Advertise an externally hosted MCP server

Mintlify hosts a search MCP server for every site and advertises it through the /.well-known/mcp, /.well-known/mcp.json, /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json, and /.well-known/mcp/server-cards.json endpoints described in Search MCP server. Mintlify generates these endpoints automatically. They only list the MCP servers Mintlify hosts for your site (the public /mcp endpoint, and /authed/mcp if you use authentication). There is no docs.json field for adding a second, externally hosted MCP server to those responses. The same applies to the /.well-known/api-catalog endpoint that Mintlify advertises through the agent Link header: that catalog lists OpenAPI documents ingested from your docs.json, not MCP servers. Mintlify only serves the catalog when you opt into spec downloads. If you run your own MCP server outside Mintlify and want it discoverable alongside the built-in one on your docs domain, use one of the options below.

Option 1: Serve your own discovery document through a reverse proxy

If your docs are already served through a reverse proxy on your own domain, you own the /.well-known/* paths at that domain. Intercept the MCP discovery paths in your proxy and return a JSON document that lists both servers instead of forwarding them to Mintlify. Use the same shape Mintlify returns for /.well-known/mcp so existing MCP clients keep working:

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "transport": "http",
  "url": "https://your-docs.com/mcp",
  "servers": [
    {
      "name": "public",
      "url": "https://your-docs.com/mcp",
      "transport": "http",
      "authentication": "none"
    },
    {
      "name": "external",
      "url": "https://mcp.your-domain.com",
      "transport": "http",
      "authentication": "oauth2"
    }
  ]
}

Example nginx snippet that serves a static file instead of proxying to Mintlify for the MCP discovery paths:

location = /.well-known/mcp {
    default_type application/json;
    alias /etc/nginx/well-known/mcp.json;
}

location = /.well-known/mcp.json {
    default_type application/json;
    alias /etc/nginx/well-known/mcp.json;
}

Notes:

Serve Content-Type: application/json and disable caching (Cache-Control: no-store) so agents pick up updates immediately.
Overriding the discovery paths hides the built-in Mintlify response. Include the Mintlify-hosted /mcp (and /authed/mcp if applicable) entries in the file you serve so clients that read discovery still find the built-in search server.
If you also override /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json or /.well-known/mcp/server-cards.json, mirror the server-card format so tools that pre-populate metadata from those endpoints still work.

Option 2: Publish the external MCP URL directly

If you don’t run a reverse proxy, or you don’t want to maintain a static discovery file, publish the external MCP server URL to your users the same way you publish the built-in one. See Use your MCP server for patterns that work with the built-in server and apply equally to a second URL:

Add a page to your docs that lists both MCP server URLs and how to connect each one in Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another client.
Add contextual menu entries for the built-in server so users can copy the URL or install commands in one click. The contextual menu options only cover the Mintlify-hosted MCP server, so document the external URL manually alongside them.

You can point clients that support multiple MCP servers at the built-in /mcp endpoint and the external URL independently. You don’t need to list both servers in a single discovery document for clients to use them.

What Mintlify does not currently support

Adding an external MCP server URL to a docs.json field so Mintlify includes it in /.well-known/mcp* responses.
Listing MCP servers under /.well-known/api-catalog. That endpoint is scoped to OpenAPI documents.

If either of these would unblock your setup, contact support@mintlify.com with your use case.

​Option 1: Serve your own discovery document through a reverse proxy

​Option 2: Publish the external MCP URL directly

​What Mintlify does not currently support

Option 1: Serve your own discovery document through a reverse proxy

Option 2: Publish the external MCP URL directly

What Mintlify does not currently support