> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server/mcp-access-profiles.md). # MCP - Access Profiles Smartico **MCP Access Profiles** control what an AI assistant or automated integration can do when connected to your platform through the [MCP Server](/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server.md). By defining a profile, administrators choose the exact toolset available to a connection — granting permissions to explore reference data, build segments and campaigns, run operational commands, or query the data warehouse. Profiles provide fine-grained governance over your MCP connections, ensuring external tools and team members operate under the principle of least privilege while keeping live configurations and data scan costs securely managed. ## Why MCP Access profiles are needed When connecting external AI assistants (such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor) or automation scripts to the Smartico platform, different users and integrations require different levels of capability: * **Enforce least privilege:** A marketing manager may need tools to create campaigns and build audience segments, while a data analyst only requires access to query the data warehouse. An external auditor or junior team member may need read-only exploration without the ability to modify live settings. * **Control costs and resource usage:** Certain tools, such as data warehouse SQL queries and audience estimation, consume billable resources or monthly AI tokens. Restricting these tools prevents unexpected scan costs. * **Protect live platform state:** Limiting state-changing tools (such as starting or stopping campaigns, editing flows, and creating rules) prevents unintentional changes to production workflows. * **Streamline assistant context:** Restricting the tools exposed to an AI client keeps the assistant focused on the relevant commands for its specific role, reducing latency and prompt size. ## Built-in system profiles Smartico includes five immutable **system profiles** that are available globally across all labels. System profiles cover standard operational roles and automatically inherit new tools added in future platform updates. | System profile | Description | Included tools & capabilities | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **MCP Full access** | Complete access to every MCP capability. | All read tools, write tools (create and update entities), flow and campaign execution operations, Data Warehouse analytics tools (structure discovery and SQL execution), and golden queries. | | **MCP Editor** | Configuration and operational management without data warehouse access. | All read tools, entity creation and updates, all flow and campaign execution operations, and golden queries. Excludes Data Warehouse SQL queries and structure discovery. | | **MCP Analyst** | Analytical exploration and SQL querying without write permissions. | All read tools, Data Warehouse structure discovery, Data Warehouse SQL execution, and golden queries. Excludes entity creation, entity updates, and state-changing execution operations. | | **MCP Viewer** | Pure read-only discovery and auditing. | Discover and read entities, run read operations (viewing campaign flows, rules, tags), search the product knowledge base, and read reference documentation. Excludes all write tools, operations, data warehouse queries, and golden queries. | | **MCP No Access** | Disables MCP connectivity entirely. | No tools permitted. Users or tokens with this profile cannot connect to the MCP server. | {% hint style="info" %} **System profiles cannot be edited by you.** System profiles are managed by Smartico and cannot be edited or deleted. To customize tool combinations for your organization, create a custom profile. {% endhint %} ### Built-in ungated tools In addition to tiered profile permissions, the platform includes the `report_problem` tool. This tool is built-in and ungated across all profiles, allowing connected assistants to report operational difficulties or platform barriers directly to Smartico regardless of the assigned tier (except for connections on MCP No Access, which are rejected at connection time). ## Default profile assignments During platform rollout and user provisioning, profiles are assigned to existing roles according to their administrative privileges: * **CRM Admins:** Assigned **MCP Full access** by default. * **CRM Managers and CRM Manager + Engineers:** Assigned **MCP Editor** by default. * **CRM Support, Affiliate roles, and New Users:** Assigned **MCP No Access** by default. When new back-office users are created, their initial MCP profile is set to **MCP No Access** until an administrator explicitly grants access. For everything a person needs before they connect, see [MCP - Who can use it](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server/mcp-who-can-use-it). For a step-by-step plan to give your team access, see [MCP - Safe rollout](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server/mcp-safe-rollout). ## Creating custom profiles If the built-in system profiles do not fit your workflow, administrators can create custom profiles tailored to specific teams or integrations.
MCP Access Profiles in Back-Office
### How to create a custom profile
1. In the Smartico back-office, navigate to **MCP → Access profiles**. 2. Click **Create profile** in the top toolbar. 3. In the **General** section, provide: * **Name:** A descriptive name for the profile. * **Description:** An optional note explaining the profile's intended use. 4. In the **Allowed tools** section, select the checkboxes for the tools you want to permit: * **Read:** Entity discovery (`entity_types_list`, `entity_describe`), entity search and retrieval (`entity_list`, `entity_get`; `entity_get_many` comes with `entity_get`), reference documentation (`read_resource`), read operations (`read_operation`), and product knowledge search (`get_product_knowledge`). * **Write:** Entity creation (`entity_create`), entity updates (`entity_update`), and execution operations (`exec_operation`). When selecting execution operations, you can grant all operations or pick specific actions individually (such as `estimate_audience`, `clone_campaign`, `user_start_campaign`, or flow editing steps). * **Data warehouse:** Data warehouse schema discovery (`get_analytics_bi_structure`) and Data Warehouse SQL query execution (`exec_sql`). `get_golden_query_sql`, which shows the SQL of a golden query, comes with `exec_sql`. * **Golden queries:** Search (`find_golden_queries`) and run (`run_golden_query`) fixed data questions written and tested by Smartico. A profile can run them without `exec_sql`. See [MCP - Golden queries](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server/mcp-golden-queries) and [MCP - For data analysis](/welcome/technical-guides/mcp-server/mcp-for-data-analysis.md). 5. Click **Save**. {% hint style="warning" %} A custom profile must contain at least one tool. Custom profiles are scoped to the active label in which they are created. {% endhint %} When you create a new custom profile, the **Read** tools are pre-selected by default. Profile names must be unique within the label and cannot match the name of a built-in system profile. ## Assigning profiles MCP profiles can be assigned to individual back-office users (for personal AI assistant connections) or to static service account tokens. ### Assigning to a user (Personal / OAuth connection) Personal MCP connections use the profile assigned to the back-office user: 1. In the back-office, go to **Settings → BO Users** (or **Label → BO Users**). 2. Select the user you want to configure. 3. In the **General** tab, locate the **MCP access profile** field. 4. Select the desired profile from the dropdown. 5. Click **Save**.
{% hint style="info" %} **MCP profiles are per user, not per label.** A user's MCP access profile applies globally across all labels their account can access. Only administrators with permission to manage user roles and MCP settings can assign or change profiles. Users cannot change their own profile from their personal profile settings. {% endhint %} ### Assigning to a service account (Static MCP token) Static MCP tokens used by automated backend scripts or shared integrations carry their profile directly on the token: 1. In the back-office, go to **MCP → Access tokens**. 2. Click **Create token** (or select an existing token to edit). 3. In the **Access profile** dropdown, choose the profile for this token. 4. Select the labels the token is allowed to access. 5. Click **Create** (or **Save**).
This allows different tokens within the same label to have different privilege levels — for example, a nightly reporting token with **MCP Analyst** and an automated campaign generator token with **MCP Editor**. {% hint style="warning" %} **Service tokens cannot use MCP No Access:** Static service tokens must be assigned an active profile that permits at least one tool. The back-office filters out **MCP No Access** from the token profile selector, and the platform rejects any attempt to assign it to a service account. To disable a service token, deactivate the token itself under **MCP → Access tokens**. {% endhint %} ## What happens when an MCP profile changes When an administrator changes the profile assigned to a user or token, or updates the allowed tools of an existing custom profile, the platform enforces the updates safely: ### For back-office users (Personal tokens) * **Immediate session reset:** Changing a user's profile (or modifying the toolset of a custom profile currently assigned to users) immediately deactivates all active personal MCP tokens for those users. * **Re-authentication:** The user's AI client will be prompted to re-authorize via **Sign in with Smartico**. The authorization consent screen displays the newly assigned profile and issues a fresh token with the updated toolset. * **Standard logins unaffected:** The user's regular back-office web browser session and non-MCP API tokens remain active. ### For service accounts (Static tokens) * **Live permission update:** Static service tokens keep their existing secret and connection active without needing recreation. * **Rapid tool synchronization:** The MCP server updates its permission checks in-place. Subsequent tool calls from the service token will reflect the new tool grants within a minute. ### Confirmation guard for active profiles When editing a custom profile that is currently in use, the back-office displays a confirmation dialog summarizing: * The number of users who will be signed out of MCP and required to re-authorize. * The number of service tokens whose tool permissions will update in-place. {% hint style="info" %} **Deactivation safeguard:** A custom profile cannot be deactivated while it is still assigned to active users or active service tokens. You must reassign the users and tokens to another profile first. Note that custom profiles cannot be deleted; they can only be deactivated. {% endhint %} ## Security and permission rules To ensure strict multi-tenant security, MCP profile enforcement works in harmony with Smartico's core label permissions: * **Label permissions are strictly enforced:** Users without permissions to a label **cannot access it over MCP**, even if their MCP profile is set to **MCP Full access**. MCP access is always the intersection of the user's label authorization and their profile's tool permissions. * **Profile applies globally per user:** While label permissions dictate *which* labels a user can access, the MCP profile dictates *what tools* they can run across all authorized labels. * **Cross-label service token governance:** When creating or expanding the toolset of a service token that covers multiple labels, the editing administrator must possess MCP management permissions on every label included in the token's scope. * **Profile expansion on multi-label service tokens:** If a custom profile is assigned to service tokens that span multiple labels, adding new tools to that profile requires the administrator to possess MCP management permissions on every label covered by those tokens. Removing tools does not require cross-label permissions because it narrows access. * **Label feature prerequisite:** Connecting to a label over MCP requires the Smartico MCP product feature to be enabled for that label. If the feature is not active on a label, all MCP requests targeting that label are refused, regardless of the user's assigned access profile. * **Clear error reporting:** If an AI assistant attempts to call a tool outside its active profile, the MCP server returns a clear refusal explaining that the assigned profile does not allow the action and instructing the user to contact their administrator. ## Frequently asked questions **If a user has MCP Full access, can they access any label on the platform?**\ No. MCP profiles only govern tool capabilities, not label membership. A user can only access labels they have explicit back-office permissions for. Any request targeting an unauthorized label is rejected immediately. **Can I set different MCP profiles for different labels for the same user?**\ No. The MCP access profile is configured per user across their entire account. If you need distinct permission tiers for specific labels or automated systems, create separate static service tokens under **MCP → Access tokens** with dedicated label scopes and access profiles. **Why was my AI assistant disconnected after my administrator edited my profile?**\ When an MCP profile is modified, all active personal MCP tokens associated with that user are invalidated for security. Simply reconnect your AI assistant using **Sign in with Smartico** to approve the new profile. **Can I delete or modify built-in system profiles?**\ No. System profiles (such as MCP Full access, MCP Editor, MCP Analyst, MCP Viewer, and MCP No Access) are permanently maintained by Smartico. To define custom tool permissions, create a custom profile under **MCP → Access profiles**. **How do I prevent an MCP connection from consuming AI tokens or running billable queries?**\ Assign the connection the **MCP Viewer** profile, or create a custom profile that omits Data Warehouse SQL querying (`exec_sql`), golden queries (`run_golden_query`), and the billed operations — audience estimation (`estimate_audience`) and avatar AI prompt tests (`test_avatar_prompt`). **MCP Editor** is not enough: it includes golden queries and every `exec_operation` operation, the billed ones too. **Why is my AI assistant refused on a label even though I have MCP Full access?**\ In addition to user-level access profiles, each label must have the Smartico MCP feature activated in its label settings. If MCP is not enabled for that label, the MCP server rejects calls targeting that label with a product refusal message. Contact Smartico support or your account manager to activate MCP on the label. **How can I check which MCP profile is assigned to my account?**\ When connecting your AI assistant via **Sign in with Smartico**, the authorization consent screen displays your assigned profile name and a summary of permitted capabilities before you grant access. You can also ask your administrator to verify your profile in **Settings → BO Users** under the **General** tab. **What happens to active MCP connections if a user's permissions or profile change?**\ If a user is deactivated in the back-office, their personal (**Sign in with Smartico**) connections are blocked immediately. If a user's MCP access profile is changed, their active personal tokens are revoked, and the user re-authenticates via **Sign in with Smartico** to receive the updated permissions. Static tokens belong to the label's AI/API user, not to the person who created them, so deactivating that person does not block them — deactivate the token itself under **MCP → Access tokens**. **Why am I receiving a permission error or read-only refusal when creating or updating entities?**\ If your connection is assigned a read-only access profile (such as MCP Viewer), write tools (`entity_create`, `entity_update`) and state-changing `exec_operation` actions are rejected. For static tokens, have a back-office administrator assign an Editor or Full access profile under **MCP → Access tokens**. For OAuth connections, your manager must update your assigned access profile under **Label → Back-Office users**, after which you should reconnect. See [Assigning profiles](#assigning-profiles). --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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