source-management

name	source-management
description	Manages connected MCP sources for enterprise search. Detects available sources, guides users to connect new ones, handles source priority ordering, and manages rate limiting awareness.
metadata	{"author":"anthropics"}

Source Management

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Knows what sources are available, helps connect new ones, and manages how sources are queried.

Checking Available Sources

Determine which MCP sources are connected by checking available tools. Each source corresponds to a set of MCP tools:

Source	Key capabilities
~~chat	Search messages, read channels and threads
~~email	Search messages, read individual emails
~~cloud storage	Search files, fetch document contents
~~project tracker	Search tasks, typeahead search
~~CRM	Query records (accounts, contacts, opportunities)
~~knowledge base	Semantic search, keyword search

If a tool prefix is available, the source is connected and searchable.

Guiding Users to Connect Sources

When a user searches but has few or no sources connected:

You currently have [N] source(s) connected: [list].

To expand your search, you can connect additional sources in your MCP settings:
- ~~chat — messages, threads, channels
- ~~email — emails, conversations, attachments
- ~~cloud storage — docs, sheets, slides
- ~~project tracker — tasks, projects, milestones
- ~~CRM — accounts, contacts, opportunities
- ~~knowledge base — wiki pages, knowledge base articles

The more sources you connect, the more complete your search results.

When a user asks about a specific tool that is not connected:

[Tool name] isn't currently connected. To add it:
1. Open your MCP settings
2. Add the [tool] MCP server configuration
3. Authenticate when prompted

Once connected, it will be automatically included in future searches.

Source Priority Ordering

Different query types benefit from searching certain sources first. Use these priorities to weight results, not to skip sources:

By Query Type

Decision queries ("What did we decide..."):

1. ~~chat (conversations where decisions happen)
2. ~~email (decision confirmations, announcements)
3. ~~cloud storage (meeting notes, decision logs)
4. Wiki (if decisions are documented)
5. Task tracker (if decisions are captured in tasks)

Status queries ("What's the status of..."):

1. Task tracker (~~project tracker — authoritative status)
2. ~~chat (real-time discussion)
3. ~~cloud storage (status docs, reports)
4. ~~email (status update emails)
5. Wiki (project pages)

Document queries ("Where's the doc for..."):

1. ~~cloud storage (primary doc storage)
2. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (knowledge base)
3. ~~email (docs shared via email)
4. ~~chat (docs shared in channels)
5. Task tracker (docs linked to tasks)

People queries ("Who works on..." / "Who knows about..."):

1. ~~chat (message authors, channel members)
2. Task tracker (task assignees)
3. ~~cloud storage (doc authors, collaborators)
4. ~~CRM (account owners, contacts)
5. ~~email (email participants)

Factual/Policy queries ("What's our policy on..."):

1. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (official documentation)
2. ~~cloud storage (policy docs, handbooks)
3. ~~email (policy announcements)
4. ~~chat (policy discussions)

Default Priority (General Queries)

When query type is unclear:

1. ~~chat (highest volume, most real-time)
2. ~~email (formal communications)
3. ~~cloud storage (documents and files)
4. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (structured knowledge)
5. Task tracker (work items)
6. CRM (customer data)

Rate Limiting Awareness

MCP sources may have rate limits. Handle them gracefully:

Detection

Rate limit responses typically appear as:

• HTTP 429 responses
• Error messages mentioning "rate limit", "too many requests", or "quota exceeded"
• Throttled or delayed responses

Handling

When a source is rate limited:

1. Do not retry immediately — respect the limit
2. Continue with other sources — do not block the entire search
3. Inform the user:

Note: [Source] is temporarily rate limited. Results below are from
[other sources]. You can retry in a few minutes to include [source].

4. For digests — if rate limited mid-scan, note which time range was covered before the limit hit

Prevention

• Avoid unnecessary API calls — check if the source is likely to have relevant results before querying
• Use targeted queries over broad scans when possible
• For digests, batch requests where the API supports it
• Cache awareness: if a search was just run, avoid re-running the same query immediately

Source Health

Track source availability during a session:

Source Status:
  ~~chat:        ✓ Available
  ~~email:        ✓ Available
  ~~cloud storage:  ✓ Available
  ~~project tracker:        ✗ Not connected
  ~~CRM:   ✗ Not connected
  ~~knowledge base:      ⚠ Rate limited (retry in 2 min)

When reporting search results, include which sources were searched so the user knows the scope of the answer.

Adding Custom Sources

The enterprise search plugin works with any MCP-connected source. As new MCP servers become available, they can be added to the .mcp.json configuration. The search and digest commands will automatically detect and include new sources based on available tools.

To add a new source:

1. Add the MCP server configuration to .mcp.json
2. Authenticate if required
3. The source will be included in subsequent searches automatically

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