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feat(ui-guides): add customize tools
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‎docs/toolhive/guides-ui/customize-tools.mdx‎

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---
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title: Customize tools
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description:
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Select which tools from an MCP server are available to your AI clients using
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the ToolHive UI.
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---
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ToolHive lets you customize which tools from a running MCP server are available
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to your AI clients. This gives you fine-grained control over the capabilities
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exposed by each server, helping you create focused tool sets and reduce
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complexity for your AI workflows.
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## Why customize tools?
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Customizing tools helps you:
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- **Reduce complexity**: Hide tools that aren't relevant to your workflow,
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making it easier for AI clients to select the right tool
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- **Improve performance**: Fewer tools mean faster tool selection and reduced
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token usage in AI interactions
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- **Enhance security**: Limit exposure to only the tools you need, reducing the
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risk of unintended actions
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- **Create focused environments**: Tailor tool availability to specific tasks or
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projects
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:::info[Registry servers only]
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Tool customization is available only for MCP servers installed from the
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registry. Custom local and remote MCP servers do not support this feature.
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:::
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## Access tool customization
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To customize tools for a running MCP server:
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1. Open the **MCP Servers** page.
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1. Find the server you want to customize and click the menu (︙) on its card.
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1. Select **Customize Tools** from the dropdown menu.
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The customize tools page displays all available tools from the MCP server, each
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with a toggle switch and description.
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:::note[Server must be running]
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The MCP server must be running to view and customize tools. If the server is
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stopped when you access the customize tools page, you'll see a message prompting
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you to start the server first.
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:::
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## Enable or disable tools
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On the customize tools page:
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1. Review the list of available tools and their descriptions.
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1. Use the toggle switches to enable or disable individual tools:
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- **Green (enabled)**: The tool is available to AI clients
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- **Gray (disabled)**: The tool is hidden from AI clients
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1. Click **Apply** to save your changes.
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The ToolHive proxy filters out disabled tools when AI clients connect to the
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server. Clients only see and can only call the tools you've enabled.
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:::warning[At least one tool required]
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You must keep at least one tool enabled. ToolHive prevents you from disabling
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all tools on a server, as this would make the server non-functional.
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:::
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## How filtering works
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When you customize tools:
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1. You toggle tools on or off using the switches.
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1. After clicking **Apply**, your settings are saved to the server
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configuration.
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1. The ToolHive proxy intercepts tool discovery requests from AI clients.
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1. Only enabled tools appear in the client's tool list.
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1. If a client attempts to call a disabled tool directly, the proxy blocks the
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request.
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This filtering happens transparently without requiring any changes to your AI
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client configuration. Your clients automatically see the updated tool list the
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next time they connect.
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:::tip
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If you change tool settings while a client is connected, you may need to restart
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the client session to see the updated tool list. Some clients cache tool lists
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and don't automatically refresh.
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:::
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## Example workflows
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### Focus on specific GitHub operations
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If you're using the GitHub MCP server but only need pull request tools:
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1. Open **Customize Tools** for the GitHub server.
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1. Disable all tools except those related to pull requests (like
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`create_pull_request`, `get_pull_request`, `list_pull_requests`).
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1. Your AI clients now see only pull request tools, making it easier to work
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with GitHub PRs without distraction from issue, branch, or repository tools.
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### Create environment-specific tool sets
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If you're running the same MCP server in different groups for different
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environments:
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1. Copy the server to multiple groups (see
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[Organize servers into groups](./group-management.mdx)).
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1. Customize tools in each group to match the environment's needs.
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1. For example, enable only read-only tools in a production group, while
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allowing all tools in a development group.
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## Reset to defaults
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To restore all tools to their default enabled state:
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1. Open the customize tools page for the server.
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1. Manually enable all tools using the toggle switches.
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1. Click **Apply** to save your changes.
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There is no automatic "reset all" button, but you can quickly enable all tools
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by toggling each switch and clicking **Apply**.
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## Related information
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- [Run MCP servers](./run-mcp-servers.mdx)
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- [Organize servers into groups](./group-management.mdx)
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- [Client configuration](./client-configuration.mdx)

‎sidebars.ts‎

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'toolhive/guides-ui/group-management',
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'toolhive/guides-ui/secrets-management',
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'toolhive/guides-ui/network-isolation',
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'toolhive/guides-ui/customize-tools',
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],
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},
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'toolhive/guides-ui/client-configuration',

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