A Guide for Brands to Build their MCP Server
- Conscia
- Jun 10
- 7 min read
Get Ready for the Upcoming MCP Registry Launch (Fall, 2025)
Disclaimer: The information in this article is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of June 10, 2025. The MCP ecosystem—and agentic commerce in general—is evolving rapidly. Features, timelines, and requirements mentioned here may change without notice. Please double-check the latest documentation, release notes, and official announcements from OpenAI, Anthropic, Shopify, the MCP Registry project, and any other vendors before making business or technical decisions.
What is the MCP Registry Anyway?
The MCP Registry is a public directory that allows AI agents—like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude—to automatically discover and connect to MCP-compliant servers. Instead of requiring end users to manually paste in URLs, the registry provides a standardized, machine-readable index of available capabilities (like product search, recommendations, or checkout), along with metadata, authentication details, and optional verified artifacts such as npm packages or Docker images. It transforms MCP integration from a manual process into one-click discovery—opening the door to scalable, agent-first experiences across the AI ecosystem.
How the leading AI Platforms Plan on Using the Registry
Leading AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Anthropic are embracing the MCP Registry as a universal discovery layer for external capabilities. Instead of relying on manual connector setup or prebuilt plugins, these platforms will query the Registry to automatically locate and understand which tools—like product search, availability, or checkout—are available from verified brands. ChatGPT plans to integrate Registry lookups directly into its agent runtime for seamless tool invocation, while Perplexity is expected to surface brand-specific capabilities directly in search responses. Anthropic, with its focus on trust and control, is prioritizing Registry-based discovery for secure, enterprise-grade interactions. Across all three platforms, the Registry becomes the trusted source of truth for agent-accessible APIs—ushering in a new era of structured, scalable, brand-owned interactions.
Why the Registry Changes Everything
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is fast becoming the standard way for agents like ChatGPT and Claude to interact with real-time business capabilities via APIs. It allows brands to expose structured tools like search, fetch, and even checkout in a machine-readable format.
Until now, integration has been manual—admins had to paste in URLs under Settings → Connectors → Custom. But with the launch of the open-source MCP Registry, discovery will become automatic:
A read-only API (ETA late-summer 2025) will allow clients to browse MCP servers across brands.
A publish API (Q4 2025) will let brands register their server metadata via a secure POST request. (GitHub)
Microsoft has already announced that Windows will support MCP registry lookups for AI desktop agents—expect marketplaces like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity to follow suit.
How Conscia's Orchestration Engine Helps Brands Build and Publish their MCP Server
To expose product search, personalization, and checkout flows to AI agents like ChatGPT and Perplexity, brands need more than raw APIs—they need orchestrated, context-aware capabilities. That’s where Conscia comes in. Its declarative orchestration engine lets brands compose real-time workflows across commerce, inventory, pricing, and promotions—then expose them as clean, agent-ready endpoints via an MCP server. Whether the tool is searchProducts, fetchProduct, or submitOrder, Conscia ensures the response is fast, decisioned, and structured for LLM consumption—no glue code, no duplicated logic, just one unified layer between your backend and every intelligent interface.
Remote-Only vs. Artifact-Backed Servers
Whether you’re building your MCP server from scratch or using Conscia to orchestrate and publish one, you’ll want to understand the two main server listing models:
Listing tier | What you must provide | Why you might add an artifact |
Public (default) | remotes → { "transport_type":"http", "url":"https://…/mcp" } | Perfect for SaaS-based servers. Conscia allows brands to host their own server endpoint or use a managed one. |
Verified / Enterprise | Above plus a packages array that points to a Docker, npm, or PyPI build with a SHA-256 digest | Conscia supports generating a validated npm package that brands can provide to clients for self-hosting or enhanced trust and control. |
The Registry doesn’t require a build artifact to get listed—but publishing one via Conscia gives you flexibility for agent-side validation, enterprise-grade deployment, and better discoverability over time.
Special Considerations for Enterprise Catalog Discovery + Checkout
If you're exposing commerce capabilities through your MCP server (like searchProducts, addToCart, or submitOrder), plan for two levels of readiness:
Layer | Minimum viable | Enterprise-grade extras |
Product/Catalog search | Implement searchProducts, fetchProduct with optional API key | Conscia allows brands to inject rate-limiting, SLA headers, and fallback handling via orchestration rules. |
Checkout tools (createCart, addItem, submitOrder) | Redirect to your PCI-compliant payment flow | Short-lived OAuth tokens, signed payloads, and scoped logic flows can all be built declaratively with Conscia. |
Security docs | None required for Public tier | Conscia’s DX Engine supports exporting security policies and metadata for SOC 2 or PCI documentation. |
Artifact | Optional | Use Conscia to package an npm module of your MCP server config to offer enterprise clients transparency and control. |
Tip: Start by exposing your remote URL via Conscia’s publishing tools, then enhance your listing with a signed npm artifact when ready.
Security & Authentication: Why OAuth Matters
If your MCP server does anything beyond read-only catalog search—like creating carts, accessing user preferences, or submitting orders—then you must authenticate users securely. That’s where OAuth 2.0 comes in.
Why OAuth is required
MCP servers are designed to be called by AI agents, not just humans. That means your server must be able to answer two questions every time it handles a request:
Who is the user? Is this a logged-in shopper, a guest session, or an internal system?
What are they allowed to do? Can they add to cart? View loyalty points? Submit an order?
OAuth provides a standards-based way to answer both questions securely and scalably—without sharing passwords or exposing internal APIs.
When you need OAuth
Use Case | OAuth Required? |
searchProducts, fetchProductById (public data) | ❌ Not required – open or API key is fine |
createCart, addItemToCart, submitOrder, getUserLoyalty | ✅ Required – these are user-specific and mutating |
Without OAuth, marketplaces like ChatGPT, Claude, and the MCP Registry will not list your server in curated galleries, or trust it for write operations.
Walk-Through of the Authorization Flow for tools that require write-access.
(from the shopper’s first click to a product in the cart—seconds, not minutes)
Shopper asks an AI Agent for your product“ ChatGPT, I need a pair of BrandX jeans in size 32.”
AI detects your brand’s MCP connector - Because your catalog is discoverable, ChatGPT fires a secure request to Conscia’s DX Engine.
Instant consent screen—no passwords - Conscia’s Authorization Server pops up a branded card:
“BrandX would like to: ① View catalog ② Add items to cart”Shopper taps Allow. (If they’ve already approved, this step is skipped.)
Token minted in the background - Conscia issues a 15-minute access token (plus a long-lived refresh token) telling the AI:
“This is user #A1B2C3. They can search and write to their cart—nothing else.”
Product search & cart creation - ChatGPT calls Conscia’s MCP tool searchProducts; Conscia returns the exact jeans SKU.Next call: addItemToCart with the token in the header.
Bridging to the retailer - Inside Conscia, that token maps to a securely vaulted BrandX session token. Conscia’s adapter hits BrandX API, adds the jeans to the user’s real cart, and—if needed—refreshes the BrandX token behind the scenes.
Confirmation back to the shopper - ChatGPT responds:
“Done! BrandX cart updated with 1× 1969 Premium Jeans, size 32. Ready to checkout?”
Auto-refresh keeps the session alive - Access token expires? ChatGPT silently trades its refresh token for a new one—no user interruption. BrandX session expires? Conscia renews it with the vaulted refresh token or re-prompts the shopper once again.
Include a SECURITY.md file
If you want to be listed in verified or enterprise tiers of the MCP Registry, include a clear SECURITY.md file in your MCP server repo. It should document:
What kind of authentication you use (OAuth 2.0 recommended)
Your /authorize and /token endpoints
Supported scopes (e.g., catalog:read, order:create)
Rate limits and abuse protection
Token expiration and refresh policy
How to report security issues
6 Week Plan: Build & Publish Your First MCP Server with Conscia
Week | Deliverable |
Week 1-4 | Design key orchestration flows for product discovery in Conscia's Orchestration Studio i.e searchProducts and fetchProduct, connecting to real-time data from the search index, commerce engine, pricing, and inventory systems. |
Week 5 | Deploy & Test the Flows behind clean, capability-level API endpoints. Ensure performance, context-awareness, and consistent outputs. |
Week 6 |
|
Week 7 onward |
|
Conscia accelerates every step—letting you create, secure, and publish your MCP interface without writing glue code or managing infrastructure. You'll go from zero to agent-ready in under 6 weeks, with full control over what your brand exposes and how it's consumed.
Launch-Day Checklist
✅ Remote server URL responds with valid JSON-RPC
✅ .well-known/mcp/servers.json resolves over HTTPS
✅ npm package published and hash stored
✅ OAuth flow documented in SECURITY.md
✅ Registry-ready JSON includes remotes and optionally packages
✅ Forms submitted to OpenAI & Anthropic for early Registry access
Frequently Asked Questions
Q — Do I need Conscia to publish an MCP server?
A— Not at all. But Conscia makes it dramatically easier—especially if you want to expose complex orchestration logic, secure commerce flows, or package your server as a verified npm module.
Q — Can I expose an MCP server without a build artifact?
A— Yes. A hosted endpoint is enough for Public Registry inclusion. But artifacts (like an npm module) are strongly encouraged for enterprise trust and self-hosting use cases.
Q — Will Conscia support me in onboarding to the MCP Registry?
A— Absolutely. Conscia offers tooling to publish your MCP Server, generate .well-known files, package artifacts, and guide you through security and registry submission steps.
Final Take-away
The MCP Registry will transform how AI agents discover and integrate with brand capabilities. With Conscia, you can build and launch your own MCP server quickly—hosted remotely, securely packaged, and ready for machine-first discovery.
Start simple. Start structured.
Be the first result when the agents come looking.
Commentaires