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Connected Services let RelayHub reach OUT to an external tool server and use its tools inside RelayHub. Once a service is connected, its tools become available to the AI in chat, to your agents, and to agent chains, right alongside RelayHub’s own tools. This is the mirror image of AI Assistant Connections: there, an outside assistant connects IN to RelayHub; here, RelayHub connects OUT to an outside tool server. Both sides use the same open standard, the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so any server that speaks MCP can be connected.
Connected Services are managed by administrators. You will find them under the platform navigation as Connected Services (admin only).

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When to use it

Connect a service when a third party publishes an MCP tool server you want your RelayHub AI to use, for example a vendor’s search API, a data provider, or your own internal tool server. After you connect it, you can just ask in chat and the AI will call the external tool for you, no extra steps.

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Setting one up

  1. Open Connected Services from the platform navigation.
  2. Click Add Service.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name: a label you will recognize (for example “RankPilot Tools”).
    • Server URL: the server’s MCP endpoint. It must be an https address.
    • Authentication: how RelayHub proves who it is to that server:
      • None: the server needs no credentials. Not sure? Pick this one. If the server requires a sign-in, RelayHub detects that and opens the sign-in window automatically when you connect.
      • API key (Bearer): paste the key the server’s owner gave you. RelayHub stores it encrypted and sends it as an Authorization: Bearer header. If the server wants a different header, such as X-API-Key, set the optional header name.
      • OAuth: sign-in based authentication. The first connect opens a popup where you sign in and approve access. RelayHub registers itself with the server automatically and stores the tokens encrypted.
  4. Click Add & Connect. RelayHub connects to the server, reads the list of tools it offers, and makes them available. You will see the tool count and can expand the row to view each tool.
Some providers restrict automatic registration to specific apps. In that case the connect fails with a clear message from the provider. Ask the provider to allow RelayHub, or ask them for an OAuth client ID and enter it in the connector’s settings. A client ID from the provider makes the sign-in work without automatic registration.

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Using the tools

Once a service shows Connected, its tools are live everywhere the AI runs: chat, agents, and agent chains. You do not select them manually. Just ask for what you want (“look up the AI visibility for acme.com”) and the AI decides when to call an external tool, the same way it decides to search your files or run a skill. Each external tool is named mcp_<service>_<tool> so it never clashes with a RelayHub tool or with another service’s tool. Skills can call these tools too. Add the tool’s name to the skill’s platform_tools list in the Skill Studio, and the skill can call the connected service during its run. Expand a service’s row on this screen to see the exact tool names. The call runs with the same organization isolation and audit trail as a call from chat.

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Managing a connection

On the Connected Services page you can:
  • Refresh: re-read the server’s tool list (use this after the server adds or removes tools).
  • Edit: change the name, address, or authentication of an existing connection. You can rotate the API key (leave the field blank to keep the stored one) or switch the authentication method. A method change clears the stored credential and asks you to reconnect, so an old secret is never reused the wrong way.
  • Test: check the connection without changing anything.
  • Disable / Enable: turn a service off without deleting it. A disabled service’s tools immediately stop being offered to the AI.
  • Remove: delete the connection and its stored credentials.

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Security and privacy

  • Credentials are encrypted. An API key or OAuth token is stored encrypted and is never shown back to you or written to logs.
  • Each connection is private to your organization. One organization can never see or use another organization’s connected services, credentials, or tools.
  • Only safe destinations are allowed. RelayHub refuses a server address that points at an internal or private network, so a connection can never be used to reach something it should not.
  • Every external tool call is audited. Administrators can review connected-service activity in the Audit Hub, the same as any other action.
  • Changing the address clears the key. If you repoint a service at a different host, RelayHub clears the stored credential so the old key is never sent to the new address. You reconnect deliberately.

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Limits

  • An https address is required; plain http and internal hosts are rejected.
  • There are per-organization caps on how many services you can connect and how many tools RelayHub ingests from any one server, to keep the AI fast.
  • If your administrator set an allowlist of permitted hosts, only those hosts can be connected.