MCP Server Submissions

LiteLLM supports a submission and approval workflow for MCP servers. Team members can submit MCP servers for admin review — the server is held in a pending_review state until an admin approves or rejects it.

This lets organizations give team members self-service MCP registration without immediately exposing unapproved servers to all users.

How It Works

Team member submits MCP server via API
        ↓
Server saved as "pending_review" (NOT loaded into registry)
        ↓
Admin reviews in the Submitted MCPs tab
        ↓
Approve → server goes "active" and is loaded into the registry
Reject  → server stays out with optional review notes

Prerequisites:

store_model_in_db: true must be set in your proxy config (required to persist MCP servers)
The submitting user must use a team-scoped API key (admin keys bypass the workflow and use POST /v1/mcp/server directly)

config.yaml
general_settings:
  store_model_in_db: true

User: Submit an MCP Server

Use a team-scoped API key. Admin keys are rejected at this endpoint — admins should use POST /v1/mcp/server directly.

curl
Python

Submit MCP server for review
curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/v1/mcp/server/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEAM_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "server_name": "github_mcp",
    "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp",
    "transport": "sse",
    "description": "GitHub MCP for code search and PR management"
  }'

Submit MCP server for review
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "http://localhost:4000/v1/mcp/server/register",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {team_api_key}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "server_name": "github_mcp",
        "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp",
        "transport": "sse",
        "description": "GitHub MCP for code search and PR management",
    },
)
print(response.json())

Response — the server is created in pending_review state:

{
  "server_id": "832d6abc-7a5c-457a-a9f6-cfe4ae05f776",
  "server_name": "github_mcp",
  "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp",
  "transport": "sse",
  "approval_status": "pending_review",
  "submitted_by": "7fd77c87-207b-4d6c-9d51-b72efb8962dc",
  "submitted_at": "2026-04-29T18:50:34Z"
}

note

The server is not accessible to MCP clients yet. It only becomes active after an admin approves it.

Admin: Review Submissions

Via UI

Go to MCP Servers → Submitted MCPs tab. You'll see:

Submission counts: Total Submitted, Pending Review, Active, Rejected
Each submission card with server name, description, URL, transport, and submission date
Approve and Reject buttons on each card

Approving a server pops a confirmation dialog. Click Approve to make it active and load it into the MCP registry immediately.

After approval, the card badge changes to Active and the counters update:

Rejecting opens a dialog with an optional review notes field — useful for explaining why the submission was declined:

Via API

Admin or proxy_admin_viewer role required.

List submissions
Approve
Reject

List all MCP submissions
curl http://localhost:4000/v1/mcp/server/submissions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ADMIN_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "total": 1,
  "pending_review": 1,
  "active": 0,
  "rejected": 0,
  "items": [
    {
      "server_id": "832d6abc-7a5c-457a-a9f6-cfe4ae05f776",
      "server_name": "github_mcp",
      "approval_status": "pending_review",
      "submitted_by": "7fd77c87-207b-4d6c-9d51-b72efb8962dc",
      "submitted_at": "2026-04-29T18:50:34Z"
    }
  ]
}

Approve a submitted MCP server
curl -X PUT http://localhost:4000/v1/mcp/server/{server_id}/approve \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ADMIN_API_KEY"

The server status changes to active and it is immediately loaded into the MCP runtime registry.

Reject a submitted MCP server
curl -X PUT http://localhost:4000/v1/mcp/server/{server_id}/reject \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ADMIN_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"review_notes": "This URL is not on the approved vendor list."}'

review_notes is optional. The server stays out of the registry.

Approval Status Values

Status	Meaning
`pending_review`	Submitted, waiting for admin review. Not accessible to MCP clients.
`active`	Approved. Loaded into the MCP registry and available to clients.
`rejected`	Rejected by admin. Not accessible. May include `review_notes`.

FAQ

Can an admin re-approve a rejected server?

Yes. Call PUT /v1/mcp/server/{id}/approve — the endpoint accepts servers in both pending_review and rejected status.

What happens if a previously-active server is rejected?

It is evicted from the runtime registry immediately — clients will no longer see its tools.

Do I need a special config flag to enable submissions?

No. The submission endpoints are available by default as long as store_model_in_db: true is set. No additional feature flags are required.

How It Works​

User: Submit an MCP Server​

Admin: Review Submissions​

Via UI​

Via API​

Approval Status Values​

FAQ​