance policies.

warning

Unregistered MCP servers cannot process tool invocations through ASCEND. Complete server registration and policy configuration before connecting AI models to avoid blocked requests.

Register MCP Server

Basic Registration

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "server_id": "file-system-server",
    "name": "File System MCP Server",
    "description": "Provides file system access for AI models",
    "server_url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
    "server_type": "stdio",
    "trust_level": "restricted",
    "owner_email": "platform-team@company.com"
  }'

Full Registration

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "server_id": "database-server",
    "name": "Database Query Server",
    "description": "Provides read-only database access",
    "server_url": "http://db-mcp.internal:8080",
    "server_type": "http",
    "trust_level": "trusted",
    "tools": [
      {
        "name": "query_database",
        "description": "Execute read-only SQL queries",
        "parameters": {
          "query": {"type": "string", "required": true},
          "database": {"type": "string", "required": true}
        },
        "risk_level": "medium"
      },
      {
        "name": "list_tables",
        "description": "List available database tables",
        "parameters": {
          "database": {"type": "string", "required": true}
        },
        "risk_level": "low"
      }
    ],
    "allowed_agents": ["data-analyst-agent", "reporting-agent"],
    "rate_limit_per_minute": 100,
    "config": {
      "timeout_seconds": 30,
      "max_result_rows": 10000
    }
  }'

Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "server_id": "database-server",
    "registration_id": "reg_mcp_abc123",
    "status": "active",
    "trust_level": "trusted",
    "tools_registered": 2,
    "registered_at": "2025-12-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Server Types

Type	Description	Use Case
stdio	Standard I/O transport	Local servers
http	HTTP/HTTPS transport	Network servers
sse	Server-Sent Events	Streaming responses
websocket	WebSocket transport	Real-time bidirectional

Tool Registration

Define Tools

Tools define what operations the MCP server provides:

{
  "tools": [
    {
      "name": "read_file",
      "description": "Read contents of a file",
      "parameters": {
        "path": {
          "type": "string",
          "required": true,
          "description": "File path to read"
        },
        "encoding": {
          "type": "string",
          "required": false,
          "default": "utf-8"
        }
      },
      "risk_level": "low",
      "requires_approval": false
    },
    {
      "name": "write_file",
      "description": "Write contents to a file",
      "parameters": {
        "path": {
          "type": "string",
          "required": true
        },
        "content": {
          "type": "string",
          "required": true
        }
      },
      "risk_level": "high",
      "requires_approval": true,
      "approval_level": 2
    }
  ]
}

Update Tools

curl -X PUT "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "tools": [
      {
        "name": "delete_file",
        "description": "Delete a file",
        "parameters": {"path": {"type": "string", "required": true}},
        "risk_level": "critical",
        "requires_approval": true,
        "approval_level": 3
      }
    ]
  }'

Access Control

Configure Allowed Agents

curl -X PUT "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "allowed_agents": ["agent_001", "agent_002"],
    "denied_agents": ["untrusted_agent"],
    "require_agent_registration": true
  }'

IP Restrictions

curl -X PUT "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "ip_whitelist": ["10.0.0.0/8", "192.168.1.0/24"],
    "require_mtls": true,
    "allowed_origins": ["https://app.company.com"]
  }'

Server Status

Get Server Details

curl "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <jwt_token>"

Response:

{
  "server_id": "database-server",
  "name": "Database Query Server",
  "status": "active",
  "trust_level": "trusted",
  "health": {
    "status": "healthy",
    "last_check": "2025-12-15T10:29:00Z",
    "response_time_ms": 45
  },
  "statistics": {
    "total_requests_24h": 1500,
    "approved_24h": 1480,
    "denied_24h": 20,
    "avg_response_time_ms": 125
  },
  "tools": [
    {"name": "query_database", "calls_24h": 1200},
    {"name": "list_tables", "calls_24h": 300}
  ]
}

List All Servers

curl "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers?status=active&trust_level=trusted" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <jwt_token>"

Health Monitoring

Configure Health Check

curl -X PUT "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "enabled": true,
    "interval_seconds": 60,
    "timeout_seconds": 10,
    "unhealthy_threshold": 3,
    "healthy_threshold": 2,
    "endpoint": "/health"
  }'

Health Status Responses

Status	Description	Action
healthy	Server responding normally	None
degraded	Slow responses	Monitor closely
unhealthy	Failed health checks	Block requests
unknown	No recent checks	Trigger check

Server Lifecycle

Suspend Server

Temporarily disable a server:

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}/deactivate" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "reason": "Maintenance window",
    "resume_at": "2025-12-16T06:00:00Z"
  }'

Reactivate Server

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}/activate" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>"

Deregister Server

curl -X DELETE "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>"

Discovery

Auto-Discovery

Enable automatic discovery of MCP servers:

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/v1/discovery/scan/start" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "network_range": "10.0.0.0/24",
    "port_range": "3000-4000",
    "auto_register": false
  }'

Discovery Results

{
  "discovered": [
    {
      "address": "10.0.0.15:3001",
      "server_name": "filesystem-mcp",
      "tools": ["read_file", "write_file", "list_directory"],
      "status": "unregistered"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration Templates

Apply Template

curl -X POST "https://pilot.owkai.app/api/registry/mcp-servers/{server_name}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <admin_jwt>" \
  -d '{
    "template": "read-only-database",
    "overrides": {
      "rate_limit_per_minute": 200
    }
  }'

Available Templates

Template	Description
read-only-database	DB server with query-only access
file-system-restricted	Limited file system access
api-gateway	External API with rate limiting
sandbox-server	Maximum restrictions for testing

Best Practices

1. Principle of Least Privilege

Only register tools that are actually needed:

{
  "tools": [
    {"name": "read_file", "risk_level": "low"},
    // Only add write_file if actually required
  ]
}

2. Use Meaningful IDs

# Good
"server_id": "prod-database-readonly"

# Bad
"server_id": "server1"

3. Set Appropriate Trust Levels

• Start with sandbox for new servers
• Upgrade to restricted after testing
• Reserve trusted for vetted internal servers

4. Monitor Usage

Regularly review server statistics and adjust policies based on actual usage patterns.

Next Steps

• MCP Policies - Configure governance policies
• MCP Overview - MCP governance basics
• Trust Levels - Understanding trust levels

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Document Version: 2026.04 | Last Updated: April 2026