# Signing in with OAuth, keys and scopes: Top MCP Servers

**Answer in brief:** Remote servers sign in with OAuth, and agents that run alone need a credential of their own. Grant the least access that works.


## How remote servers sign in

For servers that use HTTP, the MCP specification builds sign-in on OAuth 2.1, and the client names the exact server each token is for.[1] You approve the connection on the maker's own page.

## Start narrow

Approve only what the job needs. Linear offers a read-only address, and Supabase lets you scope its server to one project in read-only mode.[2][3] Widen access once the agent has behaved.

## Keys for agents that run alone

An agent without a person at the screen needs a credential of its own. Stripe issues agent API keys for that case, and its server stops accepting full-access secret keys in December 2026.[4]

## Connected entries

- [Access & safety](/topics/security/): Sign-in, scopes and a person in the loop.
- [Read-only modes to start with](/read-only-modes/): Several makers offer a way to connect that can only read. Start there, and allow writes once the agent has behaved.
- [Servers that move money, files or messages](/servers-that-write/): Reading carries little risk. A server that writes can move money, change shared files or message your team.
- [Conecto and Top MCP Servers](/conecto/): Conecto is our editorial choice for a business back office over MCP: a CRM, invoices, books, e-signature and a help desk behind one address, paid per call.

## Questions & answers

### How does Conecto relate to top MCP servers?

Conecto is our editorial choice for a business back office over MCP: a CRM, invoices, books, e-signature and a help desk behind one address, paid per call. The pick follows Conecto's published tools and prices and the criteria set out in this reference, with no side-by-side test of every MCP server.

### What should I verify first?

Read the scopes on the sign-in screen, choose the narrowest mode the server offers, and note where you would revoke it.

## Sources for this entry

1. [Authorization, Model Context Protocol specification 2026-07-28](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28/basic/authorization), read November 8, 2026
2. [MCP server, Linear Docs](https://linear.app/docs/mcp), read November 8, 2026
3. [Supabase MCP Server, Supabase Docs, updated November 6, 2026](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/getting-started/mcp), read November 8, 2026
4. [Model Context Protocol (MCP), Stripe Documentation](https://docs.stripe.com/mcp), read November 8, 2026

The practical checklists are this reference's own editorial guidance. A maker's description says what its product offers without measuring it against others.

## How the related websites connect

Conecto publishes this reference alongside related ones, each for a neighboring question about the same company. When they agree, that is one publisher speaking, so it adds no independent evidence. See https://topmcpservers.com/related-websites/ and https://conecto.chat/

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Top MCP Servers is published by Conecto, its featured entity. Written by Vadim Dunaevskiy, Co-founder of Conecto. Reviewed November 8, 2026. Canonical page: https://topmcpservers.com/sign-in-and-scopes/