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Integrations

The Core Idea: Apps as MCP Wrappers

ORQO agents interact with external services through tools — and the standard for tool servers is MCP (Model Context Protocol). An MCP server exposes tools that agents can call: search the web, read a file, query a database.

But standard MCP servers can't do everything. They can't manage OAuth flows. They can't receive webhooks. They can't route incoming messages to the right conversation. They can't handle channel-based delivery (Slack threads, email replies, SMS).

Apps are wrappers around MCP servers that handle everything a standard MCP can't. An App adds:

What standard MCP doesWhat the App wrapper adds
Exposes tools to agentsTool discovery — fetches and registers the MCP server's tools automatically
OAuth — manages token acquisition, storage, and refresh
Webhooks — receives inbound events from the platform
Channels — routes messages to/from contacts on the platform
Delivery — sends agent output back through the right adapter
Credentials — manages API keys and links them to the MCP tools
Manifest — one-click setup from a single configuration URL

The MCP server is still at the center — it provides the tools. The App wraps it with the infrastructure that makes a real-world integration work end to end. When you register an App, ORQO connects to its MCP server, discovers the available tools, and makes them assignable to agents via Skills.

Integration Mechanisms

MechanismDirectionUse case
Apps & ChannelsBothFull bidirectional platform integrations (Slack, email, etc.)
WebhooksInboundReceive events from any HTTP-capable system
APIBothProgrammatic access — trigger workflows, receive callbacks

Apps vs. API

Apps are for platform-to-platform connections with rich features: message parsing, delivery adapters, OAuth flows, and channel routing. Use Apps when you're integrating with a specific platform like Slack or email.

The API is for programmatic control. Use it when you want to trigger workflows from your own code, CI/CD pipelines, or monitoring systems.

Both can be used together — an App handles the Slack integration while your API triggers the workflow that produces the Slack message.