Unable to fetch tools from native ServiceNow MCP Server in AI Agent Studio / External MCP Clients

[simran]

I am trying to use the native Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server available in ServiceNow to expose tools to MCP clients such as AI Agent Studio, Claude Desktop, OpenAI/ChatGPT connector, and Microsoft Copilot. However, the MCP server tools cannot be retrieved by any client.

The MCP server is created and active in the MCP Server Console within my ServiceNow instance.

When attempting to connect to the MCP server from AI Agent Studio, I receive the following error:

"Unable to get the tools provided by MCP Server"

Additionally, external MCP clients (Claude Desktop, OpenAI ChatGPT connectors, and Copilot) also fail to retrieve tools from the ServiceNow MCP server.

I have followed the official ServiceNow documentation for creating an MCP server, enabling tools, and configuring OAuth for MCP clients.

However, the MCP server still does not return the list of tools when accessed by either internal (AI Agent Studio) or external MCP clients.

I would appreciate any guidance on whether additional configuration is required for the MCP server to properly expose tools to clients.

[arielgritti]

Hi all,

I've a similar issue; I'm able to connect from Postman (as a MCP client) and MS Copilot (as a MCP client) and see the AI Skill (incident summarization) but I'm getting 403 forbidden.

I just created this question in the community: https://www.servicenow.com/community/now-assist-forum/403-forbidden-when-calling-an-ai-skill-form-a-...

My scenario:
OAuth Client Credentials (with an integration user with ITIL role)
AI Skill (OOTB) requires ITIL role

Token is generated OK
I'm able to "connect" from both MCP clients (Postman and MS Copilot)
The "tool" is available

When trying to execute, 403 forbidden is the error.

Any help, guidance is welcome.
Thanks,
Ariel

[arielgritti]

Hi @simran 

I found it. The missing role is: sn_mcp_server.viewer
Granting this role to the service account user in OAuth config (+ ITIL as required by the AI Skill) I was able to execute incident summarization from Postman

I hope my finding helps you. If yes, please, mark my answer as correct.
Ariel