Authentication

Altertable's MCP server uses streamable HTTP for transport and OAuth 2.0 for authentication and authorization.

Endpoint

The public MCP endpoint is:

https://mcp.altertable.ai/v1

This is the endpoint MCP clients connect to for initialization, tool discovery, and tool execution. For a higher-level setup guide, see Connecting Clients.

Transport Model

Altertable mounts its MCP server over HTTP using the streamable HTTP transport.

In practice this means:

• MCP clients connect to a hosted URL instead of launching a local subprocess
• initialization happens over HTTP
• subsequent MCP method calls continue over the same hosted server interface
• bearer tokens are used for authenticated tool calls

The initial MCP handshake can happen before a token is present. Authenticated operations, such as tool listing and tool execution, require OAuth-backed bearer tokens.

OAuth Discovery

Altertable exposes OAuth metadata so compatible clients can discover the authorization flow automatically.

The implementation supports the common MCP authorization patterns:

• authorization server discovery
• protected resource metadata
• dynamic client registration

For most users, this discovery is automatic. You usually do not need to paste extra OAuth URLs into your client.

When a client attempts an authenticated MCP method without a valid token, Altertable may respond with a standard WWW-Authenticate: Bearer ... challenge that points the client toward the protected resource metadata. Clients can then continue discovery from the challenge or from the well-known metadata endpoints below.

Discovery Endpoints

In production, the relevant discovery endpoints are:

Authorization Flow

The connection flow is:

1. The client connects to https://mcp.altertable.ai/v1
2. The client performs MCP initialization without needing a token first
3. Altertable requires OAuth for authenticated methods
4. The client discovers Altertable's OAuth metadata, either from the auth challenge or from the well-known metadata endpoints
5. The user signs in to Altertable in the browser
6. The user selects the organization and environment to authorize
7. Altertable issues a bearer token scoped to that environment
8. The client uses that token for subsequent MCP requests

Environment-Scoped Access

Access is not granted globally across an account.

During authorization, the user explicitly chooses an environment. That environment is then attached to the MCP session and used by MCP tools as their execution context.

That is why an agent can answer questions like:

• which organization this session belongs to
• which environment it's using
• which connections, events, models, and saved assets are available in that environment

Those saved assets include insights, dashboards, and memories.

Read and Write Capabilities

Altertable's MCP server supports both read and write operations.

Examples of read-oriented capabilities:

• listing connections and semantic models
• querying the lakehouse
• validating and explaining SQL
• viewing insights, dashboards, discoveries, and documentation

Examples of write-oriented capabilities:

• creating insights
• creating memories
• creating notifications

At the OAuth layer, Altertable advertises read and write scopes.

Altertable's authorization server metadata is intentionally shaped around a modern hosted OAuth flow:

• issuer is the Altertable app URL
• response_types_supported advertises code
• grant_types_supported advertises authorization_code and client_credentials
• code_challenge_methods_supported advertises S256

API Keys vs OAuth

For MCP usage, users should think in terms of OAuth authorization, not manual API key provisioning.

You do not normally need to create a separate MCP API key by hand. The MCP client can:

• discover Altertable's OAuth configuration
• register itself dynamically when needed
• redirect the user through authorization
• obtain the token it needs for MCP calls

Related Reading

• Connecting Clients: User-facing setup guide
• AI Agents: Understand the agent model behind MCP sessions
• Analytical Database: Learn more about the data layer queried by MCP tools
• MCP Official Documentation
• MCP Specification