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  • Getting Started
    • Introduction
    • Authentication
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    • Working with tools
    • Runtime tools
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    • Importing products
  • Integrations
    • MCP servers
    • Runtype MCP server
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On this page
  • How it differs from the other MCP features
  • Two server flavors
  • Recommended call sequence
  • Discovering tools with list_tools
  • Parameters
  • Deeper catalogs
  • Executing platform tools with execute_tool
  • Deploying sandboxes
  • Running flows with dispatch
  • Next steps
Integrations

Runtype MCP server

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Runtype hosts an MCP server that lets an AI client — Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, or any MCP-compatible app — build and operate your Runtype account through tools. From the client you can create products, design and run flows, configure surfaces, embed Persona chat widgets, and manage agents, records, logs, and runtime tools. This is the opposite direction from connecting Runtype to external MCP servers: here, an AI client connects to Runtype.

How it differs from the other MCP features

Runtype touches MCP in three distinct ways. Don’t confuse them — each is a different server in a different direction.

FeatureDirectionWhat it is
Runtype MCP server (this page)Client → RuntypeA hosted server your AI client connects to in order to build and manage Runtype resources
MCP serversRuntype → externalConnect Runtype to external MCP servers so flows can call their tools (mcp:server:tool IDs)
Connecting to MCP clientsClient → your productExpose your own Runtype product as an MCP Surface for end users to call

Two server flavors

Runtype offers two MCP servers over the same account. Pick the one that matches how your client discovers and runs tools.

  • Standard MCP server — one tool per operation (create_flow, list_records, execute_tool, and so on). Best for clients that browse a flat tool list and call tools by name.
  • Code Mode MCP server — a search / execute pair that runs JavaScript against the Runtype API. Best for clients that prefer to write code against a discovered API surface rather than call many individual tools.

Both servers transmit a set of instructions to the client on connection that describe the recommended call sequence below.

Recommended call sequence

Both servers expose helper tools that return platform rules and reference material. Follow this order so the client builds against accurate schemas instead of guessing.

  1. Call get_build_instructions before any create_* mutation. It accepts a tasks value of build-product, generate-flow, or explain-capabilities and returns the platform rules, schemas, step types, and variable-system guidance for that task.
  2. Use get_platform_documentation for deterministic lookups and search_documentation for prose questions. get_platform_documentation serves exact schema, type-definition, tool-catalog, embed, SDK, and dashboard-link references on demand. search_documentation runs a semantic search over the published docs corpus and returns a synthesized answer with citations — reach for it for “how do I…” and “what is…” questions, and for get_platform_documentation when you need an exact contract.
  3. Discover tools with list_tools, then run them with execute_tool.

On the Code Mode server, the equivalent of step 3 is to call search to list API methods grouped by category, drill into a method for its signature, then call execute. Still call get_build_instructions before building or designing anything.

Discovering tools with list_tools

list_tools returns your user-defined tools by default, plus a builtinToolsAvailable summary that groups the 100+ built-in platform tools by category. This summary lets a client see what’s available without pulling every built-in at once.

  • Small categories are inlined with full id, name, and description: data_management, file_operations, image_generation, knowledge_retrieval, web_scraping, and web_search. Record CRUD, asset storage, image generation, and web search are immediately visible.
  • Larger categories stay collapsed with a count and a drill-down hint: commerce and third_party_api. For third_party_api, the top vendors are surfaced in the summary.

Every tool returned — user or built-in — carries a source field of "user" or "builtin". Pass the id value to execute_tool verbatim.

Parameters

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
source"user" | "builtin" | "all""user"Which catalog to return
categorystring—Filter built-ins to a single category
fullbooleanfalseReturn every built-in at once (large response — use sparingly)
include_schemabooleanfalseInline each tool’s parametersSchema so execute_tool needs no separate lookup

Deeper catalogs

The builtinToolsAvailable summary also carries a seeAlso array of resource URIs. Fetch any of these with resources/read for fuller documentation than the inline summary provides.

Resource URIContents
runtype://catalog/builtin-toolsFull built-in tool catalog
runtype://catalog/orthogonal-toolsOrthogonal vendor API tools
runtype://catalog/ucp-commerceCommerce tools
runtype://catalog/provider-native-searchProvider-native search tools

Executing platform tools with execute_tool

execute_tool runs both your user tools and the built-in platform tools. For platform tools, pass the id exactly as it appears in list_tools — the server dispatches it through the built-in tool executor and returns the same response shape as a user tool execution.

Platform tool IDs come in two forms:

  • builtin:<name> — for example builtin:firecrawl, builtin:dalle, builtin:exa
  • platform:orthogonal:<vendor>:<tool> — for example platform:orthogonal:apollo:people_match

Call list_tools with include_schema: true to inline each tool’s parametersSchema. The client then knows the expected arguments for execute_tool without a second round trip.

Deploying sandboxes

Two tools manage the lifecycle of Runtype Sandbox containers, so a client can deploy generated code and get a live preview URL:

ToolWhat it does
deploy_sandboxDeploys code to a Runtype Sandbox container and returns { sandboxId, previewUrl }
destroy_sandboxTears down a sandbox by its sandboxId

Deploy returns a previewUrl you can open immediately to see the running result. Always call destroy_sandbox when you’re done to release the container.

Running flows with dispatch

When you run a flow through the MCP server with dispatch, debug mode is on by default, so the response includes each step’s result instead of only a final flow_complete summary. This lets the client verify exactly what the flow ran. To stream events as they happen, set streamResponse (camelCase) on the request.

Next steps

  • MCP servers — connect Runtype to external MCP servers as flow tools
  • Connecting to MCP clients — expose your own product as an MCP Surface
  • Working with tools — full tools overview across all tool types