Modelos de acesso MCP para MongoDB Atlas

User-Delegated Access Through Atlas App Connections

With user-delegated access, an AI client uses OAuth to connect to Atlas on behalf of an individual Atlas user. The user authorizes the AI client through Atlas App Connections, and the client acts using that user's existing Atlas permissions. The client cannot exceed what the user is already allowed to do.

Use this model for interactive work in an AI client where you are issuing the prompts, such as exploring data or writing queries while coding.

This model works only with AI clients that MongoDB registers in advance. To learn which clients MongoDB supports, see Supported AI Clients. To connect an agent that you build yourself, use Programmatic Access Through Service Accounts.

Características principais:

• Identity: the AI client acts on behalf of the individual Atlas user who authorized it.

• Setup: the user connects from the AI client's marketplace and authorizes access in the browser. There is no infrastructure to provision.

• Permissions: based on the authorizing Atlas user's existing roles, and on the access mode that the organization sets. Access cannot exceed that user's own permissions. To learn which roles receive read and write access, see User Roles and Database Access.

• Administration: an Organization Owner enables AI client access at the organization level and sets a read-only or read-write mode, which can restrict an AI client to fewer permissions than the authorizing Atlas user has. Access is disabled by default, except in organizations that Atlas creates when a new user signs up. Enablement applies to all AI clients as a group. You cannot enable one AI client and leave another disabled, and you cannot restrict AI client access to specific projects. To learn how to enable and configure access, see Manage AI Client Access to Your Organization.

• Attribution: Atlas does not record individual tool calls. When a tool call creates an audit event, such as creating a cluster, the event records both the authorizing Atlas user and the AI client.

Programmatic Access Through Service Accounts

With programmatic access, an automated agent connects to Atlas using a Service Account that an administrator provisions and configures. An automated agent runs multi-step workflows without a user manually approving each step. The agent acts using that Service Account with its assigned Atlas roles, rather than as an individual user.

Use this model for automated, multi-step workflows built with agent frameworks, such as production pipelines. This model does not require MongoDB to register the agent in advance, because the administrator creates the Service Account that the agent uses. You can therefore use this model with agents that you build yourself.

When an administrator creates an MCP configuration, Atlas creates a pair of Service Accounts for it. The configuration specifies the Atlas roles the agent receives and the access controls that apply to it. One Service Account lets the agent reach the MCP server, and Atlas records the other in audit events.

Características principais:

• Identity: the agent acts as the configured Service Account.

• Setup: administrator-provisioned. Either an Organization Owner creates a configuration with organization-level roles, or a Project Owner creates one with project-level roles, depending on the scope the agent needs.

• Administration: each configuration has its own roles, an optional IP access list, and a read-only setting. Atlas preselects read-only when you create a configuration. When a configuration is read-only, write tools are not available to the agent.

• Attribution: Atlas does not record individual tool calls. When a tool call creates an audit event, the event records the Service Account rather than an individual user.

Compare the Access Models

The following table compares key characteristics of the user-delegated and programmatic access models:

Choose an Access Model

Choose user-delegated access if you are an individual developer connecting an AI client to Atlas for interactive work, and you want actions to run under your own Atlas identity and permissions.

Choose programmatic access if you are building an automated agent or production workflow that needs to run independently of any individual user, under a dedicated Service Account.

Saiba mais

• To learn about the platform that supports user-delegated access, see atlas-app-connections.

• To learn how an Organization Owner enables and configures AI client access, see Manage AI Client Access to Your Organization.

• To learn what the read-only and read-write modes allow, see AI Client Access Modes.

• To learn about current restrictions, see Limitations.