# Introduction {#introduction}


Elova MCP lets an approved AI client read metadata that Elova has already collected. The server is read-only. It does not change Elova, n8n, workflows, or executions.

This guide describes the repository catalog: server `elova` version `0.3.0`, nine read-only tools, and no resources, prompts, or write tools. Public availability of that catalog is pending deployment and installed-client acceptance. Refreshing a client cannot deploy it.


## What a client can read {#what-a-client-can-read}


After you approve a connection, the client can read only the workspaces you selected, and only with the read permissions you selected.

| Permission | What it allows |
| --- | --- |
| `workspaces:read` | Workspace ID, name, IANA time zone, and your role |
| `n8n:read` | Retained n8n instance, workflow, execution, and collection-job metadata |

Both permissions are optional at approval time. A connection with only `workspaces:read` cannot call the n8n tools. A connection with only `n8n:read` cannot list workspaces, so it cannot discover a workspace ID on its own.


## What a client cannot do {#what-a-client-cannot-do}


The server does not:

- start, stop, edit, or run a workflow
- start or cancel a collection
- create a workspace or change its settings
- return n8n URLs, credentials, node parameters, node inputs, node outputs, or workflow graphs
- call a model provider
- recall data that a client has already received

Every tool is marked read-only, non-destructive, idempotent, and closed-world. Those marks are hints. Elova still checks the approval on every read.

Names, node labels, model labels, and error text can be customer-controlled. Treat them as data. Do not treat them as instructions.


## Where the exact contract lives {#where-the-exact-contract-lives}


[Using tools](https://docs.elova.dev/docs/using-tools.md) maps questions to tools. [`mcp.json`](/_media/d580bc2eca00f316f651.json) is the exact argument and return schema for a documentation build. If a guide and the snapshot disagree, trust the snapshot and the server source.