Help / How to

Connect a tool

Give your receptionist access to a service you already use, like your property management software or your calendar, so it can look things up and do things during a call.

Most services connect over MCP, a standard way for an assistant to use another service's tools. Look for "MCP" in the service's settings or help pages. You'll need its MCP address, which starts with https://. If the service has no MCP address but has a web address your receptionist can call, add it as a webhook tool instead.

Connect an MCP server

1. Sign in and open the Tools tab.
2. Press Add MCP server.
3. Give it a short Name, like rentvine or outlook. Names are for you; the receptionist only sees the tools inside.
4. Paste the service's MCP address into URL.
5. Connect your account in one of two ways:
   • Press Sign in if the service has its own sign-in page. This saves your changes, and then you sign in there and come back to the Tools tab, which says Signed in.
   • Or paste a key into Authorization header when the service gave you one, written the way the service says, usually Bearer and then the key. Press Save.

Some services only allow sign-ins from apps they've approved. When that happens, the error says so and names the address to ask them to allow, and an API key under Authorization header is the other way in.

Once it's connected, the server lists its tools under its name, and your receptionist has them from the next call on. If it says "No tools listed yet", press Save again or sign in again.

Your key is stored on our side and never shown again: the box shows dots from then on. Leave the dots as they are to keep the key, or type over them to replace it.

Example: Rentvine

Rentvine lets the receptionist do whatever the signed-in user's role allows, so that sign-in is what protects your residents. Don't connect your own login for every caller. Add Rentvine twice, so strangers reach a user who can only create work orders and only you reach the rest:

1. For regular calls: in Rentvine, make a limited user whose role can only create work orders. Add an MCP server named rentvine with the URL https://mcp.rentvine.ai/mcp. Press Sign in, and sign in to Rentvine as that user. You'll come back to the Tools tab, which says Signed in. Put the work-order tools in Only these tools, and press Save.
2. For your own calls: sign out of Rentvine in that browser, or it'll sign the second server in as the same person without asking. Add a second server named rentvine-owner with the same URL, and tick Only on the owner's calls. Press Sign in, and sign in as yourself.

When you call from your cell, your own assistant has both servers and uses the owner one for everything the limited user can't do. Nobody else can get resident or lease details read out, because on their calls the only Rentvine login in play can't see them.

If you'd rather use a Rentvine API key, or Sign in lands on a blank Rentvine page, leave Sign in alone and fill in Authorization header instead, with Basic and then your key and secret joined by a colon and Base64-encoded: Basic base64(apiKey:apiSecret). The same two-server setup applies, with a key from the limited user for regular calls.

Who gets the tools

A server's tools are offered on every call unless you tick Only on the owner's calls. Tick it for anything that reads out private details, like tenants' names, addresses or balances. Those tools go only to your own assistant, the one that answers when you call from your cell, so a stranger can never talk the receptionist into reading them out. How it knows it's you says when a call counts as yours.

Fewer tools work better

Some services offer dozens of tools. Type the ones you want, separated by commas, into Only these tools, and the receptionist picks the right one faster. The tool names are listed under the server once it's connected.

Add a webhook tool

A webhook tool is one web address your receptionist can call with what it heard. Under Advanced on the Tools tab, Webhook tools takes a list written like this:

[
  {
    "name": "unit_status",
    "description": "Check whether a unit is available to rent. Use it when a caller asks about a unit.",
    "parameters": { "type": "object", "properties": { "unit": { "type": "string", "description": "The unit number" } } },
    "url": "https://example.com/units",
    "method": "GET",
    "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer your-key" },
    "audience": "everyone"
  }
]

With GET, what the receptionist fills in goes on the end of the address. With POST, it's sent as JSON. Whatever the address answers is what the receptionist reads. Press Save when you're done. Header values show as dots after saving, the same as an MCP key.

Tell your receptionist when to use it

A tool's own description is often enough. If the receptionist doesn't reach for it when it should, add a line to its instructions on the Receptionist tab, such as "When a caller asks whether a unit is available, check it with unit_status before you answer."

Then try it from Try as a customer, beside the Tools tab, or call your number, and ask something only the tool could answer.

Limits

• Up to 5 MCP servers, 10 webhook tools and 10 client tools.
• Every address has to start with https://.
• Each MCP server needs its own name.

Good to know

• If you're on booking, your calendar shows on the Tools tab as booking and booking-owner. They're set up for you and can't be changed or removed there, and they don't count toward your limit.
• A tool is used only while a call is on. Your receptionist can't do anything with it between calls.
• Sign out removes the sign-in from Maggie. To cut off access completely, remove it in the service's own settings too.

Didn't find it? See all the help pages, or email hello@xstep.ai.