Glean MCP Integration

Glean’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI models to securely access and search your organization’s knowledge. This integration allows you to use Glean’s powerful search and chat capabilities in MCP-compatible tools and applications.

This documentation is for the STDIO (local) MCP server implementation. For the Remote MCP server implementation, please reach out to your Glean account team.

MCP Server

@gleanwork/local-mcp-server

Official STDIO (local) MCP server implementation for Glean’s search and chat capabilities

Features

Enterprise Search: Access Glean’s powerful content search capabilities
Chat Interface: Interact with Glean’s AI assistant
MCP Compliant: Implements the Model Context Protocol specification

Available Tools

The Glean MCP server provides the following tools:

`company_search`

Search Glean’s content index using the Glean Search API. This tool allows you to query Glean’s content index with various filtering and configuration options.

`chat`

Interact with Glean’s AI assistant using the Glean Chat API. This tool allows you to have conversational interactions with Glean’s AI, including support for message history, citations, and various configuration options.

`people_profile_search`

Search Glean’s People directory to find employee information.

`read_documents`

Read documents from Glean by providing document IDs or URLs. This tool allows you to retrieve the full content of specific documents for detailed analysis or reference.

Configuration

Authentication

The local MCP server can authenticate you in one of two ways:

Using an OAuth token via device flow or
Using a Glean Client API token

We recommend using OAuth whenever possible, for a better user experience and obviating the need to manage token issuance.

See here for instructions your Glean administrator can follow to setup OAuth device flow for Glean’s MCP servers.

Currently, our MCP implementation uses the OAuth device flow or API tokens for authentication. While the MCP specification includes optional authorization mechanisms we’re using a simpler approach for now. Once the OAuth specification is widely adopted in the MCP ecosystem, we plan to implement a fully spec-compliant OAuth-based authentication for enhanced security and user management.

Using OAuth

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See here for instructions.

Then follow the instructions for your IDE integration or Application Integration. When you run the configure command you’ll be prompted to go through an OAuth device flow to grant access to your IDE or Application to communicate with Glean on your behalf.

Using Client API Tokens

API Tokens

To use API tokens you’ll need a user-scoped API token. API Tokens require the following scopes: chat, search, documents. You should speak to your Glean administrator to provision these tokens.

IDE Integrations

Cursor

Configure Cursor

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Cursor

Run the following command to configure Cursor to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Cursor’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client cursor --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Since MCP does not mandate a specific tool discovery interface, you may need to explicitly prompt Cursor’s AI to use Glean’s tools. Try prefixing your questions with phrases like “Using Glean, …” or “Search in Glean for …” to help the AI understand which tool to use.

Open a new chat in Cursor
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Cursor can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Cursor

Run the following command to configure Cursor to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Cursor’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client cursor --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Cursor
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Cursor can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Cursor

Run the following command to configure Cursor to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Cursor’s settings.

Using explicit instance and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client cursor --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token>

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client cursor --env <path-to-env-file>

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Cursor
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Cursor can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Cursor

Click “Cursor” in the menu bar
Select “Settings”
Click “Cursor Settings”
Navigate to the “MCP” section
Click “Add new global MCP server”
Add the following configuration to the opened mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glean": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "<your-glean-instance-name>",
        "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "<your-glean-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Close the file to save the configuration

Your MCP server should now be listed and Enabled, as shown below.

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Cursor
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Cursor can access and search your Glean content

Windsurf

Configure Windsurf

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Windsurf

Run the following command to configure Windsurf to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Windsurf’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client windsurf --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Since MCP does not mandate a specific tool discovery interface, you may need to explicitly prompt Cascade to use Glean’s tools. Try prefixing your questions with phrases like “Using Glean, …” or “Search in Glean for …” to help Cascade understand which tool to use.

Open a new chat in Windsurf
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Windsurf can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Windsurf

Run the following command to configure Windsurf to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Windsurf’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client windsurf --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Windsurf
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Windsurf can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Windsurf

Run the following command to configure Windsurf to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Windsurf’s settings.

Using explicit domain and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client windsurf --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token>

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client windsurf --env <path-to-env-file>

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Windsurf
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Windsurf can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Windsurf

Click “Windsurf” in the menu bar
Select “Settings”
Click “Windsurf Settings”
Under “Cascade / Model Context Protocol (MCP) Servers”
Click “Add Server”
Click “Add Custom Server”
Add the following configuration to the opened mcp_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glean": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "<your-glean-instance-name>",
        "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "<your-glean-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Close the file to save the configuration

Your MCP server should now be listed in the servers section, as shown below.

Test the Integration

Open a new chat in Windsurf
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Windsurf can access and search your Glean content

VS Code

Configure VS Code

VS Code supports global MCP server configuration that applies across all your workspaces. This is ideal for personal use.

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

Using explicit instance and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token>

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --env <path-to-env-file>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Open VS Code Command Palette (⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
Run “MCP: Add Server” command
Select “User Settings” when prompted
Or manually edit your settings.json and add:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "glean": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
        "env": {
          "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "<your-glean-instance-name>",
          "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "<your-glean-api-token>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Use “MCP: List Servers” command to view and manage your configured servers

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

VS Code supports global MCP server configuration that applies across all your workspaces. This is ideal for personal use.

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Run the following command to configure VS Code to use Glean’s MCP server globally.

Using explicit instance and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token>

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --env <path-to-env-file>

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Open VS Code Command Palette (⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
Run “MCP: Add Server” command
Select “User Settings” when prompted
Or manually edit your settings.json and add:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "glean": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
        "env": {
          "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "<your-glean-instance-name>",
          "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "<your-glean-api-token>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Use “MCP: List Servers” command to view and manage your configured servers

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

VS Code supports workspace-specific MCP server configuration stored in .vscode/mcp.json. This is ideal for teams to share configurations.

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command from your workspace root to configure Glean’s MCP server for this workspace.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --workspace

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure VS Code

Run the following command from your workspace root to configure Glean’s MCP server for this workspace.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --workspace

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Run the following command from your workspace root to configure Glean’s MCP server for this workspace.

Using explicit instance and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token> --workspace

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client vscode --env <path-to-env-file> --workspace

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure VS Code

Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace root
Add the following configuration:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "glean-instance",
      "description": "Glean Instance"
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "glean-api-token",
      "description": "Glean API Token",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "glean": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "${input:glean-instance}",
        "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "${input:glean-api-token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file. VS Code will automatically detect the MCP server configuration
A “Start” button will appear in your .vscode/mcp.json file. Click it to start the MCP server
VS Code will prompt you for the instance name and API token when the server first starts

Test the Integration

VS Code has native MCP support with agent mode. You can access MCP tools through the Chat view in agent mode. Look for the Tools button to manage available MCP servers and tools.

Open the Chat view in VS Code (⌃⌘I / Ctrl+Alt+I)
Select Agent mode from the dropdown
Click the Tools button to view available MCP tools
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that VS Code can access and search your Glean content

Application Integrations

Claude Desktop

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Claude Desktop

Run the following command to configure Claude Desktop to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Claude Desktop’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client claude --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Since MCP does not mandate a specific tool discovery interface, you may need to explicitly prompt Claude to use Glean’s tools. Try prefixing your questions with phrases like “Using Glean, …” or “Search in Glean for …” to help Claude understand which tool to use.

Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Claude can access and search your Glean content

Prerequisites

First, make sure your administrator has enabled OAuth device flow for your Glean instance. See the Using OAuth section above for setup instructions.

Configure Claude Desktop

Run the following command to configure Claude Desktop to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Claude Desktop’s settings.

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client claude --instance <your-glean-instance-name>

Test the Integration

Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Claude can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Claude Desktop

Run the following command to configure Claude Desktop to use Glean’s MCP server. This will add a new MCP server to Claude Desktop’s settings.

Using explicit domain and token flags:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client claude --instance <your-glean-instance-name> --token <your-glean-api-token>

Using a .env file:

npx -y @gleanwork/configure-mcp-server --client claude --env <path-to-env-file>

Test the Integration

Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Claude can access and search your Glean content

Get Credentials

Ensure you have your Glean API credentials ready from the Configuration section above. You’ll need:

Your Glean instance name
A user-scoped API token

Configure Claude Desktop

Click “Claude” in the menu bar
Select “Settings…”
Click on “Developer”
Click “Edit Config” to open your claude_desktop_config.json file
Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glean": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gleanwork/local-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GLEAN_INSTANCE": "<your-glean-instance-name>",
        "GLEAN_API_TOKEN": "<your-glean-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save and close the file
Restart Claude Desktop

The config file is typically located at:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Your MCP server should now be listed, as shown below.

Test the Integration

Start a new conversation in Claude Desktop
Try a query like “Using Glean, what’s our company’s policy on remote work?”
Verify that Claude can access and search your Glean content

@gleanwork/local-mcp-server

Get Started

Indexing

Client

Web SDK

Actions

Tools

Feedback

Model Context Protocol

Glean MCP Integration

MCP Server

Features

Available Tools

`company_search`

`chat`

`people_profile_search`

`read_documents`

Configuration

Authentication

Using OAuth

Using Client API Tokens

API Tokens

IDE Integrations

Configure Cursor

Configure Windsurf

Configure VS Code

Application Integrations

Claude Desktop

Get Started

Indexing

Client

Web SDK

Actions

Tools

Feedback

​ Glean MCP Integration

​MCP Server

@gleanwork/local-mcp-server

​Features

​Available Tools

​company_search

​chat

​people_profile_search

​read_documents

​Configuration

​Authentication

​Using OAuth

​Using Client API Tokens

​API Tokens

​IDE Integrations

​Application Integrations

Glean MCP Integration

MCP Server

Features

Available Tools

`company_search`

`chat`

`people_profile_search`

`read_documents`

Configuration

Authentication

Using OAuth

Using Client API Tokens

API Tokens

IDE Integrations

Application Integrations