MCP Settings option missing in UI

[vivid grail]

Following: https://www.librechat.ai/docs/features/mcp#adding-mcp-servers-in-the-ui

Running version 0.8.3, but tried .4/.5-rc1 and same on all versions.

I had just added a new allowedDomains setting as my MCP servers are hosted within Kubernetes (where LibreChat is also hosted). I got the error about the internal domain not being allowed- which fair should. Upon adding that section, I saw the UI element was missing to add an MCP server for myself.

Pertinent portion of the config:

version: 1.3.5
mcpSettings:
  allowedDomains:
    - "cluster.local"

The UI is preferable here as I have a couple other folks using this instance, and as a result, don't want to give them access to at least one of the two I'm testing.

Actually... after reloading after removing that config, I also still don't see the MCP Settings in the UI.

I do see:

│ {"level":"info","message":"[MCPServersRegistry] Creating new instance","timestamp":"2026-04-21T00:24:34.933Z"}

So it seems to be something else, but really unsure what.

[quaint kestrel]

The root cause is actually documented behaviour: the MCP Settings Panel only appears in the right sidebar when LibreChat detects MCP servers that meet specific criteria — specifically, servers with customUserVars defined, servers requiring OAuth, or servers configured with startup: false. (librechat) Since your config has no servers defined under mcpServers at all (only mcpSettings), there's nothing to trigger the panel's visibility, so it stays hidden regardless of the allowedDomains setting.
Quick question: are your two K8s MCP servers currently defined in librechat.yaml under mcpServers, or are you trying to add them exclusively through the UI? That'll determine the fastest path to getting this working the way you want.

[vivid grail]

just exclusively through the UI- what's odd is that I did see it at some point, hence the ability to get the error about blocked domains

[quaint kestrel]

I've helped a few folks with LibreChat internals and think I know exactly what's going on with your setup. Happy to walk you through it privately if you want to shoot me a DM, easier to share config details there without clogging the thread.