Connect services and MCP servers

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A connector gives Bearly another system’s own tools inside a chat — finding a workspace page, reading an issue, checking a project record. You choose what to add, which conversations can use it, and, for a server you add yourself, how Bearly reaches it.

Installed, connected, and active

A connector has three states, and they are not the same thing:

Installed — the connector is in your list in Connectors. It is not authorized or checked yet.
Connected — Bearly reached it successfully and a green dot appears beside the name. For a server you added yourself, Bearly also shows how many tools it found.
Active — you turned it on for one conversation.

A connected connector does nothing in a chat until you turn it on there.

Add a service from the list

Open your account menu in the sidebar footer and choose App Settings, then select Connectors.
Under Available, find a service and select Add. It joins your list but is not authorized yet.
Select Connect.
Complete the service’s sign-in and authorization page in the browser. Read the requested permissions before approving them.
Return to Bearly. A green dot appears beside the service.

Authorization belongs to the current browser or desktop profile. On another device, or after signing out of Bearly, connect the service again there.

Add your own MCP server

Open App Settings → Connectors and select Add custom MCP server. Choose HTTPS, or choose npm package in the desktop app, give the server a Name, then fill in the rest.

Your own servers appear in the same list as the built-in services and work the same way in chats and Routines.

If Add custom MCP server is missing but Connectors is available, your team policy does not allow personal MCP servers. Built-in services and servers provided by your team remain available.

An HTTPS server

Enter the Server URL — the HTTPS address of a Streamable HTTP MCP server — then choose an Authentication option:

OAuth (automatic) for a server that supports MCP sign-in. Bearly opens your browser to approve access. Leave OAuth scopes blank to use the server’s defaults, or enter the scopes the server documents.
Bearer token for a server that expects a token. Give the value a local secret name and enter the token.
Custom headers for a server that expects an API key or another named header. Enter the header name, a local secret name, and the value.
No authentication for a public server.

Bearly attaches these headers only to requests to the server address you entered.

An npm package

Enter the package name under npm package, optionally with a version or tag, such as @scope/mcp-server@latest. Add Arguments one per line if the package needs them, and select Add variable for each environment variable it expects.

This option appears only in the Bearly desktop app. Bearly runs the package with a runtime it installs and manages, so you do not need Node or npm on your computer. The first check can take a minute while it prepares. The package then runs locally, under your user account.

Finish and check

Select Add and check. Bearly saves any values you entered, contacts the server, and shows the number of tools it found. If it cannot connect, the reason appears in red under the row — fix it and select Connect to try again.

Where authentication values are kept

Values for an HTTPS server are stored in the current Bearly browser or desktop profile, separately from desktop process environment variables. They are attached only to requests for the server address you entered. Those requests pass through Bearly’s authenticated HTTPS proxy so servers that do not allow browser CORS requests still work.

Values for an npm package are stored in this device’s environment variables at App Settings → Runtime. The same variables are available to other local features on this device, such as skills and local commands.

Change an HTTPS value by editing that connector. Change an npm value in the connector or under Runtime → Environment variables.

Use an MCP server provided by your team

A team admin can add HTTPS or npm MCP servers to a policy. When that policy applies to you, each server appears automatically in App Settings → Connectors with Managed by your team policy under its name. You cannot change its address, package, arguments, authentication method, or required variable names.

Authentication is still yours:

For OAuth, select Connect and approve access with your own account.
For a bearer token or custom header, select the pencil beside the server and enter your value. The value stays in this browser or desktop profile.
For an npm server, open the Bearly desktop app and enter the required environment values. The package cannot run in a browser.

If your assigned policy changes or an admin removes the server, Bearly removes that managed server from your available Connectors. It does not remove a server you added personally.

Turn a connector on for one chat

Open the conversation and select Connectors in the context strip beside the message box.
Select a connected service. Its row changes from Off to Active, and the chip shows the service name or the number of active connectors.

Ask Bearly for a specific result, including any boundary that matters.

Using the connected project service, find open issues assigned to me that changed this week. Summarize them; do not edit anything.

Open Connectors again and select the service to turn it Off for that chat.

A service marked Connect in this menu can be connected from here; Bearly makes it active in that conversation once the connection succeeds. A row marked Retry failed the last time it was checked. Manage connectors… at the bottom opens settings.

The exact abilities come from the connected service and your account permissions there. If your account cannot see or change something, Bearly cannot bypass that restriction.

Use a connector in a Routine

In the routine editor, select Plugin, then pick the connector under Connectors. Its chip has a Tools setting: All, or Read-only to keep the run to tools that only look things up.

Routines run on the device where you set them up, using that device’s connections. If a selected connector is not connected there, the run says so rather than failing quietly. See Run a prompt on a schedule.

Edit, disconnect, or remove

Open App Settings → Connectors:

Select the pencil Edit icon beside a server you added to change its settings. Saving re-checks the server.
For a server marked Managed by your team policy, select the pencil to add or replace your local authentication values. Its configuration and removal are controlled by your team admin.
Select Disconnect to drop the current authorization or connection while keeping the connector installed. Select Connect when you want it back.
Select the Remove X to take it out of your list. For a local package server, this also stops it.

Disconnecting or removing a connector in Bearly does not delete anything in the outside service. To also revoke Bearly’s access at the source, use that service’s connected-app or security settings.

Privacy and trust

Anything a connector returns becomes part of the task and may be sent to the AI model producing the answer. Apply the same care you would use when pasting material from that service into a chat.

Servers you add personally stay in the browser or desktop profile where you added them. Their address, package, variable names, and values are not copied to your other devices or profiles, so set the server up again anywhere else you want it.

For a server provided by your team, the policy copies the server definition and required secret or environment variable names to members. It never includes the corresponding token, header, OAuth authorization, or environment value. Enter those values separately on each browser or desktop profile where you use the server.

If a connector does not work

What you see	What to do
Connectors is missing	Open Bearly in a desktop browser or the desktop app. If you are already on desktop, check whether your managed-team policy permits connectors.
Add custom MCP server is missing	Your team policy allows Connectors but not personal MCP servers. Use a built-in or team-provided server, or ask your team admin to change the policy.
A server says Managed by your team policy	Select the pencil to enter your own authentication values. Ask your team admin to change its address, package, arguments, or required variable names.
Authorization closes or is cancelled	Return to App Settings → Connectors and select Connect again. Complete the entire browser flow with the intended account.
A red dot or connection error appears	Read the message under the row, select Connect to retry, and reauthorize if the earlier permission expired or was revoked.
`Set NAME in Desktop → Runtime.`	The connector refers to an environment variable that no longer exists. Add it under App Settings → Runtime, or edit the connector to point at a variable you have.
`Edit this connector and enter a value for NAME.`	An HTTPS server is missing a token or header value. Select the pencil beside it and enter the value again.
A server you added will not connect	Confirm the address is a public HTTPS MCP endpoint, or that the package name exists in the npm registry. Check that the token or key is current, then select Connect again.
A service is connected but Bearly does not use it	Open the chat’s Connectors menu and confirm the service says Active, then name the service in the request.
Bearly cannot find a record you can see	Confirm you authorized the correct account or workspace and that it has access to the record.
A tool fails partway through a task	Ask Bearly what completed, verify the outside service directly, and retry only the failed step. Do not assume a write was rolled back.
A routine reports a connector is not connected	Open Connectors on the device that runs the routine and connect it there.