# What does Google's Connected Apps Platform ask of an MCP server?

The Connected Apps Platform is a preview Google opened on October 28, 2026, for app developers to bring what their apps do into Gemini and Search, by a remote MCP server or by Android MCP with AppFunctions. A model reads a server's instructions and its tools' descriptions to decide when to hand a task to it, so those words now do the work a listing does, and Google's policy asks that they be honest.

By clickd. Published October 31, 2026. Updated November 1, 2026. About 7 minutes to read.

At a glance:

- October 28: Google opened the preview in 2026, for Gemini and Search. From [Google's post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/).
- 50+: Connected Apps launched between Search and Gemini. Google's own figure, in [its post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/).
- 1 billion: Users of the Gemini app, by Alphabet's count. Alphabet's own figure, in [its Q3 2026 remarks](https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q3-2026/).
- OAuth 2.1: How a user links an app, once. From [Google's developer pages](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps).

## What did Google open?

[Google's post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/) calls it "a unified way for more app developers to bring their capabilities directly into Gemini and Search". It is a preview, and Google says it is opening access in phases, adding more developers, markets and Google products over the coming months.

Apps were in Google's answers before it. [TechCrunch reported](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/16/googles-ai-mode-now-lets-you-link-and-interact-with-select-apps/) that from July 16, 2026, AI Mode in Search let users in the US link select apps, Instacart and Canva among them. Google's October post says it has launched more than 50 Connected Apps between Search and Gemini: Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are live in Gemini and coming to Search, and Calm is new in both.

How apps came into Gemini and Search, as Google and TechCrunch describe it:

- July 16, 2026: Apps in AI Mode. US users can link select apps in AI Mode in Search. ([TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/16/googles-ai-mode-now-lets-you-link-and-interact-with-select-apps/))
- October 28, 2026: The platform in preview. Any app developer can bring an app into Gemini and Search. ([Google's post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/))
- Over the coming months: Access in phases. More developers, markets and Google products. ([Google's post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/))

## How does an app get in?

By one of two ways, both set out in [Google's developer pages](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps). A remote MCP server reaches Gemini and Search on the web, Android and iOS. Android MCP with AppFunctions brings an Android app's own functions. Either way the app is registered, tested and submitted in the Google Connected Console. [Google's post](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/) adds that a developer chooses Search, the Gemini app or both before review, and tracks traffic, latency and error rates once the app is live.

How an app reaches Gemini and Search, from Google's developer pages and its October 28 post:

1. Build the way in: A remote MCP server, or Android MCP with AppFunctions.
2. Register and test: In the Google Connected Console.
3. Choose where, then submit: Search, Gemini or both, chosen before review.
4. Watch it run: Traffic, latency and error rates, once it is live.

Two ways in feeds step 1, filled from: A remote MCP server; Android MCP with AppFunctions.

A user links an app once, and the link is authorized with OAuth 2.1.

## Why do the server's own words matter?

[Google's MCP guide](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/mcp) says a server's instructions are what models use to decide when to delegate to it, and asks for detailed descriptions of every parameter. So the instructions and each tool's description are what a model reads before it hands anything to your app. They do the work a listing does, and they are read by a model, not skimmed by a person.

That makes them the words worth getting right, and [Google's policy](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/connected-apps-policy) says which way: descriptions must be honest and accurate, and a description of what an app can do written to get it chosen over another app is deceptive and not allowed.

> Policy: [Google's policy](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/connected-apps-policy) also allows no third-party advertising, asks for the least data an app needs, and prohibits apps that keep erroring, timing out or failing authentication. A server that is described well but fails when called is out either way.

## What does Google ask of an MCP server?

These, from [Google's MCP guide](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/mcp), with what its policy adds about the words.

| What Google asks | What it means for the server |
| --- | --- |
| A public HTTPS endpoint | The server answers on the public web, over https. |
| Clear server instructions | Words that say what the server does and when to use it. Models read them to decide when to delegate. |
| Annotations on every tool | `readOnlyHint` on a tool that only reads and `destructiveHint` on one that changes or removes something. Operations that need a confirmation are marked in the Google Connected Console. |
| Explicit argument types | Each argument has a type, and each parameter a detailed description. |
| UI resources, if you want them | Optional: interactive widgets bound to a tool's output, shown in sandboxed iframes in the conversation. |
| Testing before you submit | The MCP Inspector against the server running locally, then Gemini Developer Mode once it is on its public address. |
| Honest descriptions | From the policy: accurate, and never written to be chosen over another app. |

### A checklist for your MCP server

- Serve it at a public https address.
- Write server instructions that say plainly what it does and when a model should use it, and nothing it does not do.
- Give every tool `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint`, and mark the operations that need a confirmation in the Google Connected Console.
- Give every argument an explicit type and every parameter a detailed description.
- Ask for the least data the app needs, and show no third-party advertising.
- Keep it from erroring, timing out or failing authentication, and watch the error rates once it is live.
- Test it with the MCP Inspector and in Gemini Developer Mode before you submit it.

## How does clickd's own MCP server measure up?

clickd has an MCP server of its own, so here it is held to the same list, from its own code. Nothing here says clickd is in Google's program: it is clickd's server against Google's published list, and no more.

| What Google asks | clickd's server |
| --- | --- |
| A public HTTPS endpoint | Yes. Served at `https://clickd.com/mcp`. |
| Clear server instructions | Yes. Sent when a client first connects: what clickd does, the loop for fixing a site, and that a score does not mean an assistant cites a site. |
| Annotations on every tool | Yes. Every tool has a title, `readOnlyHint` and `openWorldHint`; each tool that changes something has `destructiveHint` too, true only for the one that removes something. |
| Confirmation where it is needed | Yes. The one tool that removes something is marked destructive, so a client can ask first. On a site set to approve, an agent waits for a person's Approve before it deploys a change. |
| Explicit argument types | Yes. Every argument has a type and a description, and a fixed set of values where there is one. |
| Linking with OAuth 2.1 | Yes. An agent connects by OAuth with PKCE, S256 only. A key works too. |
| UI resources | Not yet. clickd has no interactive UI resources (MCP Apps); every reply is text and data. |

Its instructions and tool descriptions are written to say what each call does and nothing it does not. Most of its tools only read clickd's own records; the ones that fetch a live page or ask an assistant say so with `openWorldHint`.

## Where does clickd fit in?

An app gets into Gemini and Search through its server. A business gets into an answer through its site: an assistant decides whom to recommend from what it can read there. clickd reads a site the way crawlers and assistants do, checks every page against one rulebook, and lists the fixes worth the most first.

Read your site: https://clickd.com/read?domain=<address>. Read your site with clickd: every page held to one rulebook, and the fixes worth the most listed first.

A score or a rule passed says pages are well formed. It does not say an assistant cites the site. A site an assistant can read is one it can recommend; whether it does is the assistant's to decide.

## How do you connect clickd to your agent?

Add clickd's MCP server to your agent once, then ask it to read your site and work through the fixes. See [connecting an agent](https://clickd.com/agents) for every client, and [Gemini CLI](https://clickd.com/agents/gemini) for Google's own.

Claude Code, in one line:

```
claude mcp add --transport http clickd https://clickd.com/mcp
```

Read and fix a site with clickd. Hand this to your agent:

> Use clickd to read yoursite.com. Fix the three things worth the most, one at a time, in the templates that make the pages, using only facts the pages already state. After I deploy, have clickd read the site again and tell me what changed.

The calls it makes: `mttr_brief({ site: "yoursite.com" })`, `mttr_rescan({ site: "yoursite.com" })`, `mttr_changes({ site: "yoursite.com" })`.

## What do people ask about Connected Apps?

### What is the Connected Apps Platform?

A preview Google opened on October 28, 2026, for app developers to bring what their apps do into Gemini and Search, by a remote MCP server or by Android MCP with AppFunctions. Access opens in phases.

### How does an app get in?

It is registered, tested and submitted in the Google Connected Console. Before review the developer chooses Search, Gemini or both, and once it is live the console shows its traffic, latency and error rates.

### How does a user link an app?

Once, and the link is authorized with OAuth 2.1.

### What does Google ask of an MCP server?

A public HTTPS endpoint, clear server instructions, annotations on every tool with confirmation where it is needed, explicit argument types with detailed parameter descriptions, and testing with the MCP Inspector and Gemini Developer Mode. UI resources are optional.

### Can a description be written to get an app chosen?

Not by Google's policy. Descriptions must be honest and accurate, and a description of what an app can do written to get it chosen over another app is deceptive and not allowed.

### Is clickd a Connected App?

Nothing here says it is. This guide holds clickd's own MCP server to the list Google published: of what a server itself must have, it lacks only interactive UI resources, which Google makes optional.

## Sources

- [Build and manage Connected Apps in one place](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/connected-apps-one-place/): Google, by Chips Mistry and Mai Lowe, October 28, 2026. The preview, access in phases, and the apps live so far
- [Q3 2026 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO](https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q3-2026/): Alphabet, October 28, 2026. The Gemini app's users
- [Connected Apps Platform](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps): Google for Developers. The two ways in, the Google Connected Console, and linking with OAuth 2.1
- [Connected Apps Platform MCP server developer guide](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/mcp): Google for Developers. What a remote MCP server needs
- [Connected Apps Platform policy](https://developers.google.com/connected-apps/connected-apps-policy): Google for Developers. Honest descriptions, no third-party advertising, the least data, and reliability
- [Google's AI Mode now lets you link and interact with select apps](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/16/googles-ai-mode-now-lets-you-link-and-interact-with-select-apps/): TechCrunch, July 16, 2026. Apps in AI Mode for US users

## Where the figures come from

Every figure on this page is Google's or Alphabet's own, from the pages listed under Sources. None is counted by clickd, and nothing here says Google will show an app or a site.