MCP Tool Discovery Guide

MCP Tool Discovery Guide

Serac provides 429 tools via MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. Tools are lazy-loaded to save tokens - use tool_search to discover them.

Quick Start

// Find tools for a specific task
tool_search({ query: "incident" }) // ServiceNow incidents
tool_search({ query: "widget" }) // Widget development
tool_search({ query: "update set" }) // Update Set management
tool_search({ query: "cmdb" }) // CMDB operations

Tool Categories

ServiceNow Core Operations

ServiceNow Development

ServiceNow Platform

Activity & Instance

Enterprise (if enabled)

Always-Available Tools

These tools are loaded by default (no discovery needed):

// Activity tracking
activity_start({ source, storyTitle, storyType, ... })
activity_update({ activityId, status, summary })
activity_complete({ activityId, summary })
activity_add_artifact({ activityId, artifactType, ... })

// Core tool discovery
tool_search({ query, enable: true })

How tool_search Works

1. Search - Finds tools matching your query
2. Enable - Automatically enables found tools for your session
3. Use - Call the discovered tool by name

// Step 1: Search
tool_search({ query: "jira" })
// Returns: jira_search_issues, jira_get_issue, jira_create_issue, ...

// Step 2: Call discovered tool
jira_search_issues({ jql: "project = PROJ AND status = Open" })

Search Tips

Be Specific

// Too broad - may not find what you need
tool_search({ query: "github" }) // Returns 20+ tools

// More specific - finds exactly what you need
tool_search({ query: "github content" }) // File content tools
tool_search({ query: "github repository" }) // Repo info tools
tool_search({ query: "github pull request" }) // PR tools

Search by Action

tool_search({ query: "create incident" })
tool_search({ query: "update widget" })
tool_search({ query: "query cmdb" })
tool_search({ query: "deploy business rule" })

Search by Table

tool_search({ query: "sys_script_include" })
tool_search({ query: "sp_widget" })
tool_search({ query: "sysevent_email_action" })

Tool Naming Patterns

Tools follow consistent naming patterns:

MCP Server Categories

Serac includes specialized MCP servers:

Best Practices

1. Discover Before Using - Always use tool_search first
2. Be Specific - Narrow queries find better matches
3. Check Results - Review tool descriptions before calling
4. Enable by Default - enable: true is the default
5. Silent Discovery - Don't tell users you're discovering tools

Troubleshooting

Example Workflows

Finding Incident Tools

// Discover
tool_search({ query: "incident" })

// Use discovered tools
snow_record_manage({ action: "query", table: "incident", query: "active=true^priority=1" })
snow_record_manage({ action: "create", table: "incident", short_description: "...", caller_id: "..." })

Finding Widget Tools

// Discover
tool_search({ query: "widget" })

// Use discovered tools
snow_artifact_manage({ action: "find", type: "sp_widget", query: "incident" })
snow_pull_artifact({ sys_id: "<widget sys_id>", table: "sp_widget", output_dir: "./​widgets" })

Finding Enterprise Tools

// Discover Jira tools
tool_search({ query: "jira" })

// Use discovered tools
jira_search_issues({ jql: "project = SNOW AND status = Open" })
jira_transition_issue({ issueKey: "SNOW-123", transition: "In Progress" })