DDM HelpMCP server
Tools
Every tool of the MCP server – what it does, what it needs, who may use it – and the ready-made prompts.
The AI works with tools. You do not need to know them – just ask, and the AI picks the right one and fills in the details itself. Some AI apps do show which tool is running, though, or let you allow tools one by one. That is what the names and descriptions here are for.
For all tools:
- With your permissions. Every tool sees and may do only what you see and may do in DDM. If you lack the permissions, DDM refuses the request.
- Tools for administrators are only offered by the server if you are an administrator in DDM.
- Changing tools are only offered if you allowed Change, with your approval when connecting – and each one only suggests the change. It is only carried out after your approval – see Approving changes.
- IDs – the identifiers of documents, categories, groups and people – the AI fetches itself from the reading tools, such as
list_categoriesorsearch_documents.
Reading – for everyone
| Tool | What it does | Details |
|---|---|---|
whoami | Who you are, in which organisation, whether you administer it, whether the app may suggest changes, and the app's counters (highlighted, new). The AI usually calls it first | – |
list_categories | The category tree you see, with the number of documents in each category | – |
list_documents | The documents directly in a category, and its subcategories | Category; optionally only highlighted ones |
search_documents | Full-text search in title and content – or in titles only. Up to 100 hits with category, latest version and file type. German compound words are also found by their parts | Search term (at least two characters); optionally titles only, only certain file types (e.g. pdf, docx), only highlighted ones, only in certain categories |
get_document | A document's details: title, file, status, current version, category, link – and where you last were while reading | Document |
get_document_text | The text of the current version, as DDM read it for the search (PDF, Office, text). Long documents come in parts – 40,000 characters by default, at most 200,000 per call; the AI then reads on | Document; optionally from which character and how many |
list_new | The most recently uploaded or newly versioned documents – what New shows in the app | – |
list_highlights | The organisation's highlighted documents | – |
list_favorites | Your favourites: your folders and the documents, notes and annotated copies in them | – |
list_recent | The documents you opened most recently, with the page you were on | – |
list_appointments | Your appointments in a period from your connected calendars, with the linked documents | From, to |
list_markets | The organisation's markets (countries, languages) | – |
list_notes | Your notes – as a tree of their titles | – |
list_pending_approvals | Documents waiting for your approval, and the ones you submitted that are still running – with workflow, step, who is being waited for, and deadline | – |
get_action_status | Whether a suggested change was carried out, rejected, is still pending or has expired. Without details: your latest suggestions | optionally the action |
Reading – for administrators
| Tool | What it does | Details |
|---|---|---|
list_users | The organisation's people, 25 per page, with role, status, groups and how they sign in; open invitations first | optionally name or email, status (all, active, blocked, invited), page |
get_user | One person: role, status, groups – and every category they reach, with level and the group it comes through | Person |
list_groups | The groups with number of members and origin (DDM, directory service, single sign-on) | – |
get_group_members | The members of a group | Group |
get_group_permissions | Every category a group reaches, with level (Read, Full, None) – and whether it is set there or inherited | Group |
get_category_permissions | The groups and people with access to a category, their level and where it is inherited from. Needs full access to the category | Category |
get_document_permissions | Who reaches a document: the access from its categories, its own exceptions and how many people that is in total. Needs full access to the document | Document |
explain_access | Whether a person reaches a document or a category – through which group and category – or why not | Person; document or category |
get_audit_log | The audit log, newest first, 50 per page: who did what, with what, when | optionally the object's name, a specific action, page |
get_usage | The app's usage in a period: opens, downloads, searches (including unsuccessful ones), active readers, the most used documents and categories, documents never opened | Period: 7, 30 (default), 90 or 365 days |
Changing – with your approval
Each of these tools first shows a preview and only changes something after your approval – see Approving changes. On approval, DDM checks your permissions again.
| Tool | What it suggests | Details | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
add_favorite | Add a document to your favourites | Document | everyone |
remove_favorite | Remove a document from your favourites – from all folders | Document | everyone |
create_category | Create a new category. It inherits the permissions of the category above | Name; category above (if missing: top level) | full access to the category above; top level only administrators |
rename_category | Rename a category and/or move it under another – its documents and subcategories move with it | Category; new name and/or new category above | full access |
prepare_upload | An upload link for a file on your computer – see Uploading files. Changes nothing by itself | File name with extension | everyone who may propose changes |
upload_document | A file as a new document filed in categories, or as a new version of a document. If one of the categories already holds a document of the same name, the file becomes its new version. The preview shows the file, its size, the categories, the status after uploading and, for a new version, the version number before and after | The file (upload link, content or address); categories or document; optionally name and note | full access to the categories or the document |
update_document | Edit a document: name, categories, tags, highlighted, sharing allowed, archived or draft, excluded from retention. The preview shows only what changes – with new categories also how many people will see the document afterwards | Document; only what should change. Categories as the complete new list, tags to add and remove | full access |
delete_documents | Delete documents for good, with every version – DDM has no trash. The preview names each document with its categories, the number of versions and the storage. Documents you may not change are skipped and named | up to 50 documents | full access |
refile_documents | Move documents into a category (out of their current one) or file them there as well. Who sees them then follows their categories | up to 50 documents; target category; move or as well | full access |
set_highlight | Highlight documents – they appear in the app under Highlighted – or remove the highlight | up to 50 documents; on or off | full access |
set_document_status | Archive documents, or bring archived ones back as drafts. Approved and In review are only set by the approval workflow. Documents you may not change are skipped | up to 50 documents; archived or draft | full access |
decide_approval | Your decision on a document waiting for your approval: approve or reject | Document; decision; a comment when rejecting (required) | whoever may approve in this step |
add_group_member | Add a person to a group – they then see what the group sees | Group; person | administrators |
remove_group_member | Remove a person from a group – they lose what only this group gave them | Group; person | administrators |
set_category_permissions | Change the access of groups or people to a category – and with it to everything below that inherits. Only the ones named change | Category; up to 50 changes, each a group or person with Read, Full, None (excluded, even if allowed further up) or Inherit (remove its own permission) | administrators |
set_document_permissions | Exceptions on a document – access for groups or people beyond (or instead of) what its categories give | Document; up to 50 changes as above | administrators |
Uploading files
An AI app hands DDM a file in one of three ways. Whichever it is, the file waits in DDM until you approve or reject the upload – only then does it become a document, or is deleted.
| Way | For | Size | Which AI apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upload link | Files on your computer, large ones too. The AI gets a link with prepare_upload and sends the file there itself | up to your plan's limit | Apps that reach your files and run commands: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Content | Files the AI made itself, such as a summary or a table | up to 10 MB | all |
| Address | Files on the web. DDM downloads them itself | up to 100 MB | all |
- An upload link is good for one hour and one file.
- A file that never becomes an AI action is deleted by DDM after 24 hours.
- Your plan's storage and file size apply as for an upload in the CMS.
claude.ai and ChatGPT in the browser can't reach the files on your computer. Upload the file into the chat there – the AI can pass it on as content if it isn't too large – or file it in the CMS.
Prompts
Some AI apps offer ready-made tasks from the server – so-called prompts, often behind / or a plus symbol. A prompt is a prepared instruction to your AI; it then calls the right tools.
| Prompt | What it does | Details |
|---|---|---|
summarise_category | What is in a category: its documents, what each one is about, what is new | Name or path of the category, e.g. "Sales › Price lists" |
weekly_digest | New and highlighted documents, approvals waiting for you, and your appointments for the next few days | – |
who_can_see | Who reaches a document or a category – and why. For administrators only | Document or category, by name |
Examples of how to use tools and prompts day to day are under What you can do with it.
Technical details
For the IT team connecting an AI app:
| Address | https://cms.documentdistributionmanager.com/mcp – or your own address with /mcp at the end |
| Transport | Streamable HTTP |
| Sign-in | OAuth 2.1 with DDM's sign-in; AI apps register themselves (Dynamic Client Registration or Client ID Metadata) |
| Permissions (scopes) | ddm:read – read; ddm:write – suggest changes. Plus openid, profile, email, offline_access |
| Access | Access tokens are valid for 15 minutes and renew as long as the connection exists |
| Organisation | A connection is for exactly one organisation |