Using operation collections as MCP tools

MCP Server
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The Apollo Summer ’25 Product Release demo had an example where an operation was created in Studio and saved to a collection. That collection was then automatically picked up by the Apollo MCP server and each operation was exposed as a tool. That workflow is really powerful but I cannot find any documentation on how to expose collections to the Apollo MCP server.

Specifically I want to expose operation collections to the MCP server in the Apollo Runtime Container through uplink. Is this possible?

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Hi @dcook, I’m glad you liked that workflow. Since the feature was added recently, we’re still working on the documentation, but I can share a quick guide to help you get started:

  1. Create a shared (not personal) collection in Explorer on Studio.
  2. Click the three-dot menu on the right and select View Operation Details.
  3. Copy the Collection ID (not the operation ID).
  4. Use that ID with the --collection flag when launching the Apollo MCP Server.

Once configured, any operations saved in the shared collection will be picked up by the MCP Server as tools. Make sure you’re using the latest version of the Apollo MCP Server.

Let us know if that works or if you have any questions!

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Thanks! I am looking forward to trying it.

Is there a corresponding environment variable or configuration that can be used with the ghcr.io/apollographql/apollo-runtime:latest docker container?

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@dcook The AIO container has not yet been updated to the latest version of the Apollo MCP Server. I can follow up on this update. In the meantime, you can use ghcr.io/apollographql/apollo-mcp-server:latest, which is the standalone Docker container without the router. If you’re just experimenting, you can also use the binary directly. Please refer to the documentation: Command Reference - Apollo GraphQL Docs

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Thanks for the help! I was able to get it working with the standalone server. This makes developing tools such a breeze!

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@dcook Great to hear that it’s working for you! :tada: I’ll let you know once we bring it to the AIO container.

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Hey @dcook, I just wanted to follow up on the apollo-runtime update. We just released a new version of the AIO container. If you pull the latest docker image, you will be able to expose operation collections to the MCP server using the MCP_COLLECTION environment variable.

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@DaleSeo That new environment variable is working great for me. Thanks for following up and all of your help!

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