The short version
- Salesforce now has three official MCP layers: six hosted MCP servers (GA since April 2026), the Headless 360 MCP server (beta since July 2026), and AgentExchange as the marketplace listing partner MCP servers alongside agents and apps.
- The hosted servers expose org data and actions at the platform API surface - SObject access split by posture (reads, mutations, deletes, all), plus Data 360 and Tableau Next - through api.salesforce.com with OAuth via an External Client App.
- Headless 360’s server takes the opposite design: per the official docs, a small set of tools backed by a continuously growing library of Salesforce operations, built for coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Windsurf.
- AgentExchange lists over a thousand agents, tools, and MCP servers from partners including Google, Docusign, and Notion, activated from the marketplace rather than hand-configured.
- The right pick is a use-case question, not a technology one: seller workflows want the Salesforce in Claude plugin, analysts want the hosted servers, developers want Headless 360, and DIY servers are now the last resort, not the first.
Why MCP Became the Salesforce Question of 2026
Model Context Protocol is how AI agents talk to systems, and in eighteen months Salesforce went from "run your own server if you must" to shipping official hosted servers, a developer server under the Headless 360 banner, and a marketplace category on AgentExchange. The result is genuinely good - and genuinely confusing, because three different official answers now exist to "connect my agent to Salesforce," and most writeups describe whichever one they found first. This is the map.
Layer One: The Six Hosted MCP Servers (GA Since April)
The workhorses. Salesforce runs these for you, generally available since April 2026, reachable through the platform API surface at api.salesforce.com. The design decision that matters is the split by permission posture:
- SObject Reads - query-only access to org data, the right default for analyst and reporting agents.
- SObject Mutations - create and update, for agents that do work rather than just answer questions.
- SObject Deletes and SObject All - the sharp tools, granted when the use case genuinely needs them.
- Data 360 and Tableau Next - the data platform and analytics surfaces for agents working above raw records.
Auth is an External Client App with the mcp_api and refresh_token OAuth scopes, pointed at a dedicated integration user whose permissions define the agent’s reach. Hosted servers come with Enterprise editions and up, and the free Developer Edition for experimentation. The full context sits in our Headless Toolkit explainer.
Layer Two: Headless 360’s MCP Server (Beta Since July)
The developer-facing layer takes the opposite design philosophy. Per the official docs, the Headless 360 server - in beta since July 2026 - does not expose thousands of operations as individual tools; it provides a small set of tools backed by a continuously growing library of Salesforce operations. That matters because agents degrade when their tool list balloons; a compact tool surface over an expanding library keeps the agent sharp while capability grows underneath.
This is the server built for coding environments: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Windsurf, working against live org capability without the browser. Launch coverage counts more than 60 MCP tools and 30 preconfigured coding skills across the Headless 360 release; counts will move while the beta evolves, so treat the docs as the authority on any given week. For what Headless 360 is as a whole, the toolkit explainer is the companion read.
Layer Three: AgentExchange, the Marketplace
The third layer is distribution. AgentExchange - the marketplace that absorbed AppExchange and the Slack Marketplace - now lists over a thousand Agentforce agents, tools, and MCP servers from partners including Google, Docusign, and Notion, alongside its ten thousand Salesforce apps, with AI-guided search and one-click activation. The practical meaning: when your agent needs a partner capability, the move is increasingly "activate the listed server," not "configure an integration."
Which One Do You Actually Want?
A use-case decision, not a technology one:
- Sellers working in Claude want the Salesforce in Claude plugin - zero MCP configuration, admin-enabled, 37 skills out of the box.
- Analysts and ops agents (Claude Desktop, custom agents) want the hosted servers, scoped by posture: start with Reads, add Mutations when the agent earns it.
- Developers want the Headless 360 server inside Claude Code or Cursor, which is where the offshore-rate engineering economics of agentic development actually land.
- Partner capabilities come from AgentExchange listings before anything hand-built.
- DIY servers are the residual case - genuinely custom tool surfaces - and no longer the starting point.
The whole landscape, including the non-MCP routes (Bedrock for regulated industries, the Apex API pattern for in-org automation), is mapped in every way to connect Claude to Salesforce. And if what you want is the External Client App stood up, the integration user scoped properly, and one working agent to show for it, that is a small fixed-price scope: free 30-minute call, as ever.