# How to Connect External AI Tools to Lookout



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    <div class="tip-text"><strong>Rudder Lookout</strong> is currently in <strong>Public Beta</strong>. <a href="mailto:product@rudderstack.com" >Contact the Product team</a> if you have any questions.</div>
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<p>Lookout exposes a curated set of its tools to <strong>external AI tools</strong> through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This lets an approved external assistant or agent call into your workspace programmatically, for example, to run a warehouse query or read a dashboard, using the same connections your team already set up.</p>
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<h2 id="what-it-exposes">What it exposes</h2><p>External tools get a curated, mostly read-only subset of Lookout&rsquo;s capabilities. For the exact, current tool list, see the in-app <strong>MCP</strong> reference in your workspace.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Tool</th>
<th>Permissions</th>
<th><div>Description</div></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Warehouse</td>
<td>Read</td>
<td>Query a connected warehouse, list tables, describe a table, and list warehouses</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dashboards</td>
<td>Read</td>
<td>List dashboards, get a dashboard, and run a single dashboard panel</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Source documentation</td>
<td>Read</td>
<td>List and read the documentation Lookout generated for your sources. This is the generated documentation in the <a href="https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/activate/lookout/working-with-lookout/context-hub/" >Context Hub</a>, not your RudderStack source catalog</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dashboards</td>
<td>Write</td>
<td><code>save_dashboard</code> creates or updates a dashboard. <br /><br />It is the only write tool and is gated behind the <code>mcp:write</code> scope (see below)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<h2 id="scopes">Scopes</h2><p>When an external tool authorizes via OAuth, or when you create a named programmatic token, the default scope is <code>mcp:read mcp:write</code>, which includes the <code>save_dashboard</code> write capability.</p>
<p>To grant <strong>read-only</strong> access, explicitly request the <code>mcp:read</code> scope only.</p>

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    <div class="tip-text">Because the default scope includes <code>mcp:write</code>, an external tool that doesn&rsquo;t narrow its scope can save dashboards in your workspace. If a tool only needs to read, grant it <code>mcp:read</code> only.</div>
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<h2 id="how-access-is-secured">How access is secured</h2><ul>
<li>Access uses <strong>OAuth 2.1</strong> (with PKCE, dynamic client registration, and a consent screen) or named programmatic tokens.</li>
<li>Programmatic tokens are stored hashed and are prefix-identified so they can be revoked.</li>
<li>Tokens used for external access are separate from your web session.</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="setup">Setup</h2><p>Any member can create clients and tokens for external access from the <strong>MCP</strong> area in the sidebar (also reachable from <strong>Settings</strong> &gt; <strong>Integrations</strong>). External tools then call into the workspace using those credentials.</p>

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<blockquote class="info">
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    <div class="tip-text">External AI tool access is enabled at the <strong>deployment</strong> level, not per workspace. If you don&rsquo;t see the <strong>MCP</strong> area, it may not be enabled for your deployment — check with your admin.</div>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2><ul>
<li><a href="https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/ai-features/rudderstack-mcp/" >RudderStack MCP</a>: Connect an AI assistant to your <strong>RudderStack</strong> workspace directly — this is a separate capability from Lookout&rsquo;s external tool access.</li>
</ul>

