# Connectors Overview

> Connect your agents and workflows to external services through MCP servers.

**URL:** https://inference.sh/docs/connectors/overview
**Last updated:** 2026-10-15

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Connect your agents and workflows to external services through MCP servers.

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## What Are Connectors?

Connectors are MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that expose tools from external services — Linear, Slack, Google, GitHub, and more. inference shell manages authentication and tool execution so your agents can use these services directly.

```
Your Agent
  ├── app tool (image generation)
  ├── call tool (REST API)
  └── connector tool (Linear: create issue)
        ↓
    inference shell handles auth + MCP protocol
        ↓
    Linear MCP Server
```

---

## Three Ways to Use Connectors

### 1. CLI — Call Tools Directly

Browse servers, connect, and call tools from your terminal (`belt` and `infsh` are the same CLI — see [CLI setup](/docs/extend/cli-setup#command-name)):


```bash
belt mcp list
belt mcp connect linear
belt mcp run linear:list_issues --input '{"project": "INF"}'
```

### 2. Agent Tools — Give Agents Access

Add connector tools to your agents. The agent decides when to use them:

```yaml
tools:
  - name: create_issue
    type: mcp
    description: Create a Linear issue
    mcp:
      server: "linear"
      tool_name: "create_issue"
```

### 3. MCP Server — Connect External Clients

Connect Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client to inference shell. Your connected services are available as proxy tools:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inference": {
      "url": "https://api.inference.sh/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer inf_your_key" }
    }
  }
}
```

---

## How Authentication Works

Each connector server declares its auth type:

| Auth Type | Flow |
|-----------|------|
| **OAuth** | Browser opens, you authorize, tokens stored securely |
| **API Key** | You provide a key, stored encrypted |
| **None** | No credentials needed |

Credentials are encrypted at rest and injected at runtime. Your agents never see raw tokens.

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## Categories

| Category | Examples |
|----------|----------|
| **Developer** | Linear, GitHub, GitLab |
| **Productivity** | Slack, Notion, Google Workspace |
| **Data** | PostgreSQL, Snowflake |
| **Communication** | Email, Discord |
| **AI** | Perplexity, Exa |

---

## Next

- [Browsing & Connecting](/docs/connectors/browsing) — discover and set up connectors
- [MCP Directory API](/docs/api/rest/mcp-servers) — list and lookup servers over REST
- [Using Tools](/docs/connectors/using-tools) — call tools from the CLI
- [Agent Tools](/docs/connectors/agent-tools) — add connectors to your agents
- [MCP Server](/docs/connectors/mcp-server) — use inference shell as an MCP server
- [Azure DevOps](/docs/connectors/azure-devops) — repos, wikis and work items through Microsoft Entra ID