--- title: "AI Activate - Enable MCP Access and Connect your AI tool" slug: "ai-activate-enable-mcp-access-and-connect-your-ai-tool" description: "Learn how to activate volumes, enable MCP access, and connect your AI tool for efficient queries and user access management." updated: 2026-10-13T21:02:08Z published: 2026-10-13T21:02:08Z canonical: "docs.nasuni.com/ai-activate-enable-mcp-access-and-connect-your-ai-tool" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nasuni.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AI Activate - Enable MCP Access and Connect your AI tool After a volume is activated, you make the volume available to your AI tool by turning on MCP access. Then you connect your AI tool to your account's MCP endpoint, sign in, and run your first query. This article covers those steps and how to enable access for your end users. ## Enable MCP access Enabling MCP access makes an activated volume available to your AI tool. It is a separate step from activation, so activate the volume first (see [Activate Your Content](/v1/docs/ai-activate-activate-your-content)), then turn on MCP access. 1. In the Portal, navigate to the **AI Activate** section, and then select **MCP Server** in the left navigation bar. For the activated volume, toggle the option to enable MCP access. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/2adf6ce2-c120-4520-b135-0fc4463ddde3/Images/Documentation/mcp-server-configuration-settings-interface.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-15T02%3A42%3A02Z&se=2026-10-15T03%3A42%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=PYdrLtOsvNOmwbjtuGBSHWikWPqJ%2F5mgzSx3C0iD%2FEY%3D) Your account has a single MCP endpoint that exposes every volume that you enable. Enabling MCP access for a volume adds that volume's activated content to what the endpoint makes available. Your AI tool connects to the endpoint once and can work across all of your enabled volumes at the same time. Your AI tool draws results from the activated content across those volumes, subject to each user's permissions and any query-time filters that you set. Repeat this step for each activated volume that you want your AI tool to reach. ## Get your MCP endpoint Your account has one MCP endpoint, which you use to connect any MCP-compatible AI tool. The endpoint appears when at least one volume is activated and enabled for MCP access. Find and copy the endpoint in the Portal under the **MCP Server** section. ![Configuration settings for the MCP Server and volume connections in AI Activate interface.](https://cdn.document360.io/2adf6ce2-c120-4520-b135-0fc4463ddde3/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-09-21 at 11.38.04.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-15T02%3A42%3A02Z&se=2026-10-15T03%3A42%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=PYdrLtOsvNOmwbjtuGBSHWikWPqJ%2F5mgzSx3C0iD%2FEY%3D) The same endpoint works for every volume that you have enabled for MCP access and for every user in your organization. The connection guides in [AI Activate Integrations](/v1/docs/ai-activate-integrations) refer to this value as your MCP endpoint. ## Configure MCP Query Scope (optional) You can narrow what your AI tool sees in results by configuring the MCP Query Scope for a volume. The MCP Query Scope is separate from the scope you set before activation. Your activation scope decides which files AI Activate activates and counts toward your capacity. The MCP Query Scope filters which of those files appear in AI results. Configure the MCP Query Scope in the Portal for each volume. 1. Go to the MCP Server section, and click **Edit Config** for the activated volume. ![Configuration settings for MCP Server and volume connections in AI Activate interface.](https://cdn.document360.io/2adf6ce2-c120-4520-b135-0fc4463ddde3/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-09-21 at 11.57.34.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-15T02%3A42%3A02Z&se=2026-10-15T03%3A42%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=PYdrLtOsvNOmwbjtuGBSHWikWPqJ%2F5mgzSx3C0iD%2FEY%3D) 2. On the **Configure MCP Query Scope** screen, set one or more filters. Configuration options for MCP server query scope include file type and date range. ![Configuration options for MCP server query scope including file type and date range.](https://cdn.document360.io/2adf6ce2-c120-4520-b135-0fc4463ddde3/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-09-21 at 11.43.28.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-15T02%3A42%3A02Z&se=2026-10-15T03%3A42%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=PYdrLtOsvNOmwbjtuGBSHWikWPqJ%2F5mgzSx3C0iD%2FEY%3D) **File Type filter.** Add file extensions. Entering an extension limits AI results to those file types and excludes all other file types. **Date Range filter.** Set a date range. The filter returns only files created or modified within that range. **Ignore SIDs filter.** Excludes files that a user would qualify for only through a broad principal that you choose to ignore, such as *Everyone*. Enter each principal as its raw SID. The Ignore SIDs feature changes how access is evaluated, so review [Understanding Permission Enforcement](/v1/docs/ai-activate-understanding-permission-enforcement) and [Using the Ignore SIDs feature](/v1/docs/ai-activate-ignore-sids-flter) before you use it. DENY entries are always enforced, whether or not you ignore a principal. > [!NOTE] > ***Note:*** *These filters change only what appears in your AI tool's results. The filters do not change activated content or your Content Activated Files count, and do not affect billing.* ## Connect your AI tool AI Activate works with any MCP-compatible AI tool. To connect, follow your AI tool's own documentation to add a custom MCP connection, using your account's MCP endpoint from the previous step. For step-by-step instructions for common tools, including Anthropic Claude, OpenAI ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot, see [AI Activate Integrations](/v1/docs/ai-activate-integrations). ## Authenticate When you connect, you sign in through Nasuni Portal single sign-on. You need your organization's company name (a short identifier) to sign in. See the [Nasuni Portal SSO configuration guide](/v1/docs/nasuni-portal-user-guide#signing-in-using-single-signon-sso). Signing in uses the same identity provider as Nasuni Portal (Okta or Microsoft Entra ID), so anyone permitted to use the Nasuni connection can authenticate. There are no separate AI Activate credentials. ## Run your first query Confirm the connection works by asking a question in your AI tool. You see results drawn from your activated content, scoped to your own permissions. For guidance on the kinds of questions that work well, see [Asking Effective Questions](/v1/docs/ai-activate-asking-effective-questions). ## Share with your end users There is no per-user setup in the Portal, and there are no AI Activate roles to assign. To let your users connect: 1. In your identity provider (Okta or Microsoft Entra ID), make sure that your users are assigned to, and permitted to use, the Nasuni connection. 2. Deploy an enterprise MCP connector for AI Activate through your AI tool, or share your account's MCP endpoint and the relevant connector guide with your users. Each user then connects an AI tool and signs in with the user's own account. Each user's permissions determine the results, so two users might see different results for the same question. > [!WARNING] > *Important:* > > If you deploy AI Activate through an agent or a shared connector, configure it so that each user signs in with their own account. A connection that uses one shared account, such as the account of the person who built the agent, returns results based on that account's permissions for everyone who uses it. ## Next For detailed steps to connect a specific AI tool, see [AI Activate Integrations](/v1/docs/ai-activate-integrations).