Integrate OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com MCP

Interactive workflow to set up OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com's MCP server.

Workflow

Ask: Language Choice
- Python or TypeScript?
Ask: MCP Configuration Type
- Hosted MCP (OpenAI-managed with server URL): Recommended for simplicity
- Streamable HTTP (Self-managed connection): For custom infrastructure
Install Package
- Python: pip install openai-agents
- TypeScript: npm install @openai/agents
Ask: Environment Variables

For Both Modes:
- YDC_API_KEY (You.com API key for Bearer token)
- OPENAI_API_KEY (OpenAI API key)
Have they set them?
- If NO: Guide to get keys:
  - YDC_API_KEY: https://you.com/platform/api-keys
  - OPENAI_API_KEY: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
Ask: File Location
- NEW file: Ask where to create and what to name
- EXISTING file: Ask which file to integrate into (add MCP config)

Create/Update File

For NEW files:

Use the complete template code from the "Complete Templates" section below
User can run immediately with their API keys set

For EXISTING files:

Add MCP server configuration to their existing code

Hosted MCP configuration block (Python):

python

from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import HostedMCPTool

# Validate: ydc_api_key = os.getenv("YDC_API_KEY")
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    instructions="Use You.com tools to answer questions.",
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "ydc",
                "server_url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
                "headers": {
                    "Authorization": f"Bearer {ydc_api_key}"
                },
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

Hosted MCP configuration block (TypeScript):

typescript

import { Agent, hostedMcpTool } from '@openai/agents';

// Validate: const ydcApiKey = process.env.YDC_API_KEY;
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  instructions: 'Use You.com tools to answer questions.',
  tools: [
    hostedMcpTool({
     serverLabel: 'ydc',
      serverUrl: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${ydcApiKey}`,
      },
    }),
  ],
});

Streamable HTTP configuration block (Python):

python

from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHttp

# Validate: ydc_api_key = os.getenv("YDC_API_KEY")
async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(
    name="You.com MCP Server",
    params={
        "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
        "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ydc_api_key}"},
        "timeout": 10,
    },
    cache_tools_list=True,
    max_retry_attempts=3,
) as server:
    agent = Agent(
        name="Assistant",
        instructions="Use You.com tools to answer questions.",
        mcp_servers=[server],
    )

Streamable HTTP configuration block (TypeScript):

typescript

import { Agent, MCPServerStreamableHttp } from '@openai/agents';

// Validate: const ydcApiKey = process.env.YDC_API_KEY;
const mcpServer = new MCPServerStreamableHttp({
  url: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
  name: 'You.com MCP Server',
  requestInit: {
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${ydcApiKey}`,
    },
  },
});

const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  instructions: 'Use You.com tools to answer questions.',
  mcpServers: [mcpServer],
});

Complete Templates

Use these complete templates for new files. Each template is ready to run with your API keys set.

Python Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

python

"""
OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com Hosted MCP
Python implementation with OpenAI-managed infrastructure
"""

import os
import asyncio
from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import HostedMCPTool

# Validate environment variables
ydc_api_key = os.getenv("YDC_API_KEY")
openai_api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")

if not ydc_api_key:
    raise ValueError(
        "YDC_API_KEY environment variable is required. "
        "Get your key at: https://you.com/platform/api-keys"
    )

if not openai_api_key:
    raise ValueError(
        "OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable is required. "
        "Get your key at: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys"
    )


async def main():
    """
    Example: Search for AI news using You.com hosted MCP tools
    """
    # Configure agent with hosted MCP tools
    agent = Agent(
        name="AI News Assistant",
        instructions="Use You.com tools to search for and answer questions about AI news.",
        tools=[
            HostedMCPTool(
                tool_config={
                    "type": "mcp",
                    "server_label": "ydc",
                    "server_url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
                    "headers": {
                        "Authorization": f"Bearer {ydc_api_key}"
                    },
                    "require_approval": "never",
                }
            )
        ],
    )

    # Run agent with user query
    result = await Runner.run(
        agent,
        "Search for the latest AI news from this week"
    )

    print(result.final_output)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Python Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

python

"""
OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com Streamable HTTP MCP
Python implementation with self-managed connection
"""

import os
import asyncio
from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHttp

# Validate environment variables
ydc_api_key = os.getenv("YDC_API_KEY")
openai_api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")

if not ydc_api_key:
    raise ValueError(
        "YDC_API_KEY environment variable is required. "
        "Get your key at: https://you.com/platform/api-keys"
    )

if not openai_api_key:
    raise ValueError(
        "OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable is required. "
        "Get your key at: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys"
    )


async def main():
    """
    Example: Search for AI news using You.com streamable HTTP MCP server
    """
    # Configure streamable HTTP MCP server
    async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(
        name="You.com MCP Server",
        params={
            "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
            "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ydc_api_key}"},
            "timeout": 10,
        },
        cache_tools_list=True,
        max_retry_attempts=3,
    ) as server:
        # Configure agent with MCP server
        agent = Agent(
            name="AI News Assistant",
            instructions="Use You.com tools to search for and answer questions about AI news.",
            mcp_servers=[server],
        )

        # Run agent with user query
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "Search for the latest AI news from this week"
        )

        print(result.final_output)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

TypeScript Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

typescript

/**
 * OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com Hosted MCP
 * TypeScript implementation with OpenAI-managed infrastructure
 */

import { Agent, run, hostedMcpTool } from '@openai/agents';

// Validate environment variables
const ydcApiKey = process.env.YDC_API_KEY;
const openaiApiKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;

if (!ydcApiKey) {
  throw new Error(
    'YDC_API_KEY environment variable is required. ' +
      'Get your key at: https://you.com/platform/api-keys'
  );
}

if (!openaiApiKey) {
  throw new Error(
    'OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable is required. ' +
      'Get your key at: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys'
  );
}

/**
 * Example: Search for AI news using You.com hosted MCP tools
 */
async function main() {
  // Configure agent with hosted MCP tools
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: 'AI News Assistant',
    instructions:
      'Use You.com tools to search for and answer questions about AI news.',
    tools: [
      hostedMcpTool({
        serverLabel: 'ydc',
        serverUrl: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
        headers: {
          Authorization: `Bearer ${ydcApiKey}`,
        },
      }),
    ],
  });

  // Run agent with user query
  const result = await run(
    agent,
    'Search for the latest AI news from this week'
  );

  console.log(result.finalOutput);
}

main().catch(console.error);

TypeScript Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

typescript

/**
 * OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com Streamable HTTP MCP
 * TypeScript implementation with self-managed connection
 */

import { Agent, run, MCPServerStreamableHttp } from '@openai/agents';

// Validate environment variables
const ydcApiKey = process.env.YDC_API_KEY;
const openaiApiKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;

if (!ydcApiKey) {
  throw new Error(
    'YDC_API_KEY environment variable is required. ' +
      'Get your key at: https://you.com/platform/api-keys'
  );
}

if (!openaiApiKey) {
  throw new Error(
    'OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable is required. ' +
      'Get your key at: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys'
  );
}

/**
 * Example: Search for AI news using You.com streamable HTTP MCP server
 */
async function main() {
  // Configure streamable HTTP MCP server
  const mcpServer = new MCPServerStreamableHttp({
    url: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
    name: 'You.com MCP Server',
    requestInit: {
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${ydcApiKey}`,
      },
    },
  });

  try {
    // Connect to MCP server
    await mcpServer.connect();

    // Configure agent with MCP server
    const agent = new Agent({
      name: 'AI News Assistant',
      instructions:
        'Use You.com tools to search for and answer questions about AI news.',
      mcpServers: [mcpServer],
    });

    // Run agent with user query
    const result = await run(
      agent,
      'Search for the latest AI news from this week'
    );

    console.log(result.finalOutput);
  } finally {
    // Clean up connection
    await mcpServer.close();
  }
}

main().catch(console.error);

MCP Configuration Types

Hosted MCP (Recommended)

What it is: OpenAI manages the MCP connection and tool routing through their Responses API.

Benefits:

✅ Simpler configuration (no connection management)
✅ OpenAI handles authentication and retries
✅ Lower latency (tools run in OpenAI infrastructure)
✅ Automatic tool discovery and listing
✅ No need to manage async context or cleanup

Use when:

Building production applications
Want minimal boilerplate code
Need reliable tool execution
Don't require custom transport layer

Configuration:

Python:

python

from agents.mcp import HostedMCPTool

tools=[
    HostedMCPTool(
        tool_config={
            "type": "mcp",
            "server_label": "ydc",
            "server_url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['YDC_API_KEY']}"
            },
            "require_approval": "never",
        }
    )
]

TypeScript:

typescript

import { hostedMcpTool } from '@openai/agents';

tools: [
  hostedMcpTool({
    serverLabel: 'ydc',
    serverUrl: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.YDC_API_KEY}`,
    },
  }),
]

Streamable HTTP MCP

What it is: You manage the MCP connection and transport layer yourself.

Benefits:

✅ Full control over network connection
✅ Custom infrastructure integration
✅ Can add custom headers, timeouts, retry logic
✅ Run MCP server in your own environment
✅ Better for testing and development

Use when:

Need custom transport configuration
Running MCP server in your infrastructure
Require specific networking setup
Development and testing scenarios

Configuration:

Python:

python

from agents.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHttp

async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(
    name="You.com MCP Server",
    params={
        "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
        "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['YDC_API_KEY']}"},
        "timeout": 10,
    },
    cache_tools_list=True,
    max_retry_attempts=3,
) as server:
    agent = Agent(mcp_servers=[server])

TypeScript:

typescript

import { MCPServerStreamableHttp } from '@openai/agents';

const mcpServer = new MCPServerStreamableHttp({
  url: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
  name: 'You.com MCP Server',
  requestInit: {
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.YDC_API_KEY}`,
    },
  },
});

await mcpServer.connect();
try {
  const agent = new Agent({ mcpServers: [mcpServer] });
  // Use agent
} finally {
  await mcpServer.close();
}

Available You.com Tools

After configuration, the AI agent can use these tools:

`mcpydcyou_search`

Web and news search with filters:

query: Search query string
freshness: Filter by recency (day, week, month, year)
country: Country code for localized results
count: Number of results to return

`mcpydcyou_express`

Fast AI agent with optional web search:

input: Query or instruction for the AI agent
tools: Optional list of tools to use (e.g., ["search"])

`mcpydcyou_contents`

Web page content extraction:

urls: Array of URLs to extract content from
formats: Output formats - array of "markdown", "html", or "metadata"
crawl_timeout: Optional timeout in seconds (1-60)

Environment Variables

Both API keys are required for both configuration modes:

bash

# Add to your .env file or shell profile
export YDC_API_KEY="your-you-api-key-here"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-api-key-here"

Get your API keys:

You.com: https://you.com/platform/api-keys
OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Validation Checklist

Before completing:

Package installed: openai-agents (Python) or @openai/agents (TypeScript)
Environment variables set: YDC_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_KEY
Template copied or configuration added to existing file
MCP configuration type chosen (Hosted or Streamable HTTP)
Authorization headers configured with Bearer token
File is executable (Python) or can be compiled (TypeScript)
Ready to test with example query

Testing Your Integration

Python:

bash

python your-file.py

TypeScript:

bash

# With tsx (recommended for quick testing)
npx tsx your-file.ts

# Or compile and run
tsc your-file.ts && node your-file.js

Common Issues

Install the package:

bash

# NPM
npm install @openai/agents

# Bun
bun add @openai/agents

# Yarn
yarn add @openai/agents

# pnpm
pnpm add @openai/agents

Set your You.com API key:

bash

export YDC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Get your key at: https://you.com/platform/api-keys

Set your OpenAI API key:

bash

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Get your key at: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Verify your YDC_API_KEY is valid:

Check the key at https://you.com/platform/api-keys
Ensure no extra spaces or quotes in the environment variable
Verify the Authorization header format: Bearer ${YDC_API_KEY}

For Both Modes:

Ensure server_url: "https://api.you.com/mcp" is correct
Verify Authorization header includes Bearer prefix
Check YDC_API_KEY environment variable is set
Confirm require_approval is set to "never" for automatic execution

For Streamable HTTP specifically:

Ensure MCP server is connected before creating agent
Verify connection was successful before running agent

For Streamable HTTP only:

Increase timeout or retry attempts:

Python:

python

async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(
    params={
        "url": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
        "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['YDC_API_KEY']}"},
        "timeout": 30,  # Increased timeout
    },
    max_retry_attempts=5,  # More retries
) as server:
    # ...

TypeScript:

typescript

const mcpServer = new MCPServerStreamableHttp({
  url: 'https://api.you.com/mcp',
  requestInit: {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.YDC_API_KEY}` },
    // Add custom timeout via fetch options
  },
});

Advanced: MCP Server Development Patterns

For developers creating custom MCP tools or contributing to @youdotcom-oss/mcp:

Schema Design

Always use Zod for input/output validation:

export const MyToolInputSchema = z.object({
  query: z.string().min(1).describe("Search query"),
  limit: z.number().optional().describe("Max results"),
});

Why this pattern?

Zod provides runtime validation and TypeScript types
.describe() adds documentation for MCP tool parameters
Schema validation catches invalid inputs before API calls

Error Handling

Always use try/catch with typed error handling:

try {
  const response = await apiCall();
  return formatResponse(response);
} catch (err: unknown) {
  const errorMessage = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
  await logger({ level: "error", data: `API call failed: ${errorMessage}` });
  return {
    content: [{ type: "text", text: `Error: ${errorMessage}` }],
    isError: true,
  };
}

Why this pattern?

MCP tools must return structured responses, never throw
err: unknown ensures type safety in catch blocks
User-friendly error messages in content

Response Format

Return both content and structuredContent:

return {
  content: [{ type: "text", text: formattedText }],
  structuredContent: responseData,
};

Why this pattern?

content provides human-readable text for display
structuredContent provides machine-readable data
MCP clients can choose which format to use

Additional Resources

OpenAI Agents SDK (Python): https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/
OpenAI Agents SDK (TypeScript): https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-js/
MCP Configuration (Python): https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/mcp/
MCP Configuration (TypeScript): https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-js/guides/mcp/
You.com MCP Server: https://documentation.you.com/developer-resources/mcp-server
API Keys:
- You.com: https://you.com/platform/api-keys
- OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Search AI Tools

openai-agent-sdk-integration

Install this agent skill to your Project

Metadata

SKILL.md

Integrate OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com MCP

Workflow

Complete Templates

Python Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

Python Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

TypeScript Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

TypeScript Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

MCP Configuration Types

Hosted MCP (Recommended)

Streamable HTTP MCP

Available You.com Tools

`mcpydcyou_search`

`mcpydcyou_express`

`mcpydcyou_contents`

Environment Variables

Validation Checklist

Testing Your Integration

Common Issues

Advanced: MCP Server Development Patterns

Schema Design

Error Handling

Response Format

Additional Resources

Search AI Tools

Install this agent skill to your Project

Metadata

SKILL.md

Integrate OpenAI Agents SDK with You.com MCP

Workflow

Complete Templates

Python Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

Python Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

TypeScript Hosted MCP Template (Complete Example)

TypeScript Streamable HTTP Template (Complete Example)

MCP Configuration Types

Hosted MCP (Recommended)

Streamable HTTP MCP

Available You.com Tools

mcp__ydc__you_search

mcp__ydc__you_express

mcp__ydc__you_contents

Environment Variables

Validation Checklist

Testing Your Integration

Common Issues

Advanced: MCP Server Development Patterns

Schema Design

Error Handling

Response Format

Additional Resources

`mcpydcyou_search`

`mcpydcyou_express`

`mcpydcyou_contents`