How to integrate Algolia MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Algolia to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Algolia agent that can export all records from products index, clear all objects from blog_posts index, copy index settings from staging to production through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Algolia account through Composio's Algolia MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Algolia logoAlgolia
Api Key

Algolia is a hosted search API that powers lightning-fast, relevant search experiences for web and mobile apps. It helps developers deliver instant, typo-tolerant, and scalable search without complex infrastructure.

127 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Algolia to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Algolia agent that can export all records from products index, clear all objects from blog_posts index, copy index settings from staging to production through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Algolia account through Composio's Algolia MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Algolia
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Algolia as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Algolia operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Algolia MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Algolia MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Algolia account. It provides structured and secure access to your search indices, so your agent can perform actions like browsing records, managing index settings, running A/B tests, copying configurations, and tracking search events on your behalf.

  • Comprehensive index browsing and export: Easily direct your agent to retrieve and iterate through all records in any Algolia index for analysis, backup, or migration tasks.
  • Automated A/B test management: Set up, launch, and monitor A/B tests to compare search performance between different index variants or configurations—all without manual coding.
  • Index and rule duplication: Quickly copy entire indices, settings, or query rules from one index to another, streamlining your search deployment and versioning workflows.
  • Bulk index cleanup and resets: Instruct your agent to clear all objects or rules in an index while keeping configurations intact, letting you efficiently manage large data updates or reindexing processes.
  • Real-time event tracking: Capture user interactions like clicks and conversions, enabling your agent to report search analytics and optimize relevance based on actual user behavior.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Algolia project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
3

Install dependencies

npm install @composio/openai-agents @openai/agents dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Algolia.
6

Set up the Composio instance

dotenv.config();

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv.config() loads your .env file so COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.
7

Create a Tool Router session

// Create Tool Router session for Algolia
const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
  toolkits: ['algolia'],
});
const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only algolia.
  • The router checks the user's Algolia connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Algolia.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Algolia tools only when needed during the conversation.
8

Configure the agent

// Configure agent with MCP tool
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  model: 'gpt-5',
  instructions:
    'You are a helpful assistant that can access Algolia. Help users perform Algolia operations through natural language.',
  tools: [
    hostedMcpTool({
      serverLabel: 'tool_router',
      serverUrl: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
      requireApproval: 'never',
    }),
  ],
});
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Algolia and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a hostedMcpTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers object includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • requireApproval: 'never' means the agent can execute Algolia operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.
9

Start chat loop and handle conversation

// Keep conversation state across turns
const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

// Simple CLI
const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: 'You: ',
});

console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

try {
  const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
  console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
} catch (e) {
  console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
}

rl.prompt();

rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
  const text = userInput.trim();

  if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log('Goodbye!');
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!text) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  try {
    const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();
});

rl.on('close', () => {
  console.log('\n👋 Session ended.');
  process.exit(0);
});
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Algolia.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using run().
  • The responses are printed to the console.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Algolia and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});

async function main() {
  // Create Tool Router session
  const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
    toolkits: ['algolia'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  // Configure agent with MCP tool
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: 'Assistant',
    model: 'gpt-5',
    instructions:
      'You are a helpful assistant that can access Algolia. Help users perform Algolia operations through natural language.',
    tools: [
      hostedMcpTool({
        serverLabel: 'tool_router',
        serverUrl: mcpUrl,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
        requireApproval: 'never',
      }),
    ],
  });

  // Keep conversation state across turns
  const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

  // Simple CLI
  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: ',
  });

  console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
  console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
  console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

  try {
    const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
    const text = userInput.trim();

    if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log('Goodbye!');
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!text) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    try {
      const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
      console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
    } catch (e) {
      console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on('close', () => {
    console.log('\nSession ended.');
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error('Fatal error:', err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Algolia MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Algolia.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Algolia action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Add AB Test

Tool to create an A/B test comparing search performance between two index variants.

Add or Replace Record

Tool to add or replace a specific record in an index by objectID.

Add Record to Index

Tool to add a record to an index with auto-generated objectID.

Browse Algolia Index

Tool to retrieve all records from an index.

Clear Objects

Tool to clear records of an index without affecting settings.

Clear Rules

Tool to delete all rules in an index.

Clear Synonyms

Tool to delete all synonyms from an index.

Clicked Object IDs

Tool to send a click event to Algolia to capture clicked items.

Clicked Object IDs After Search

Tool to send a click event after a search response.

Converted Object IDs

Tool to send a conversion event for items outside of search context.

Copy Index

Tool to copy the specified index to a new index.

Create API Key

Tool to create a new API key with specific permissions and restrictions.

Create Authentication

Tool to create a new authentication resource in Algolia.

Create Destination

Tool to create a new destination in Algolia Ingestion API.

Create Ingestion Task

Tool to create a new ingestion task connecting a source to a destination in Algolia.

Create or Update Recommend Rules

Tool to create or update a batch of Recommend Rules in an index.

Create Query Suggestions Config

Tool to create a new Query Suggestions configuration for an Algolia index.

Create Source

Tool to create a new data source in Algolia Ingestion API.

Create Transformation

Tool to create a new transformation in Algolia Ingestion API.

Delete AB Test

Tool to delete an A/B test by its unique identifier.

Delete API Key

Tool to delete an API key.

Delete Authentication

Tool to delete an authentication resource from Algolia.

Delete Query Suggestions Config

Tool to delete a Query Suggestions configuration for the specified index.

Delete Destination

Tool to delete a destination in Algolia Ingestion API.

Delete Index

Tool to delete the specified index and all its records.

Delete Multiple Records

Tool to delete multiple records from an Algolia index.

Delete Recommend Rule

Tool to delete a Recommend rule from a recommendation scenario.

Delete Records by Filter

Tool to delete records matching a filter from an Algolia index.

Delete Rule

Tool to delete the specified rule from an index.

Delete Source

Tool to delete a source from the Algolia Ingestion API.

Delete Synonym

Tool to delete a synonym from a specified index.

Delete Transformation

Tool to delete a transformation in Algolia Ingestion API.

Delete User Profile

Tool to delete a user profile from personalization.

Delete User Token

Tool to delete all events related to a user token from events metrics and analytics.

Batch Operations on Multiple Indices

Tool to perform batch operations (add, update, delete) across multiple Algolia indices in a single request.

Export Rules

Tool to export all rules defined on an index.

Find Object

Tool to find the first object matching a query or filter in an index.

Get A/B Test

Tool to retrieve detailed information about an A/B test by its ID.

Get Add to Cart Rate

Tool to retrieve add-to-cart rate metrics for e-commerce search analytics.

Get API Key

Tool to retrieve the permissions and details of a specific API key.

Get App Task Status

Tool to check the status of an application task.

Get Authentication

Tool to retrieve an authentication resource by its ID.

Get Average Click Position

Tool to retrieve average click position metrics from Algolia Analytics.

Get Click Positions

Tool to retrieve the distribution of clicks by position from Algolia Analytics.

Get Click Through Rate

Tool to retrieve click-through rate (CTR) for searches with at least one click event.

Get Query Suggestions Config

Tool to retrieve a Query Suggestions configuration by index name.

Get Personalization Config

Tool to retrieve the advanced personalization configuration.

Get Conversion Rate

Tool to retrieve conversion rate for searches with conversion events.

Get Destination

Tool to retrieve a destination by its ID.

Get Dictionary Languages

Tool to list available languages for dictionary entries.

Get Dictionary Settings

Tool to retrieve dictionary settings for all dictionaries.

Get Logs

Tool to retrieve log entries for API requests made to your Algolia application.

Get No Click Rate

Tool to retrieve the rate of searches that received no clicks.

Get No Results Rate

Tool to retrieve the fraction of searches that didn't return any results.

Get No Results Searches

Tool to retrieve the most frequent searches that produced zero results.

Get Object Position

Tool to retrieve an object’s position in a result set.

Get multiple objects

Tool to retrieve multiple records from an index.

Get Purchase Rate

Tool to retrieve purchase rate metrics for searches that led to purchase events.

Get Recommend Rule

Tool to retrieve a Recommend rule that was previously created in the Algolia dashboard.

Get Recommend Task Status

Tool to check the status of a Recommend task.

Get Record from Index

Tool to retrieve a specific record from an index by its objectID.

Get Revenue

Tool to retrieve revenue data from Algolia Analytics.

Get Rule

Tool to retrieve a specific rule by its objectID from an index.

Get Searches Count

Tool to retrieve the number of searches within a time range, including a daily breakdown.

Get Searches No Clicks

Tool to retrieve top searches that did not receive any clicks.

Get Index Settings

Tool to retrieve the settings of a specified index.

Get Source

Tool to retrieve a source from the Algolia Ingestion API.

Get Synonym

Tool to retrieve a specific synonym by its objectID.

Get Task Status

Tool to check the status of an asynchronous task.

Get Top Countries

Tool to retrieve top countries by search volume for a specified index.

Get Top Filter Attributes

Tool to retrieve top filter attributes from Algolia Analytics.

Get Top Filter For Attribute

Tool to retrieve top filter values for a specific attribute from Algolia Analytics.

Get Top Filters No Results

Tool to retrieve top filters for searches that returned no results from Algolia Analytics.

Get Top Hits

Tool to retrieve the object IDs of the most frequent search results from Algolia Analytics.

Get Top Searches

Tool to retrieve the most popular searches from Algolia Analytics.

Get Transformation

Tool to retrieve a transformation by its ID from Algolia's Ingestion API.

Get Usage Statistics

Tool to retrieve Algolia usage statistics over a specified time period.

Get Usage for Index

Tool to retrieve usage statistics for a specific Algolia index over a time period.

Get Users

Tool to retrieve a list of user profiles from Algolia advanced personalization.

Get Users Count

Tool to retrieve the number of unique users within a time range, including daily breakdown.

Index Exists

Tool to check if an Algolia index exists.

Init Insights API Client

Tool to initialize the Algolia Insights API client.

List AB Tests

Tool to list all A/B tests configured for this application.

List API Keys

Tool to list all API keys associated with your Algolia application, including their permissions and restrictions.

List Authentications

Tool to list authentication resources from Algolia.

List Destinations

Tool to list destinations in Algolia.

List Indices

Tool to list all indices and their metadata.

List Ingestion Tasks

Tool to retrieve a list of ingestion tasks from Algolia.

List Query Suggestions Configurations

Tool to retrieve all Query Suggestions configurations for an Algolia application.

List Task Runs

Tool to list task runs.

List Sources

Tool to list sources from the Algolia Ingestion API.

List Transformations

Tool to list all transformations in Algolia Ingestion API.

Partial Update Objects

Tool to partially update multiple records in the specified index.

Push Records to Task

Tool to push records to an Algolia task by task ID.

Replace All Rules

Tool to push a new set of rules, erasing previous ones.

Replace Task

Tool to fully replace a task in Algolia Ingestion API.

Restore API Key

Tool to restore a deleted API key within 72 hours of deletion.

Save Rule

Tool to create or replace a rule in an index.

Save Synonym

Tool to add or update a synonym in the specified index.

Save Synonyms

Tool to batch create or replace synonyms in an Algolia index.

Search Authentications

Tool to search for authentication resources by IDs in Algolia.

Search Destinations

Tool to search for specific destinations by their IDs.

Search Dictionary Entries

Tool to search dictionary entries in Algolia dictionaries.

Search Facet Values

Tool to search for values of a specified facet attribute.

Search Algolia Index

Tool to perform a search on a specified Algolia index.

Search Multiple Indices

Tool to perform searches across multiple indices in a single call.

Search Recommend Rules

Tool to search for Recommend rules in the specified index and model.

Search Sources

Tool to search for sources by IDs in Algolia Ingestion API.

Search Synonyms

Tool to search for synonyms in the specified index.

Search Transformations

Tool to search for transformations by IDs in Algolia Ingestion API.

Set Dictionary Settings

Tool to update dictionary settings for Algolia.

Set Personalization Strategy

Tool to define personalization strategy that controls how user behavior affects search results.

Set Index Settings

Tool to update an Algolia index's settings.

Stop AB Test

Tool to stop an A/B test by its unique identifier.

Try Transformation

Tool to try a transformation before creating it in Algolia.

Try Transformation Before Update

Tool to test a transformation before updating it in Algolia Ingestion API.

Update API Key

Tool to update the permissions and settings of an existing API key.

Update Authentication

Tool to update an authentication resource in Algolia.

Update Query Suggestions Config

Tool to update an existing Query Suggestions configuration.

Update Destination

Tool to update a destination in Algolia Ingestion API.

Update Dictionary Entries

Tool to add or delete dictionary entries in Algolia dictionaries.

Update Record Partially

Tool to add or update attributes in a single record.

Update Source

Tool to update a source in the Algolia Ingestion API.

Update Task

Tool to partially update a task in Algolia Ingestion API.

Update Transformation

Tool to update an existing transformation in Algolia Ingestion API.

Validate Source

Tool to validate a source payload before creating it in Algolia.

Validate Source Before Update

Tool to validate a source update payload in the Algolia Ingestion API.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Algolia MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Algolia tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Algolia and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Algolia tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Algolia scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Algolia data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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