Add tools and skills
Use the Unity Gateway CLI (ug) to add MCP servers and shared skills to your coding agent. MCP tools provide access to data and services; skills provide instructions for your team's tasks and workflows.
For manual setup, see your coding agent's guide under Supported coding agents.
Before you begin
Install and configure ug. You need access to the MCP servers or skills you want to use, including any underlying data and services.
You need an installed, configured MCP-capable agent, including for skill downloads. MCP connections apply to all your configured agents that support MCP.
For skills, your admin must enable the Beta feature. See Govern skills.
After changing your setup, restart your agent with its usual ug command.
Add MCP tools
Choose MCP servers
ug mcp add
Sign in if prompted, then choose servers in the picker. Type to filter, press Space to select, and Enter to confirm.
Existing connections are kept. In your agent, ask it to use a tool by describing the task.
Choose MCP servers by name
To add MCP servers by name, use their full Unity Catalog names (<catalog>.<schema>.<server-name>):
ug mcp add --names system.ai.github,system.ai.slack
To add every MCP server in a schema:
ug mcp add --location "<catalog>.<schema>"
Add other Databricks MCP servers
For resources outside the MCP server picker, use a selector with --names:
Resource | Selector |
|---|---|
Vector Search indexes in a schema |
|
Unity Catalog functions in a schema |
|
External MCP server connection |
|
Genie space |
|
MCP server hosted in a Databricks app |
|
For example, connect a Genie space:
ug mcp add --names "genie-space:<space-id>"
Replace <space-id> with the Genie space ID.
Check and remove connections
List the MCP servers configured by ug:
ug mcp list
To remove connections you added:
ug mcp remove
Select the servers to remove and press Enter. Each selected connection is removed from all agents where you added it. The MCP server itself remains available in the workspace.
Add skills
You can use skills in two ways:
- Download skills: Your agent discovers and uses local skill files through its native skill workflow.
- Use skills through MCP: Your agent retrieves instructions from the published skill registry when it uses a skill, without local files to manage.
Download skills
ug skills add
Select the skills to download in the picker.
ug downloads each complete skill folder, including SKILL.md and supporting files, into both ~/.claude/skills/ and ~/.agents/skills/. Ask your agent to use the skill by name. See your agent's guide for its skill commands.
To download specific skills, use their full Unity Catalog names:
ug skills add --names "<catalog>.<schema>.<skill-name>"
To download all skills in a schema:
ug skills add --location "<catalog>.<schema>"
Both options accept comma-separated names. Use --names or --location in a command, not both. Re-run the same command to fetch updates; ug prompts before overwriting existing skill folders.
Downloading also enables the skill registry's discovery and loading tools, without changing schemas already connected through MCP.
Download skills into a project
From your project directory, run:
ug skills add --path "$PWD"
Choose your skills. ug writes them under the project's .claude/skills/ and .agents/skills/ directories. You can also combine --path with --names or --location.
--path must point to an existing, absolute project directory. Use project downloads with ug gemini, which uses a separate home directory for agent settings.
Connect to published skills through MCP
To choose schemas whose skills your agent can use through MCP:
ug skills add --via mcp
Select the schemas in the picker. To specify a schema directly:
ug skills add --location "<catalog>.<schema>" --via mcp
ug adds these schemas to the skill registry connection, keeping any already connected. You cannot combine --via mcp with --path or --names.
In your agent, ask it to use a published skill:
Use <catalog>.<schema>.<skill-name> to review this query.
You can also ask the agent to list skills in a schema. Skills loaded through MCP might not appear in the agent's native skill menu.
List skills
ug skills list
Remove skills
To select downloaded skills for removal:
ug skills remove
To remove a particular skill from your current project:
ug skills remove --names "<catalog>.<schema>.<skill-name>" --path "$PWD"
Use --location "<catalog>.<schema>" instead of --names to remove all downloads from a schema. Without --path, removal includes copies downloaded by ug across your user and project directories. Published skills remain in Unity Catalog.
To remove a schema from the live MCP connection:
ug skills remove --location "<catalog>.<schema>" --via mcp
Omit --location to choose schemas in a picker. Removing a schema leaves downloaded files and the registry's discovery tools in place.