System connectors

System connectors operate on Aperture itself. They are always present on the gateway, without an entry under connectors.servers, and you cannot remove or disable them. They are the only connectors that can have the reserved system label. The aperture connector is currently the only system connector.

The built-in connectors Tailnet and TailnetSSH are not system connectors. Like verified connectors, they appear in the registry with known defaults and a brand icon, and you configure them under connectors.servers. Guided setup assigns the restricted label, which admins can edit.

System tools and availability

The system-tool inventory can change with Aperture releases. Tool availability depends on gateway configuration and user identity, and every tool requires a matching connector grant. MCP clients prepend aperture_ to each tool name, such as aperture_list_sessions.

For the current list of available tools, descriptions, and input schemas for your user identity, refer to Discover and call tools. Calling MCP tools/list returns the active tools and their inputSchema rather than relying on a static reference.

HTTP discovery and web tools

The list_connectors tool requires at least one configured HTTP connector and is available only over MCP. The web_search and web_fetch tools require the web-search service configured for the gateway by Tailscale. In Chat, web search and fetching use the separate Web capability rather than these connector tool names.

Tool name	Purpose
list_connectors	Discover HTTP API connectors the user can access.
web_search	Search the web.
web_fetch	Fetch web page content.

Session tools

Session tools do not require an optional gateway capability, but they do require an authenticated user identity and a matching grant. They inspect your own recorded sessions and are available in Chat and over MCP. If data retention policies have removed captured request or response bodies, that content is unavailable.

Tool name	Purpose
list_sessions	List your recorded sessions and their summary metrics.
get_session	Inspect one of your sessions and its recorded requests.
get_session_request	Inspect one request's stored request and response data and metrics.

Skill tools

Skill tools require skills to be enabled on the gateway and require the user to have a personal skills library: a signed-in personal identity with Chat access. Tagged-device identities do not qualify. Invoking or listing these tools also requires a matching connector grant. These prerequisites apply to both MCP and Chat. When a user lacks a personal library, Aperture omits these tools from MCP tools/list. The import_skill tool is MCP-only; the other five tools are also available in Chat.

Tool name	Purpose
list_skills	List personal, organization, and Aperture-provided skills.
get_skill	Inspect a skill's details and files.
set_skill_enabled	Enable or disable a skill for yourself. Required organization skills cannot be disabled.
rename_skill	Rename a personal skill.
delete_skill	Permanently delete a personal skill and all its versions.
import_skill	Import a skill archive into your personal library.

Missing or withheld tools do not remove the aperture connector from the gateway. Conversely, a grant cannot make an unavailable tool available.

Discover HTTP connectors

An agent calls aperture_list_connectors through /v1/mcp to discover authenticated HTTP API proxies. The tool returns only HTTP connectors for which the user has a matching connectorID/proxy grant, including broader wildcard or label grants. It does not disclose connectors the user cannot access.

The returned connector information helps the agent construct requests to /v1/connectors/<id>/<path>. It includes the connector's description and context, so do not put secrets or sensitive information in those fields. Access to the system tool does not grant access to the HTTP proxies it describes.

For a setup procedure and example response, refer to Set up an HTTP API connector.

Grants for system tools

System tools use the same grant checks as other connectors. There is no authorization bypass for a system connector. The aperture connector has the system label by default, and the shipped default configuration grants label:system to all users.

Grants use the unprefixed tool name, while MCP clients use the connector-prefixed name. For example, grant aperture/tools/list_connectors to permit the MCP tool aperture_list_connectors.

Choose a pattern for the access you want to provide:

• label:system grants the whole connector while it has the system label.
• aperture/** grants all capabilities of the aperture connector.
• aperture/tools/* grants all registered tools of the aperture connector.
• aperture/tools/web_search grants only the web search tool.

If you remove the default grant, users need another matching grant. Chat hides connectors that a user's grants deny, including from admins. For the setup procedure, refer to Grant access to MCP tools.

System labels and reserved IDs

The system label identifies the aperture system connector; it does not indicate data sensitivity. For reserved-label rules, refer to the reserved system label.

The aperture ID is reserved and cannot be used for a configured connector. Refer to connector ID rules and validation errors.