Enable and Configure the DocuShare 8.1 MCP Server

Applies to: Xerox DocuShare 8.1 with a Content Assistant subscription 

Enable and Configure the DocuShare 8.1 MCP Server

Overview

The DocuShare Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server allows MCP-compatible AI assistants, applications, and agent workflows to interact with DocuShare through a standardized interface.

MCP capabilities are disabled by default. The server respects the authenticated user's DocuShare permissions, including ACLs, content rules, audit logging, and quotas. Every MCP request runs with the full permissions of the authenticated user.

The MCP Server requires a Content Assistant license. It is separate from DSAPI; changing the MCP Server state does not affect existing DSAPI clients.

Before you enable MCP

• Confirm that the Content Assistant subscription is active.
• Identify the integrations that will use MCP and the minimum tool categories they require.
• Create or identify accounts with only the DocuShare permissions required by each integration.
• Prefer personal access tokens for headless integrations.

Enable the server

1. Sign in to DocuShare with an administrator account.
2. Open Admin > Services > MCP Server.
3. Turn on MCP Server Enabled.
4. Enable only the tool categories required by the integration.
5. Click Save.

Changes take effect immediately; a server restart is not required.

Authentication methods

The MCP Server supports:

• SAML SSO for browser-mediated sessions on SAML-enabled sites.
• Username and password for authorized service accounts and integrations that support basic authentication.
• Personal Access Tokens (PATs), recommended for headless integrations.

Store tokens securely and associate each integration with an identifiable account so that access and audit activity can be reviewed.

Tool categories

The server provides categories for authentication, search, documents, collections, favorites, workflow, users and groups, and content rules. Enable only the categories required for the use case.

For example, an integration that only searches documents should not be granted document-write, collection-management, workflow, or content-rule tools.

Security considerations

• MCP requests are authorized as the authenticated user. Do not use a highly privileged administrator account for a general-purpose integration.
• Existing DocuShare ACLs and quotas continue to apply.
• Audit logging applies to MCP activity.
• Review enabled categories and tokens periodically, especially after an integration changes ownership or scope.
• Disable the MCP master switch when the integration is no longer required.

Troubleshooting

The MCP Server cannot be enabled

Confirm that a Content Assistant license is provisioned. Without the required license, the MCP Server cannot be enabled.

The client connects but cannot perform an operation

Confirm that the relevant tool category is enabled and that the authenticated DocuShare account has permission to perform the operation. MCP does not bypass normal DocuShare security controls.

Changes do not appear

Save the MCP Server page and reconnect the client. Configuration changes take effect immediately, but an existing client session may need to reconnect to discover the updated tool list.