Remote Services and OAuth Authorization

When the service you add is a remote MCP service, you need to consider authorization in addition to the connection itself. In the current version, remote connectivity is mainly focused on two service types: SSE and Streamable HTTP.

Which Services Count as Remote Services

Generally, as long as you fill in a remote URL rather than a local command, the service counts as remote.

Common situations include:

• You are connecting to a cloud-hosted MCP service
• The service itself runs on another machine or server
• Request headers need to be attached
• Browser login or OAuth authorization is required

What to Prepare When Adding a Remote Service

The most common items to confirm are:

• The correct service URL
• Whether additional request headers are needed
• Whether OAuth authorization is required
• Whether the current network environment can reach the target address

If you are unsure about any of these, do not rush to create multiple services. It is recommended to validate with a single target service first.

Understanding OAuth-Related Statuses

For services that require authorization, you may see the following statuses:

If a service does not require OAuth, these additional statuses generally will not appear.

Standard Authorization Flow

The typical flow is usually as follows:

1. Add the remote service in MCP2Skill
2. After saving, notice that the service requires authorization
3. Click the authorize button
4. The system browser opens the authorization page
5. Complete the login or authorization confirmation in the browser
6. Return to MCP2Skill and check whether the status has changed to authorized
7. Confirm once more that the tool list has loaded correctly

After completing authorization, it is best to go straight to the service detail page and check the tool list, rather than relying on the status badge alone.

When You Need to Re-authorize

The following scenarios usually require re-authorization:

• The remote service shows an expired status
• The service was working previously but suddenly starts reporting authentication errors
• You have actively revoked the local authorization
• The remote service side has changed its authorization policy

If the failure is only temporary due to network instability, you do not necessarily need to re-authorize immediately — try refreshing the status first before deciding.

What Happens When You Revoke Authorization

After revoking authorization:

• Locally stored authorization information is cleared
• The service returns to a pending-authorization or unavailable state
• The tool list generally will not remain callable

Revoking is suitable for switching accounts, cleaning up old authorizations, or troubleshooting abnormal states.

How to Diagnose Remote Service Connection Failures

You can diagnose in this order:

1. Is the URL entered correctly
2. Is the current network reachable
3. Are custom request headers missing or incorrect
4. Does the service require OAuth authorization
5. Has the authorization expired
6. Is the remote service itself running

If you have completed authorization but the tool list is still empty, suspect the URL, request headers, or the state of the remote service first.

Common Recommendations

• Get the flow working with one remote service first, then add services in bulk
• Check the tool list every time you complete an authorization
• If the same service fails repeatedly, disable it first and then re-edit the configuration
• Do not casually copy sensitive request headers used during debugging into other environments

Related Chapters

• To learn service management basics: see MCP Service Management
• To expose remote services to external AI applications: see Connect External AI Clients
• To troubleshoot connection errors: see FAQ and Troubleshooting