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Discovery

When you deploy an MCP tool to MATLAB Production Server, the framework registers it with the MPS discovery endpoint. Clients can query this endpoint to find available tools without knowing their exact URLs.

The Two-Step Discovery Process

Finding the tools deployed on an MPS instance requires two HTTP requests:

  1. GET /api/discovery — returns the names of all deployed archives
  2. GET /<archive>/signature — returns the tool signatures for a specific archive

Step 1: Find the Archives

GET http://localhost:9910/api/discovery

The response lists every deployed archive on the instance. Each archive entry includes a functions field showing the MCP handler entry point:

{
  "discoverySchemaVersion": "1.0.0",
  "archives": {
    "analysisTools": {
      "archiveSchemaVersion": "1.2.0",
      "archiveUuid": "analysisTools_5338a235-078d-4d43-9b66-b27ee2feeb64",
      "functions": {
        "prodserver.mcp.internal.mcpHandler": {
          "signatures": [
            {
              "help": "Model Context Protocol entry point enabling AI agents to invoke MCP tools.",
              "inputs": [
                {"name": "request", "mwtype": "struct", "mwsize": [],
                 "help": "MCP JSON-RPC request"}
              ],
              "outputs": [
                {"name": "response", "mwtype": "struct", "mwsize": [],
                 "help": "MCP JSON-RPC response"}
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "matlabRuntimeRelease": "R2026b",
      "matlabRuntimeVersion": "26.2.0"
    }
  }
}

The archive name (analysisTools) is the key you need for step 2. An archive hosts an MCP server if its functions include prodserver.mcp.internal.mcpHandler.

Step 2: Get the Tool Signatures

Use the archive name from step 1 to query the /signature endpoint:

GET http://localhost:9910/analysisTools/signature

This returns the MATLAB-level signatures of every tool in the archive — parameter names, types, sizes, and whether each is required or optional:

{
  "principalStress": {
    "function": "principalStress",
    "encoding": "JSON",
    "input": {
      "name": ["stressState", "component"],
      "type": ["double", "string"],
      "kind": ["Required", "Required"],
      "order": ["stressState", "component"],
      "validation": [
        {"size": "(1,3)", "type": "double", "fcn": []},
        {"size": "(1,1)", "type": "string", "fcn": []}
      ]
    },
    "output": {
      "name": "sigma",
      "type": "double",
      "kind": "Optional",
      "order": "sigma",
      "validation": [
        {"size": "(1,1)", "type": "double", "fcn": []}
      ]
    }
  }
}

For multi-tool archives, the response contains one entry per tool. The signatures contain MATLAB types, not JSON types.

Automatic Registration

Discovery is enabled by default. Every call to build embeds discovery metadata in the archive:

ctf = prodserver.mcp.build("principalStress", ...
    example=@() principalStress([120 -50 80], "max"), ...
    server="http://localhost:9910");

After deployment, the archive appears in the /api/discovery response and its tools are queryable via /signature. No additional configuration is needed.

To prevent an archive from appearing in the discovery endpoint, pass discovery=false:

ctf = prodserver.mcp.build("principalStress", ...
    example=@() principalStress([120 -50 80], "max"), ...
    discovery=false, ...
    server="http://localhost:9910");

The tool still functions normally — it responds to MCP requests at its endpoint. It does not appear in /api/discovery responses.

Querying from MATLAB

Use prodserver.mcp.list to query the list of MCP tools from within MATLAB. prodserver.mcp.list does not use the /api/discovery endpoint. It sends an MCP tools/list request to the server instead:

tools = prodserver.mcp.list("http://localhost:9910/analysisTools/mcp", "Tool")

The /api/discovery endpoint is meant for clients that cannot call tools/list.

Configuration Requirements

Discovery must be enabled on the MPS instance by adding --enable-discovery to main_config. If disabled, /api/discovery returns an empty response. The /signature endpoint operates independently and requires no additional configuration.

See Also

--- Copyright 2026 The MathWorks, Inc. ---