Notiondesk provides two MCP connections for different use cases: MCP Search and Workspace MCP.
Use MCP Search when you want AI assistants to search and read your published help center.
Use Workspace MCP when authorized teammates need to review Notiondesk data or perform supported workspace actions from an AI assistant.
Quick comparison
| MCP Search | Workspace MCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Making published help center content available to AI assistants | Letting teammates work with Notiondesk from an AI assistant |
| Audience | Readers, customers, teammates, external AI assistants | Notiondesk workspace teammates |
| Authentication | No Notiondesk login required | OAuth with a Notiondesk account |
| Access | Public, published help center content | Workspace information available to the authenticated teammate |
| Permissions | Read-only | Depends on the teammate's Notiondesk role |
| Actions | Search and read | Read, sync, translate, and manage supported settings |
| Can change Notiondesk data? | No | Yes, when the teammate's role allows it |
| Scope | One public help center connection | Enabled help centers the teammate can access |
What is MCP Search?
MCP Search is Notiondesk's public, read-only MCP connection for published help center content.
It lets compatible AI assistants:
- Search your help center
- Read published articles
- Browse collections
- Access published changelog information
MCP Search does not let an AI assistant change your help center.
It cannot create, edit, publish, delete, sync, translate, or change settings.
Public help centers can be connected without a Notiondesk login or API key.
Use MCP Search when the goal is to make your documentation available to AI assistants.
For setup instructions, see Connect your help center to AI agents with MCP Search.
What is Workspace MCP?
Workspace MCP is Notiondesk's private, authenticated MCP connection for workspace teammates.
It uses OAuth to connect a teammate's Notiondesk account to a compatible AI assistant.
Depending on that teammate's Notiondesk role, Workspace MCP can be used to review information such as:
- Help centers
- Articles and collections
- Analytics
- Article feedback
- Contact messages
- AI Chatbot conversations
- Sync status
- Translation status
- Changelog information
- Help center settings
Supported roles can also perform actions such as triggering syncs, managing translations, updating chatbot guidance, or changing supported settings.
Workspace MCP never gives an AI assistant more permissions than the Notiondesk teammate who authorized the connection.
Use MCP Search for public documentation access
Choose MCP Search when your goal is to let an AI assistant answer questions from your published documentation.
For example, a customer could ask an AI assistant:
How do I configure automatic translations in Acme?The assistant can use MCP Search to find and read the relevant published article.
MCP Search is appropriate for:
- Customers searching your documentation
- Teammates looking up published information
- External AI assistants answering product questions
- Making your knowledge base available through MCP
- Read-only access to public help center content
MCP Search is not a workspace management tool.
Use Workspace MCP for internal help center operations
Choose Workspace MCP when a teammate wants an AI assistant to work with Notiondesk itself.
For example:
Review our article feedback and search analytics from the last 30 days. Which articles should we improve first?Or:
Check whether the onboarding collection is synchronized, then trigger a sync if it is outdated.Workspace MCP is appropriate for:
- Knowledge management
- Support operations
- Content audits
- Analytics reviews
- Translation management
- AI Chatbot improvement
- Sync management
- Workspace administration
- Multi-help-center workflows
Workspace MCP requires authentication because it can expose private workspace information and, depending on permissions, perform actions.
Authentication is different
MCP Search
MCP Search does not require the reader to authenticate with Notiondesk.
It exposes only public, published help center information.
The MCP connection itself cannot provide access to private workspace data or administrative actions.
Workspace MCP
Workspace MCP requires OAuth authentication.
Each teammate signs in with their own Notiondesk account and authorizes the AI client.
The connection follows that teammate's existing permissions.
For example, an Editor and an Admin connecting the same AI assistant can have different actions available because their Notiondesk roles are different.
Permissions are different
MCP Search is always read-only.
Workspace MCP permissions depend on the connected teammate's role.
| Notiondesk role | Workspace MCP access |
|---|---|
| Viewer | Read help center information and insights |
| Billing Manager | Read help center information and insights |
| Editor | Read information and perform supported help center actions |
| Admin or workspace owner | Full supported access, including restricted administrative actions |
Enabling Workspace MCP does not bypass Notiondesk permissions.
An AI assistant cannot perform an action that the authenticated teammate is not allowed to perform.
Help center availability is different
MCP Search works with the published content of the help center represented by its connector.
Workspace MCP operates across the help centers that:
- Have Workspace MCP enabled
- Are accessible to the authenticated teammate
This makes Workspace MCP suitable for teams managing multiple help centers from the same workspace.
Can I enable both?
Yes.
MCP Search and Workspace MCP solve different problems and can be enabled at the same time.
For example:
- Enable MCP Search so customers can connect your published documentation to their AI assistant.
- Enable Workspace MCP so your support and knowledge teams can review analytics, monitor content, and perform supported Notiondesk actions from their own AI tools.
Enabling one does not replace the other.
Which one should I use?
Use MCP Search if the AI assistant only needs to find answers in your published help center.
Use Workspace MCP if the AI assistant needs access to internal Notiondesk information or workspace actions.
Examples
Customer wants to search your documentation from ChatGPT
Use MCP Search.
The customer only needs access to published information and should not receive workspace permissions.
Support manager wants to review chatbot conversations
Use Workspace MCP.
Chatbot conversation data is part of the internal Notiondesk workspace rather than the public help center.
Developer wants to search documentation from Cursor
Use MCP Search if they only need published documentation.
Use Workspace MCP if they are a Notiondesk teammate and need internal information or supported actions.
Knowledge manager wants to trigger a sync
Use Workspace MCP.
MCP Search cannot modify data or trigger workspace actions.
AI assistant should answer product questions for customers
Use MCP Search.
This is a read-only knowledge retrieval use case.