LibreChat

Connect your Alation catalog to LibreChat using the Remote MCP server with OAuth authentication.

Prerequisites

Admin access to your LibreChat instance
Server Admin role on your Alation instance (to create the OAuth client)

Overview

Setting up the connection involves three steps:

Choose a server name and determine the redirect URI
Create an OAuth client in Alation using that redirect URI
Configure the MCP server in LibreChat (via the UI or YAML)

Step 1: Determine Your Redirect URI

Before creating the OAuth client in Alation, you need to know the redirect URI that LibreChat will use. This is based on the server name you choose — decide on it now, as it must stay consistent across both systems.

https://<your-librechat-domain>/api/mcp/<server-name>/oauth/callback

Placeholder	Description
`<your-librechat-domain>`	The domain where your LibreChat instance is hosted
`<server-name>`	The name for this MCP server (e.g., `alation-mcp-server`)

Example: If your LibreChat instance is at chat.example.com and you name the server alation-mcp-server:

https://chat.example.com/api/mcp/alation-mcp-server/oauth/callback

Step 2: Create an OAuth Client in Alation

Follow the User-Initiated OAuth Client guide to create an OAuth client in your Alation instance. Use the redirect URI from Step 1.

Securely store the Client ID and Client Secret — you’ll need them in the next step.

Step 3: Configure the MCP Server in LibreChat

You’ll need the following values. Replace the placeholders with your actual details.

Field	Value
Server Name	The name you chose in Step 1 (e.g., `alation-mcp-server`)
MCP Server URL	`https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/ai/mcp/`
Transport	`Streamable HTTPS`
Authorization URL	`https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/authorize/`
Token URL	`https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/token/`
Client ID	From Step 2
Client Secret	From Step 2
Redirect URI	From Step 1
Scope	Leave empty (`""`). If that doesn’t work, try `"openid"`

Choose one of the methods below:

Option A: Via the UI

Open MCP Settings

Navigate to the MCP Settings panel in the right sidebar and click the + button to add a new server. (Not seeing it? Check the LibreChat docs)
Configure the server

Fill in the Server Name, MCP Server URL, and Transport. Set Authentication to OAuth and click Create.
Enter OAuth credentials

You’ll be prompted to enter the OAuth details. Provide the Authorization URL, Token URL, Client ID, Client Secret, Redirect URI, and Scope.
Authenticate

The server appears with an amber key icon indicating authentication is required. Click the authenticate/connect button — a browser tab opens to your Alation login page. Sign in with your credentials. The tab closes automatically and LibreChat securely stores the tokens.

Option B: Via `librechat.yaml`

Add the following to the mcpServers section of your librechat.yaml:

mcpServers:
  alation-mcp-server:
    type: streamable-http
    url: "https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/ai/mcp/"
    initTimeout: 150000
    oauth:
      authorization_url: "https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/authorize/"
      token_url: "https://<your-alation-instance>.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/token/"
      client_id: "<client_id>"
      client_secret: "<client_secret>"
      redirect_uri: "https://<your-librechat-domain>/api/mcp/alation-mcp-server/oauth/callback"
      scope: ""

initTimeout is set to 150000 (150 seconds) to allow enough time for users to complete the OAuth flow.

After saving, restart LibreChat to initialize the connection. Each user will be prompted to authenticate the first time they use the server.

Verify Connection

Once authenticated, you should see the Alation MCP tools available in LibreChat. For a full list of available tools and what they do, see the Tools Reference.

Troubleshooting

Authentication failing? Double-check that the redirect URI in your Alation OAuth client matches the one in LibreChat exactly — including case, slashes, and the server name.
Connection timing out? Ensure initTimeout is set to at least 150000 (150 seconds).
YAML changes not taking effect? You must restart LibreChat after any changes to librechat.yaml.