# Use an AgentCore gateway
<a name="gateway-using"></a>

After [setting up your gateway with targets](gateway-building.md) , you can configure your application or agent to use the gateway through the [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro) . The MCP provides a standardized way for agents to discover and invoke tools.

**Note**  
AgentCore Gateway supports the following MCP versions: 2026-07-28, 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18, and 2025-03-26.  
Version `2026-07-28` is a stateless protocol revision. Clients do not perform an `initialize` handshake. Each request carries its protocol version in the `MCP-Protocol-Version` header and in the `_meta` field (`io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion`). The gateway discovers capabilities through `server/discover`. Version `2025-11-25` and earlier continue to use the `initialize` handshake.

You can use the following MCP operations with an AgentCore gateway:


| Operation | Description | 
| --- | --- | 
| tools/call | Invokes a specific tool with the provided arguments | 
| tools/list | Lists all available tools provided by the gateway | 
| prompts/list | Lists all available prompts provided by the gateway | 
| prompts/get | Retrieves a specific prompt template, rendered with the provided arguments | 
| resources/list | Lists all available resources provided by the gateway | 
| resources/read | Reads the contents of a specific resource by URI | 
| resources/templates/list | Lists all available resource templates provided by the gateway | 
| elicitation/create | Requests additional input from the client during a tool call (server-initiated) | 
| sampling/createMessage | Requests an LLM completion from the client during a tool call (server-initiated) | 
| notifications/progress | Reports progress on long-running tool calls (server-initiated) | 
| notifications/message | Sends log messages from the server during tool execution (server-initiated) | 

On version `2026-07-28`, server-initiated interactions (`elicitation/create` and `sampling/createMessage`) use the multi round-trip requests (MRTR) pattern:

1. The server returns an interim result with `resultType` set to `input_required`.

1. The client provides the requested input on a retry of the original request.

The gateway delivers notifications (`notifications/progress` and `notifications/message`) only for requests that opt in to them. On version `2025-11-25` and earlier, the gateway delivers these interactions as server-initiated messages on the open stream.

The following topics describe how to invoke your AgentCore gateway:

**Topics**
+ [Authorize and authenticate to an AgentCore gateway and gateway target](gateway-using-auth.md)
+ [List available tools in an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-list.md)
+ [Call a tool in a AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-call.md)
+ [List available prompts in an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-prompts-list.md)
+ [Get a prompt from an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-prompts-get.md)
+ [List available resources in an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-resources-list.md)
+ [Read a resource from an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-resources-read.md)
+ [List resource templates in an AgentCore gateway](gateway-using-mcp-resources-templates-list.md)
+ [Use elicitation with your AgentCore gateway](gateway-mcp-elicitation.md)
+ [Receive progress notifications from your AgentCore gateway](gateway-mcp-progress.md)
+ [Receive logging messages from your AgentCore gateway](gateway-mcp-logging.md)
+ [Use sampling with your AgentCore gateway](gateway-mcp-sampling.md)
+ [Search for tools in your AgentCore gateway with a natural language query](gateway-using-mcp-semantic-search.md)
+ [Create an agent that uses your AgentCore gateway](gateway-agent-integration.md)