---
title: Use the Management MCP
related:
  - https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api.md
  - https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md
  - https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/reference-management-mcp-capabilities.md
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

This page provides guidance on working with the [Management MCP server](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api.md), including example prompts, CI integration, content versioning behavior, and troubleshooting.

## Use the MCP server

Once the Management MCP server is [configured](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md) and running, your AI agent automatically discovers and uses the available tools when processing relevant prompts. You interact with the server through your AI agent's interface.

For details on how MCP tools work within your specific environment, refer to the official documentation of your IDE or AI client, for example:

- [MCP servers in VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/mcp-servers)
- [MCP in Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp)
- [MCP in Cursor](https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp)
- [MCP servers in Visual Studio](https://learn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/ide/mcp-servers?view=visualstudio)

> **Note:** If [Content versioning](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/configuration/content-versioning-configuration.md) is enabled, each individual API call that modifies versioned content creates a separate version entry, which can lead to a long version history when performing a large number of operations.

### Continuous Integration

[Continuous Integration](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/ci-cd/continuous-integration.md) (CI) serialization is automatically disabled for all management MCP requests to prevent issues with concurrent file operations. After completing a logical group of changes (a task, feature, or workflow), run CI store manually to serialize the changes to the repository:

```cmd title="Manually store CI data"
dotnet run --no-build -- --kxp-ci-store
```

See [Store object data to the repository](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/ci-cd/continuous-integration.md#store-object-data-to-the-repository) for more details.

### Upload assets

To create or update a content item with a _Content item asset_ field, place your file in the [configured asset upload directory](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md#configure-asset-uploads) and prompt the AI agent to create or update the content item using that file. The agent automatically handles the upload and references the asset in the content item.

## Example prompts

Your AI agent can use the Management MCP server's tools when handling prompts related to the [supported objects](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/reference-management-mcp-capabilities.md). For example:

- "List all content types containing a field with the 'Content item asset' data type."
- "Which content types use the 'Product SKU' reusable field schema?"
- "Create a new workspace with code name 'marketing\_workspace' and display name 'Marketing workspace'."
- "List all project languages and add 'French (France)' as a new language, with the 'fr-FR' Formatting culture and English as the fallback language."
- "Create a new content type named 'Coffee cup' with fields 'Size', 'Color' and with the 'Product SKU' reusable field schema."
- "On the 'Coffee Samples' landing page, add a testimonial widget before the existing one."
- "Create a new content item of type 'Article' in the 'News' folder with the title 'Product Launch'."
- "List all channels and their content type scopes."
- "Create a new page under the 'About us' section using the 'Landing page' content type."
- "Create a content item of type 'Image' and use sample.jpg as the file."

## Troubleshooting

### Certificate issues

If your local application uses HTTPS and the MCP server reports certificate-related errors, configure Node.js to use the system certificate authority store.

Set the following environment variable in the MCP server configuration:

```json title="mcp.json -- NODE_OPTIONS"
"env": {
    "MANAGEMENT_API_URL": "http://localhost:5001/kentico-api/management",
    "MANAGEMENT_API_SECRET": "<YourSecretValue>",
    "NODE_OPTIONS": "--use-system-ca"
}
```

### Server does not start

If the Management MCP server does not start, make sure that:

- A [supported version of Node.js](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/installation/system-requirements.md#task-specific-requirements) is installed and available on your `PATH` so that `npx` can be executed.
- The package name is `@kentico/management-api-mcp@latest`.
- The MCP server configuration uses the correct format for your AI client or IDE. The provided [configuration examples](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md#add-the-mcp-server) are suited for [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/mcp-servers), [Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp#option-3-add-a-local-stdio-server), and [Cursor](https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp).

### Authentication fails or no tools are shown

If the MCP server starts but authentication fails or no tools appear, verify the following:

- The local Xperience application is running and the management API is [enabled](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md#enable-the-management-api).
- `MANAGEMENT_API_URL` points to the correct local URL and includes the `/kentico-api/management` path.
- `MANAGEMENT_API_SECRET` matches the secret configured in `AddKenticoManagementApi()` and has at least 32 characters.
- [Tool filtering options](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md#limit-the-available-tools) do not hide all tools.
- Your AI client has been restarted after configuration changes.

### Unexpected AI behavior

If the AI agent selects unrelated tools or produces unfocused results, try reducing the number of available tools:

- Use `--enabled-tools` to expose only the tools needed for the current scenario.
- Use `--dynamic-tools` to reduce the initial tool footprint.
- Add project-specific AI instructions to guide the agent.
- Ask the agent to summarize intended changes before executing them.

See [Limit the available tools](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/api/management-api/configure-management-mcp-server.md#limit-the-available-tools) for configuration details.