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MCP and Skills

Use this page when you need to understand how Helpifyr exposes agent-visible access without turning MCP or skills into a second source of product, runtime, or contract truth.

When to use this page​

  • You need to know what MCP may expose and what must stay outside the MCP catalog.
  • You are deciding whether a lane is a read-only tool, a guarded action, or only a guidance surface.
  • You need to separate capability admission from operator or agent instructions.

Prerequisites​

  • You have read Agent Capability Plane.
  • You want the public-safe boundary between access surfaces and source truth.

Architecture / Flow​

Step-by-step procedure​

1. Treat MCP as an access layer, not a system of record​

In Helpifyr, MCP is how agent-visible surfaces are exposed after review, contract alignment, and promotion gates.

That means:

  • MCP does not replace owner repo truth
  • merged PR text alone is not enough for MCP admission
  • only explicitly promoted surfaces become agent-visible MCP truth

2. Separate surface classes before you expose anything to agents​

Fabric classifies new surfaces before they enter the catalog.

Important distinctions are:

  • agent-visible MCP surfaces
  • owner readback surfaces
  • customer runtime surfaces
  • identity and security surfaces
  • deployment materialization surfaces
  • quality or learning surfaces

Only the first class is eligible to become a real agent-visible MCP catalog entry.

3. Treat skills as guided behavior, not as authority​

Skills explain how operators or agents should work through a lane. They help with sequencing, scope, and guardrails.

They do not replace:

  • owner contracts
  • capability admission
  • runtime authority
  • live verify evidence

4. Keep admission and execution tightly coupled to verify truth​

An MCP lane becomes trustworthy only when issue, PR, contract, docs, feature truth, CI, and live verify stay aligned.

If that chain is incomplete:

  • the lane must stay blocked, hidden, guarded, or planned-only
  • missing truth must not be silently treated as admissible behavior

Verification​

This page is being applied correctly when a reader can:

  1. explain why MCP is an access layer and not the source of record
  2. distinguish an admitted MCP surface from a non-catalog or blocked surface
  3. explain why skills guide behavior but do not override contracts, ownership, or live verify requirements

Common failure modes​

Treating a merged owner PR as automatic MCP admission​

Problem:

  • agents or operators assume that once a change is merged it is automatically safe and visible in MCP.

Better path:

  • require explicit classification, promotion gates, and catalog truth before calling a lane agent-visible

Treating skills as execution authority​

Problem:

  • guidance text is read as if it granted permission to mutate systems or bypass owner truth.

Better path:

  • use skills for sequencing and guardrails, then follow the admitted runtime or review lane for actual execution

Source Truth​

Next paths​