> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.budecosystem.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to MCP Foundry

> Connect, govern, and serve MCP tools for Bud agents

## Overview

MCP Foundry is Bud's control plane for Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools. It registers MCP gateways, discovers the tools they expose, stores connection and authentication metadata, and publishes selected tools through MCP servers for agent use.

Bud uses MCP Foundry behind the **Connectors** experience. Configure a connector once, control its visibility, and attach only the required tools to an agent or workflow.

## Core capabilities

* **Gateway registry** — register remote MCP endpoints and browse available connectors.
* **Tool discovery** — synchronize the tools advertised by a gateway and inspect their schemas.
* **Authentication management** — configure gateway credentials without exposing secret values to agent users.
* **Virtual MCP servers** — group selected tools into an MCP endpoint for a specific agent or use case.
* **Access control** — apply user, project, and organization visibility controls to connections and tools.

## Architecture

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  A[Bud Admin] --> B[Bud API]
  B --> C[MCP Foundry]
  C --> D[MCP gateway]
  C --> E[Virtual MCP server]
  E --> F[Bud agent]
```

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick start" icon="play" href="/mcp-foundry/quickstart">
    Register a gateway and make its tools available.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Concepts" icon="book" href="/mcp-foundry/mcp-foundry-concepts">
    Learn how gateways, tools, and virtual servers work together.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>