working-with-arcade-gateways

name

working-with-arcade-gateways

description

Show, inspect, and switch the user's Arcade gateways — curated sets of apps and tools (a team's support toolset, an engineering toolset, a full catalog) that determine which tools are available. Use when the user asks what gateways they have, what apps or tools a gateway includes, which gateway is active, or wants to switch gateways for this app or everywhere. Not for running tasks — selection is otherwise automatic.

Working with Arcade gateways

A gateway is a curated set of apps and tools the user (or their team) has assembled in Arcade — for example "Slack + Gmail", "Support toolset", or a full catalog. The active gateway determines which tools Arcade_SelectTools can find and Arcade_UseTool can run. Selection is automatic and persists across sessions; only touch it when the user asks.

Arcade_SelectGateway lives on the arcade MCP server.

Quick start

Arcade_SelectGateway(action: "list")                             # all gateways + which is active
Arcade_SelectGateway(action: "select", gateway: "<id from list>",
                     scope: "this_app" | "everywhere")           # make one the default

Viewing gateways

Call Arcade_SelectGateway(action: "list") and present each gateway with its name, its apps, and its tool count. Mark the active one. Gateways with all_tools: true are unrestricted — say "all tools" instead of a count.

Arcade_SelectGateway(action: "list")
  → {gateways: [{gateway: "gw_…", name: "Slack + Gmail Gateway", apps: ["Gmail","Slack"],
                 tool_count: 12, default_for_this_app: true}, …],
     active_gateway: "gw_…"}
Reply:
  Active (this app): Slack + Gmail Gateway — Gmail, Slack (12 tools)
  Others: Full Suite — Attio, Datadog, Github, … (494 tools); work — GoogleSearch,
  Linear, Slack (53 tools); …

The list spans every project the user belongs to. default_for_this_app / default_everywhere mark where the current default comes from; when exactly one gateway exists it is used automatically.

Inspecting a gateway's resources

• Apps: already in the list output (apps, tool_count) — no extra call needed for an overview.
• Tools: to preview which tools a gateway would provide for a task, pass the gateway id to discovery without selecting it: Arcade_SelectTools(tasks: ["<task>"], gateway: "<id>"). Present the results as tool_name — description only when the user asked to see them.
• Connected apps: Arcade_Apps(action: "list") shows the connected state of the active gateway's apps (see managing-arcade-apps).

Switching gateways

1. If the target is ambiguous, list first and match by name.
2. Call select with the gateway id from list.
   • scope: "this_app" (default) — only this client changes; other apps keep their own selection.
   • scope: "everywhere" — account-wide default.
3. Relay the confirmation summary (gateway, apps, tool count, where it applies) so the user knows what just changed.

The switch takes effect on the next tool call — no restart or reconnect.

One-off routing

To run a single task through a different gateway without changing the default, pass gateway on the call itself: Arcade_SelectTools(tasks: [...], gateway: "<id>") then Arcade_UseTool(tool_name, inputs, query_id, gateway: "<id>").

Errors

• Unknown gateway id → list and match by name; never guess ids.
• "No gateways are available" → the user's account has none; suggest creating one in the Arcade dashboard.
• A task's app is missing from discovery → the active gateway may not include it; check list and offer the gateway that does.

When not to use

• Normal task execution — the active gateway applies automatically; don't call list or select speculatively before tasks.
• Managing app sign-ins — that's managing-arcade-apps.

Style

• Gateways language: gateway, active, switch, "applies to this app" / "applies everywhere". Show gateway names prominently; ids only as the value passed back to select.
• Don't dump the raw list output — summarize with the active gateway first.