> This page is for Agent Handler.

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.merge.dev/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.merge.dev/_mcp/server.

# Hugging Face

> Hugging Face generic MCP server on Agent Handler. Search models, datasets, and Spaces on the Hugging Face Hub.

> **Generic MCP server**
>
> Hugging Face builds and hosts this MCP server. Agent Handler proxies your agent's calls to it, so you get the same auth, [tool access controls](/merge-agent-handler/administer/managing-tool-access), and [audit trail](/merge-agent-handler/observe/audit-trail) you get on a Merge Connector. The tool surface itself comes from Hugging Face.

Search models, datasets, and Spaces on the Hugging Face Hub.

|                    |                                                              |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Type**           | Generic MCP server, hosted by Hugging Face                   |
| **Server URL**     | `https://huggingface.co/mcp`                                 |
| **Authentication** | API key                                                      |
| **Tool surface**   | Defined by Hugging Face                                      |
| **Vendor docs**    | [huggingface.co](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/agents-mcp) |

## Authentication

Hugging Face authenticates with an API key. Your end user supplies the key during [Magic Link](/merge-agent-handler/build/authentication/magic-link), and Agent Handler stores it encrypted.

## Available tools

Tools on a generic MCP server are defined by Hugging Face, not by Merge, so the list changes when Hugging Face changes it. Agent Handler discovers the current tools when the connection is made and re-discovers them on each resync, which means your agent always sees what the server actually exposes today.

To see the tools available right now, connect Hugging Face in the dashboard and open its Connector page, or read [Hugging Face's own MCP documentation](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/agents-mcp).

## How this differs from a Merge Connector

Merge Connectors are written and tested by Merge against the vendor's REST API. Merge owns the tool names, the input schemas, the error messages, and the regression tests, so the surface stays stable and the tool descriptions are tuned for agents.

A generic MCP server is the vendor's own. You get whatever the vendor ships, on the vendor's release schedule. Agent Handler still handles credential storage, OAuth, tool policy, and audit logging identically, so the governance story is the same either way.

See [Connectors overview](/merge-agent-handler/connectors/overview) for the full comparison.

Next: [Connect a Connector](/merge-agent-handler/build/authentication/magic-link)