Announcing the 2025 State of Backstage report

Roadie API & MCP Servers

Published on November 15th, 2022

Overview

Roadie provides both a REST API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to read and write information from a Roadie instance. These enable you to integrate Roadie with your existing tools, automate workflows, and build custom integrations.

Roadie API

The Roadie API provides programmatic access to your Backstage catalog and other Roadie features. You can use it to automate catalog management, integrate with CI/CD pipelines, or build custom tooling.

Some uses of the API include:

  • Catalog management - Create, update, and delete entities in your catalog from external systems
  • Entity sets - Manage batches of entities idempotently, perfect for syncing resources from internal systems
  • Tech Insights - Access fact data and scorecard results programmatically

To get started with the API, you'll need to generate an API token.

API Base URL

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https://api.roadie.so/api/

Example: List catalog entities

bash
curl \
  -X GET \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: bearer ${ROADIE_API_TOKEN}" \
  https://api.roadie.so/api/catalog/entities

For more details, see the API Authorization documentation and the specific API documentation for Catalog, Tech Insights, Templates, and Plugins.

MCP Server(s)

You can also connect to your Roadie instance via an LLM client of your choice (provided it supports third party MCP servers). Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables AI assistants to interact with your Backstage catalog using structured data.

Some uses of the MCP servers include:

  • AI-powered catalog exploration - Ask natural language questions about your software catalog and/or allow Agents to access rich metadata about your software.
  • Automated scaffolding - find, validate, and execute scaffolder templates
  • Security and compliance insights - Query vulnerability data, branch protection status, and compliance metrics
  • Documentation search - Search and retrieve TechDocs content across your catalog
  • Catalog decoration - Manage entity fragments and decorators via AI assistants

Available MCP Servers

ServerDescriptionEndpoint
API Docs QueryDiscover and retrieve API documentation and specificationshttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/api-docs-query
Backend ConfigManage proxy settings and secretshttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/backend-config
Catalog DecoratorsManage catalog entity decorators and fragmentshttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/catalog-decorators
Rich Catalog EntityAccess catalog entity data, relationships, and documentationhttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/rich-catalog-entity
ScaffolderFind, validate, and execute scaffolder templateshttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/scaffolder-use
Tech Insights FactsAccess operational metrics, security data, and compliance informationhttps://api.roadie.so/api/mcp/v1/tech-insights-facts

Supported AI Tools

MCP servers work with popular AI development tools including:

  • VS Code with Copilot
  • Cursor IDE
  • Claude Desktop

For detailed setup instructions, see the Roadie MCP Getting Started documentation.

Authentication

Both the REST API and MCP servers use the same authentication mechanism. You'll need to generate an API token from your Roadie instance:

  1. Go to Administration → Account
  2. Navigate to the Roadie API Access section
  3. Add a token description and click Generate Token
  4. Store the token securely

See API Authorization for more details.