Custom Tools

Build custom tools and publish them privately. Only you (or your organization) can see and install them.

What are MCP servers?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is how AI agents connect to external tools. An MCP server is a small program that gives the AI abilities like:

Reading/writing files
Querying databases
Calling APIs
Sending emails or Slack messages

ToolPlex comes with thousands of public MCP servers you can install. But you can also build your own for custom integrations - connecting to internal APIs, proprietary systems, or anything specific to your workflow.

Getting started

Use our example private tool as a template. It's a working MCP server you can clone and customize.

git clone https://github.com/toolplex/private-tool-example.git my-tool
cd my-tool

Setting up your tool

1. Get your scope ID

In ToolPlex Desktop, find your Scope ID:

Pro users: Click Account in the sidebar
Organizations: Go to the Teams panel

Your scope ID looks like tp-user-abc123def45 (personal) or tp-org-abc123def45 (organization).

2. Update the template

Replace <YOUR_SCOPE_ID> with your actual scope ID in:

package.json - the package name
README.md - installation instructions

For example, if your scope ID is tp-org-abc123def45:

{
  "name": "@tp-org-abc123def45/my-tool",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

3. Build your tool

Customize the code in src/ to do whatever you need. The example includes a simple calculator - replace it with your own logic.

Publishing

npm login --registry=https://registry.toolplex.ai

Username: Your scope ID (without the @)
Password: Your ToolPlex API key
Email: Your email

Publish your tool

npm publish --registry=https://registry.toolplex.ai

Your tool will appear in ToolPlex Desktop within about 30 minutes.

Publishing updates

When you make changes, increment the version in package.json and publish again:

npm version patch  # or minor, or major
npm publish --registry=https://registry.toolplex.ai

Unpublishing

To remove a tool from the registry:

npm unpublish @tp-org-abc123def45/my-tool --force --registry=https://registry.toolplex.ai

This removes the tool entirely. It will no longer appear in search results or be installable. Users who already have it installed will keep their local copy, but won't receive updates.

Warning: Unpublishing is permanent. If you want to publish the same package name again, you'll need to use a new version number.

Installing custom tools

In ToolPlex Desktop, go to the Servers panel
Click the Private tab
Find your tool and click Install

Same process as installing any public tool.

Who can see what

Personal scope (@tp-user-...): Only you
Organization scope (@tp-org-...): All members of your organization

Only organization admins/owners can publish to the org scope.

Requirements

Pro subscription required for personal publishing
Organizations can publish without Pro

Custom Tools

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