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Every Metabind project has two MCP server endpoints: a draft that updates instantly as you edit and a production endpoint that only changes when you publish. This separation is the same shape web teams use for staging and prod, mapped to MCP.

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The two endpoints

Metabind Studio edits flow into a draft endpoint that always reflects the latest save; promotion to the production endpoint only happens on publish.
Both endpoints are project-scoped: each project has its own URLs, and tools are isolated per project. Connecting needs an auth token, except on production when the project’s Access setting is Public.

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When to use draft

  • Metabind Studio’s test panel runs against draft.
  • Live device previews (iOS App Clip, Android Metabind app) connect to draft.
  • Connecting Claude or another MCP host to the draft endpoint lets you test the full chain before you publish: the AI picks the tool, draft runs it, and the host renders the result.
The draft endpoint reflects every save within seconds. There is no build step and no staging deploy; the draft endpoint caches for 15 seconds. Save in Metabind Studio, refresh the host, the change is live.

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When to use production

  • Connect end users’ Claude, ChatGPT, or other MCP hosts to your project’s production URL.
  • Embed your tools in your own iOS or Android app via the Assistant SDK.
  • Anything user-facing.
Production only updates when someone with publish permission publishes in Metabind Studio (Publish Components, then Publish Server). Edits in Metabind Studio do not affect production until that step.

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Connecting to the draft endpoint

The draft endpoint lives at the same host as production, with /draft appended to the project path:
To copy it, open the Server tab in Metabind Studio and switch the endpoint dropdown to Draft.
The Server tab in Metabind Studio with the endpoint dropdown open and Draft selected, showing the project's draft URL
For example, in Claude, add the draft URL as a custom connector. There’s no separate draft token. An unscoped API key, which includes every key created in Studio, reaches both endpoints. A scoped key or an OAuth token needs the execute:mcp-draft scope. Anyone with such a key can connect a host to your draft, so share it carefully.

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Connecting to the production endpoint

Same host, no /draft suffix. See Connect to Claude for the full host setup.

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Why separate endpoints

The separation answers a problem that isn’t obvious until you’ve shipped tools to real users: a small bad change can break a connected AI experience as fundamentally as a bad deploy breaks a website.
  • A renamed property breaks every host that has the old schema cached.
  • A new component reference that fails the allowlist returns errors mid-conversation.
  • A typo in a Data Tool’s handler throws on every call.
Draft is where you make those changes without consequence. Production is the audited, versioned snapshot users actually see.

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What lives at each layer

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Switching hosts between draft and production

A connected host doesn’t auto-switch. It points at whichever URL you configured. Most teams maintain two host configurations (one named <project>-draft, one named <project>-prod) and switch by selecting the connection. Some hosts let you list both side by side. In that case, label them clearly so end users don’t accidentally hit draft.

Publish the MCP server

The promote-to-production flow.

Package versioning

How published packages are pinned and rolled forward.

Connect to Claude

Configure draft and production connections.

Live device previews

Preview against the draft endpoint on real hardware.