MCP System Tools Reference

System administrators, developers, and end users use this reference to understand the system-level Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools provided by Appian MCP Server out of the box.

Appian MCP Server enforces the same object security, record-level security, and group membership as the Appian platform. System tools are MCP tools provided by Appian that handle discovery, invocation, and data access. System administrators enable or disable tool collections in the Admin Console. For configuration instructions, see Enable and Configure Appian MCP Server.

How system tools work with developer-enabled tools

Appian MCP Server provides two categories of Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools:

• System tools (documented in the sections that follow) provide discovery and data access. System tools let external AI applications find available tools, retrieve schemas, invoke design objects, and query the data fabric.
• Developer-enabled tools provide business logic. Developers make process models, expression rules, and AI agents available through MCP. For enablement instructions, see Make Design Objects Available as MCP Tools.

System tools and developer-enabled tools work together. The AI application uses system tools to discover and invoke developer-enabled tools.

Generic tools

Generic Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools handle discovery and invocation of developer-enabled design objects. These tools form the core workflow for interacting with Appian business logic through MCP.

appian_search_tools

Search for available design objects that have been made available as MCP tools.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Search for available MCP tools by keyword. Returns tool names, descriptions, and types matching the search query.
Permissions required	Authenticated user. Results filtered by object security and group membership.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	Text	Yes	A keyword or phrase describing the capability you are looking for.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
tools	List of Map	A list of matching tools with name, description, type, and identifier for each.

Limitations: Results only include tools the authenticated user has permission to access.

appian_get_tool_schema

Get the full input and output schema for a specific design object enabled as an MCP tool.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Retrieve the complete input and output schema for a specific MCP tool, including parameter names, types, required/optional designations, and nested field definitions.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must have viewer access to the design object.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
toolId	Text	Yes	The unique identifier of the MCP tool returned by appian_search_tools.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
schema	Map	The full input and output schema for the tool, including parameter definitions and data types.

appian_invoke_process_model

Start a process model that has been made available as an MCP tool and wait for completion.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Invoke a process model with the provided input parameters. The tool starts the process and waits for it to reach a terminal node.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must have viewer access to the process model and must be an allowed initiator.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
toolId	Text	Yes	The unique identifier of the MCP-enabled process model.
inputs	Map	No	A map of input parameter names to values, matching the process model's input variables.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
processId	Number (Integer)	The ID of the process instance that was started.
status	Text	The completion status of the process.
outputs	Map	The output values from the completed process, if any.

Limitations: Process models with start forms or synchronous user input tasks stall until timeout. Design process models for MCP invocation without UI-dependent steps.

appian_get_process_status

Check the status of a running or completed process instance started through MCP.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Retrieve the current status of a process instance, including whether it is running, completed, or failed.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must have viewer access to the process model.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
processId	Number (Integer)	Yes	The process instance ID returned by appian_invoke_process_model.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
status	Text	The current status of the process instance (running, completed, failed, or cancelled).
outputs	Map	The output values from the process, if completed.

appian_invoke_expression_rule

Evaluate an expression rule that has been made available as an MCP tool with provided inputs.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Invoke an expression rule with the provided input parameters and return the result.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must have viewer access to the expression rule.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
toolId	Text	Yes	The unique identifier of the MCP-enabled expression rule.
inputs	Map	No	A map of input parameter names to values, matching the expression rule's inputs.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
result	Any Type	The return value of the expression rule evaluation.

Limitations: If the expression rule queries objects the authenticated user lacks access to, the rule succeeds but returns null for inaccessible data.

appian_invoke_agent

Invoke an Appian AI agent that has been made available as an MCP tool with a message.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Send a prompt to an Appian AI agent and receive the response. The interaction is single-turn.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must be on the role map for the AI agent and all of its underlying tools.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
toolId	Text	Yes	The unique identifier of the MCP-enabled AI agent.
message	Text	Yes	The natural language prompt to send to the AI agent.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
invocationId	Text	The unique identifier for this agent invocation.
response	Text	The AI agent's response to the prompt.
status	Text	The completion status of the agent invocation.

Limitations: Multi-turn conversations are not supported through MCP. Each invocation is a single prompt and response.

appian_get_agent_status

Check the status of a running or completed AI agent invocation started through MCP.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Retrieve the current status of an AI agent invocation, including whether it is running, completed, or failed.
Permissions required	Authenticated user must be on the role map for the AI agent.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
invocationId	Text	Yes	The invocation ID returned by appian_invoke_agent.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
status	Text	The current status of the agent invocation (running, completed, or failed).
response	Text	The AI agent's response, if completed.

Data fabric tools

Data fabric Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools provide direct access to Appian record data without requiring developers to enable individual record types as MCP tools. System administrators enable or disable the Query Data Fabric tool collection in the Admin Console. For background on the data fabric, see Appian Data Fabric.

Data fabric MCP tools identify record types by their SQL reference name. Appian automatically generates a SQL reference name for each record type, and developers can edit the name in the record type's properties. AI applications use the SQL reference name as the table identifier when constructing queries against the data fabric.

appian_data_fabric_metadata

Get available record types, fields, and relationships in the data fabric to understand which data to query.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Retrieve metadata about available record types, including field names, field types, and relationships between record types.
Permissions required	Authenticated user. Results filtered by object security and field-level security.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
recordType	Text	No	(Optional) If provided, returns metadata for a specific record type. If omitted, returns a list of all synced record types.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
recordTypes	List of Map	A list of record type definitions including the SQL reference name, fields (with types), and relationships.

appian_data_fabric_sql_query

Query record data using SQL syntax.

Property	Value
Tool Description	Execute a SQL query against Appian record data. Returns results filtered by record-level security and field-level security.
Permissions required	The service account must have at least Viewer permission to the record type. Results are further filtered by record-level security and field-level security.

Inputs:

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	Text	Yes	A SQL query string targeting synced record types. The SQL reference name configured on the record type is used as the table name in the query.

Outputs:

Name	Type	Description
results	List of Map	The query results as a list of records, with each record containing field name/value pairs.
rowCount	Number (Integer)	The number of rows returned.

Limitations: Appian MCP Server cannot query the following record types:

• Unsynced record types.
• Legacy record types.
• Record types with record-level security expressions. Replace the security expression with security rules to query the record data.

End-to-end example

The following example shows how an AI application uses Model Context Protocol (MCP) system tools to answer a user's question:

1. A user asks their AI application: "How many open support cases are assigned to the West region?"
2. The AI application calls appian_data_fabric_metadata to discover available record types and finds a "Support Case" record type with fields for status and region.
3. The AI application calls appian_data_fabric_sql_query with a SQL query filtering for open cases in the West region.
4. The AI application receives the filtered results (respecting all record type security) and returns the count to the user.

For a more complex example using developer-enabled tools:

1. A user asks: "Calculate the discount for order 12345."
2. The AI application calls appian_search_tools with the query "calculate discount" and finds an MCP-enabled expression rule called "Calculate Order Discount."
3. The AI application calls appian_get_tool_schema to retrieve the input schema (order ID as a required input).
4. The AI application calls appian_invoke_expression_rule with the order ID.
5. The AI application receives the calculated discount value and returns it to the user.

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