---
title: "Claude Managed Agents — MCP compatibility"
description: "Credentials live in a vault keyed by server URL, in one of two shapes: a static bearer token, or an OAuth access token with an optional refresh block. The agent declares servers; the session supplies credentials."
canonicalUrl: "https://zuplo.com/learn/mcp/compatibility/clients/claude-managed-agents"
pageType: "mcp-client"
kind: "Hosted agent runtime"
verified: "2026-07-31"
---

# Claude Managed Agents

> Credentials live in a vault keyed by server URL, in one of two shapes: a static bearer token, or an OAuth access token with an optional refresh block. The agent declares servers; the session supplies credentials.

_Hosted agent runtime. Protocol revision: `initialize` era._

## Support

- **stdio** — No
- **Streamable HTTP** — Yes
- **Legacy HTTP+SSE** — Partial
- **Protocol revision** — `initialize` era
- **Runs the OAuth flow** — No
- **Registration (RFC 7591)** — No
- **Metadata document** — No
- **Pre-registered client ID** — Partial
- **Sends resource (RFC 8707)** — Unknown
- **Validates iss (RFC 9207)** — Unknown
- **Custom headers** — No

**Protocol revision.** `initialize`. The credential validation endpoint reports its probe method as `initialize`.

## Caveats and sources

Each one names the column it qualifies and cites the page it comes from, which is often not the page in the row's primary source.

### Legacy HTTP+SSE

Documented as an automatic fallback: servers that support only the deprecated SSE transport still work, though the guidance is to support Streamable HTTP.

[Source](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/managed-agents/reference)

### Pre-registered client ID

Refresh only. An `mcp_oauth` credential's optional refresh block takes a token endpoint, client ID, scope, and refresh token, and Anthropic refreshes the access token when it expires. You still obtain the first token yourself.

[Source](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/managed-agents/vaults)

### Custom headers

A server entry takes a type, a name, and a URL, with no header field. The vault's `environment_variable` credentials are a different mechanism: the secret is substituted at egress from the sandbox for the agent's own outbound calls, not on the MCP connection, and a client that signs a request from the secret produces an invalid signature.

[Source](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/managed-agents/mcp-connector)

[Primary source](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/managed-agents/vaults)

_This row was last verified 2026-07-31 against the 2026-07-28 revision._

- **Clients** — [every client in the matrix](/learn/mcp/compatibility/clients)