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

| Query | Tools Found | | --------------- | ----------------------------------- | | "incident" | Incident CRUD, metrics, SLA | | "change" | Change requests, CAB, risk | | "problem" | Problem management, known errors | | "cmdb" | CI search, relationships, discovery | | "user lookup" | User/group queries | | "query table" | Universal table queries |

ServiceNow Development

| Query | Tools Found | | ------------------ | -------------------------- | | "widget" | Widget create/update/sync | | "business rule" | BR creation and management | | "script include" | Reusable scripts | | "client script" | Client-side scripts | | "ui policy" | Form policies | | "ui action" | Buttons and links | | "update set" | Update Set lifecycle | | "snow deploy" | Artifact deployment |

ServiceNow Platform

| Query | Tools Found | | ----------------- | --------------------------- | | "flow designer" | Flow/subflow creation | | "workspace" | Workspace builder | | "catalog" | Service catalog items | | "knowledge" | Knowledge articles | | "notification" | Email notifications | | "scheduled job" | Scheduled scripts | | "rest" | REST API integration | | "import" | Import sets, transform maps |

Activity & Instance

| Query | Tools Found | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------ | | "activity" | Activity tracking (always available) | | "instance info" | Instance URL and config | | "property" | System properties | | "logs" | System logs |

Enterprise (if enabled)

| Query | Tools Found | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------- | | "jira" | Jira issues, transitions, comments | | "azure devops" | Work items, boards, pipelines | | "confluence" | Pages, spaces, search | | "github" | Issues, PRs, workflows, releases | | "gitlab" | Issues, MRs, pipelines |

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:

| Pattern | Example | Purpose | | --------------- | ------------------------ | --------------------- | | snow_* | snow_query_table | ServiceNow operations | | snow_deploy_* | snow_artifact_manage (action='create', type='sp_widget') | Artifact creation | | snow_update_* | snow_update_set_manage | Update operations | | jira_* | jira_search_issues | Jira integration | | azdo_* | azdo_search_work_items | Azure DevOps | | confluence_* | confluence_create_page | Confluence | | github_* | github_create_issue | GitHub | | gitlab_* | gitlab_create_mr | GitLab |

MCP Server Categories

Serac includes specialized MCP servers:

| Server | Purpose | Example Tools | | -------------------------- | --------------------- | -------------------- | | ServiceNow Unified | Core ServiceNow ops | Query, CRUD, scripts | | ServiceNow Development | Artifact management | Deploy, widget sync | | ServiceNow Automation | Script execution | Background scripts | | ServiceNow ITSM | IT Service Management | Incidents, changes | | ServiceNow Platform | Platform features | Flows, workspaces | | Enterprise | External integrations | Jira, Azure, GitHub |

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

| Issue | Solution | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------- | | Tool not found | Try different query terms | | Too many results | Be more specific in query | | Tool doesn't work | Check parameters, may need auth | | Enterprise tool missing | Verify enterprise auth status |

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" })