Dovetail MCP server

Overview

The Dovetail MCP server enables AI models to securely access and search your Dovetail workspace using the Model Context Protocol.

Supported tools

Dovetail's MCP server can be used in different ways depending on your AI tool.

First-party integrations

These tools have built-in Dovetail integrations available through their app stores or marketplaces — no manual configuration needed:

ChatGPT
Claude
Figma
Copilot

Hosted endpoint (custom configuration)

Any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP transport and custom authentication headers can connect to the hosted Dovetail MCP endpoint (https://dovetail.com/api/mcp) using API token authentication. This includes tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and many others.

Note: The hosted endpoint does not support OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) or Client-Initiated Metadata Discovery (CIMD), and Dovetail does not expose a clientId or clientSecret for third-party tools. Your MCP client must support setting a custom Authorization header to pass a Dovetail API token.

See client configuration examples below for setup instructions.

Self-hosted server (STDIO transport)

For tools that only support the STDIO transport (e.g., Claude Desktop), you can run the Dovetail MCP server locally. See Self-hosted MCP server for setup instructions.

Quick start

If your tool supports Streamable HTTP transport, connect directly to Dovetail's hosted endpoint:

https://dovetail.com/api/mcp

This endpoint supports the MCP Streamable HTTP transport and handles authentication via OAuth 2.1 or API tokens.

Authentication

OAuth authentication

MCP clients that support OAuth can connect to the hosted endpoint and authenticate through your browser — no tokens to manage.

Add a new MCP server in your client with the URL https://dovetail.com/api/mcp
When prompted, sign in to Dovetail in your browser
Authorize the MCP client to access your workspace

The endpoint publishes OAuth Protected Resource Metadata at https://dovetail.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/mcp, which compatible clients use to discover the authorization flow automatically.

Note: The hosted endpoint does not support OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) or Client-Initiated Metadata Discovery (CIMD). If your MCP client requires DCR or CIMD for OAuth, you can use API token authentication instead.

API token authentication

For clients that support Bearer token authentication, or when using the self-hosted server, you can authenticate with a Dovetail API token.

Generate an API token in Dovetail (see Authorization)
Pass it as a Bearer token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>

Workspace, project and folder tools

Tool	Description
`search_workspace`	Search across all content in the workspace
`get_dovetail_projects`	List all projects in your workspace
`get_project`	Get a single project by its ID
`create_project`	Create a new project
`list_project_templates`	List reusable project templates
`list_folders`	List folders in the workspace hierarchy
`get_folder`	Get a single folder by its ID
`get_folder_contents`	List everything directly inside a folder
`create_folder`	Create a new folder

Data, doc and highlight tools

Tool	Description
`list_project_data`	List out all data entries in a project
`get_project_data`	Get a specific data entry by ID
`get_data_content`	Get a single data entry's content in markdown format
`create_data`	Create a new data entry in a project
`get_project_highlights`	Get highlights for a specific project
`get_highlight`	Get a single highlight by ID
`create_transcript_highlight`	Create a highlight on an audio/video transcript
`list_docs`	List all docs in a workspace
`get_doc`	Get a doc's metadata by ID
`get_doc_content`	Get a single doc's content in markdown format
`create_doc`	Create a new doc
`list_doc_comments`	List all comments on a doc
`get_doc_comment`	Get a single comment by ID
`create_comment`	Post a comment on a doc

Channels tools

Tool	Description
`list_channels`	List all channels in a workspace
`get_channel`	Get a channel by ID
`list_channel_data`	List the raw data points flowing into a channel
`get_channel_datum`	Get a single channel data point
`list_channel_themes`	List a channel's themes
`create_channel_datum`	Send a new data point to a channel

People tools

Tool	Description
`list_users`	List workspace members
`get_user`	Get a single workspace member
`list_contacts`	List out contacts in this workspace
`get_contact`	Get a single contact by their ID

Tag, field & file tools

Tool	Description
`list_tags`	List out tags scoped to a project
`get_tag`	Get a single tag by ID
`create_tag`	Create a new tag within a project
`apply_tags`	Apply one or more existing tags to a highlight
`list_fields`	List custom fields defined in a project
`get_field`	Get a single field definition by its ID
`get_file`	Get the metadata for a file attachment by ID
`download_file`	Generate a short-lived presigned download URL for a file
`upload_file`	Initiate a single-PUT upload of a file's bytes (up to 5 GB)
`complete_file_upload`	Finalize an upload after its bytes have been PUT
`import_file_to_data`	Create a new data entry by importing a file (from a URL or an uploaded file)
`import_file_to_doc`	Create a new doc by importing a file (from a URL or an uploaded file)

Client configuration examples

Cursor

Navigate to Settings → Tools & MCP → Add Custom MCP and add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dovetail-mcp": {
      "url": "https://dovetail.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace <YOUR_TOKEN> with your Dovetail API token (see Authorization).

Microsoft Copilot Studio

In the MCP onboarding wizard, configure:

Server URL: https://dovetail.com/api/mcp
Authentication: API key
Type: Header
Header name: Authorization
API key value: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>

Replace <YOUR_TOKEN> with your Dovetail API token (see Authorization).

Testing with curl

You can test the endpoint directly:

curl -X POST https://dovetail.com/api/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "tools/list",
    "params": {}
  }'

Self-hosted server

If your MCP client only supports STDIO transport (e.g., Claude Desktop), you can run the Dovetail MCP server locally with an API token. See Self-hosted MCP server for setup instructions.

Bring customer intelligence to your users

If you're interested in partnering with Dovetail to bring it into your app or service, you can build a custom integration using our MCP server.

For partnership inquiries or help getting started with a new connector, reach out to us at [email protected].