---
title: Action Gateway How-Tos (public)
description: Task-focused guides for connecting tools, creating toolbelts, managing approvals, and tracking Action Gateway usage.
product: Managed Agents
url: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/
last_updated: "2026-09-21"
---

> **For AI agents:** The documentation index is at [https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt](https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of pages use the same URL with `index.html.md` in place of the HTML page (for example, append `index.html.md` to the directory path instead of opening the HTML document).

# Action Gateway How-Tos (public)

Generated on 13 Oct 2026

Action Gateway gives applications and AI agents governed access to tens of thousands of tools through a managed MCP endpoint or SDK. See [What You Can Build](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/agent-harness-runtime/details/what-you-can-build/index.html.md) for example use cases of Action Gateway with Harness Runtime.

## Connect Tools

[How to Connect Action Gateway Tools](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/connect-action-gateway/index.html.md): Connect your application or coding agent to an Action Gateway session using MCP, the Python SDK, or the TypeScript SDK.

[How to Authorize Providers with Connections](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/manage-connections/index.html.md): Create Action Gateway connections for provider accounts and use actors to select which connections a session uses.

[How to Add a Custom Tool Provider](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/add-custom-tool-provider/index.html.md): Add a remote MCP server to Action Gateway with no authentication, an API key, or an OAuth connection.

[How to Connect Private Tools to Action Gateway](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/use-private-tools/index.html.md): Connect Action Gateway to a provider in your VPC and use its tools from an MCP client.

[How to Use Tool Playground](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/use-tool-playground/index.html.md): Use Action Gateway Tool Playground to find and run tools in a model conversation, then inspect calls and results.

## Manage Tool Access

[How to Create and Use Toolbelts](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/create-toolbelts/index.html.md): Group Action Gateway tools into a versioned Toolbelt, then select that version in a session or environment spec.

[How to Manage Action Gateway Sessions](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/manage-sessions/index.html.md): Create an Action Gateway session to get an MCP endpoint URL with the tools and permissions your client needs.

[How to Configure Server-Side Approval](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/configure-server-side-approval/index.html.md): Require approval for Action Gateway tool calls and handle the decision through MCP elicitation or a separate approval request.

[How to Add a Tool Output View](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/add-tool-output-view/index.html.md): Create an Action Gateway output view that keeps selected result fields and bind it to a new session.

[How to Configure Action Gateway for Production Agents](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/use-in-production/index.html.md): Configure production agents with selected tools, explicit permissions, preloading, direct Python calls, and focused tool outputs.

## Manage Usage

[How to Track Action Gateway Usage](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/track-usage/index.html.md): View Action Gateway request volume, success rate, tool usage, and provider latency in the Control Panel.

[How to Manage Action Gateway Prepayment](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/action-gateway/how-to/manage-ag-prepayment/index.html.md): Fund Action Gateway tools that require prepayment and understand what happens when your prepaid balances reach $0.