API keys, MCP and render agents
Mint scoped API keys, connect an AI assistant over MCP, and run an on-prem agent that renders internal dashboards.
An API key lets another system call Brix without a person signing in. Use this guide to create a key, to connect an AI assistant to this workspace, and to run a render agent inside your own network. Every task in this guide starts in Settings.
What you can do
- Create an API key — Give one integration its own key, with only the permissions that integration needs.
- Limit a key to one location — Pin a key to one location and the locations under it.
- Rotate a key — Swap the secret of a key, and keep the name and the permissions.
- Revoke a key — Stop a key at once when an integration retires.
- Connect an AI assistant — Point Claude, ChatGPT or another MCP client at this workspace.
- Run a render agent — Render an internal dashboard on a machine inside your own network.
Create an API key
- Open Settings > API and MCP.
- Select New key.
- Type a name into Name, such as
Roster sync — PowerSchool. - To pin the key to one location, set Limit to a location.
- Leave Limit to a location empty for a key that reaches the whole workspace.
- Select each permission area the key needs.
- Select Create key.
- Copy the secret from the green Key for … is ready panel.
- Paste the secret into the integration that uses the key.
- Select Done.
️ Brix shows the full key once, in the green panel right after you create the key. The table shows only a preview such as
ak_live_a73Xj9••••.️ Create key stays disabled until the key has a name and at least one permission area.
️ Select Select all to take every area at once. Select Clear to drop every area.
️ The permission list holds only the areas you hold yourself. A key never gets more permissions than the person who creates the key.
️ The Full access switch appears only when you hold every permission. Turn the switch on only when the integration needs every permission.
️ A key with a location shows a Node-pinned pill in the table.
️ The command palette entry New API key opens this page. The page does not open the dialog for you, so select New key.
To change who holds which permission, read set up your organization, people and roles.
Rotate a key
Rotate a key when the secret escapes, or when a person who knew the secret leaves.
- Open Settings > API and MCP.
- Find the key in the table.
- Select Rotate on the key row.
- Copy the new secret from the green panel.
- Paste the new secret into the integration that uses the key.
️ The old secret stops working as soon as Brix mints the new one. Paste the new secret into the integration at once.
️ A rotation keeps the name, the permissions and the location of the key. Only the secret changes.
️ Brix refuses to rotate a revoked key. Create a new key instead.
Revoke a key
- Open Settings > API and MCP.
- Select Revoke on the key row.
- Read the warning in the Revoke key dialog.
- Select Revoke key.
️ Every integration that uses the key stops working at once, and you cannot undo a revoke.
️ If the revoke fails, Brix reports that the key may still be active. Try the revoke again.
Connect an AI assistant with MCP
Model Context Protocol (MCP) connects an assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT to this workspace. The assistant reads your screens, playlists, schedules and alerts. The API key you give the assistant decides what else the assistant can do.
- Create an API key with the permissions the assistant needs.
- Copy the secret of the new key.
- Open Settings > API and MCP.
- Scroll to Model Context Protocol (MCP).
- Select Copy config.
- Paste the config into your MCP client.
- Replace
<YOUR_API_KEY>with the secret you copied.
️ Select Copy command instead for a one-line
claude mcp add command. Run the command in a terminal.️ The section shows the address
https://api.brixsignage.com/v1/mcp. The address points at the public Brix API, not at the CMS, because your client connects from outside the browser.️ The assistant does exactly what the API key allows. A view-only key keeps the assistant read-only.
Ask for render agents
Some dashboards live inside your own network, and the public internet cannot reach them. A render agent runs on a machine inside that network. The agent renders the page and posts the frames to Brix.
- Open Settings > Integrations.
- Read the Contact us to set up Render Agents card.
- Select Contact us.
- Check that the subject reads Render Agents setup.
- Describe what you need in Message.
- Select Send message.
️ Brix scopes the network and the permissions with you first, then turns the feature on for this workspace.
️ Until Brix turns the feature on, Settings > Integrations holds the contact card and nothing else.
️ Brix sends the message from your signed-in account, and records the page you were on.
For a dashboard that the public internet can reach, use a link instead. Read show a website or dashboard on a screen.
Add a render agent
- Open Settings > Integrations.
- Select Add render agent.
- Type a name into Agent name, such as
HQ server room. - Select Create agent + show token.
- Copy the Quick start (Node) command, or copy the Docker command.
- Run the command on the machine inside your network.
- Check that the agent row reads Online.
️ Brix shows the agent token once, inside the green panel. Store the token before you close the panel.
️ A row reads Online only when Brix saw the agent in the last 60 seconds. Otherwise the row shows the last-seen time, or Never seen.
️ Never seen on an older agent usually means the token went to the wrong machine.
Revoke a render agent
- Open Settings > Integrations.
- Select the trash button on the agent row.
- Select Revoke in the Revoke render agent dialog.
️ The agent stops receiving jobs at once.
To protect your own sign-in as well, read secure your account and set up single sign-on.
Read next
- Control your screens from Claude or ChatGPT — what you can ask an assistant to do once the key is made.
- Digital signage with an MCP server — what to check when comparing platforms an AI agent can run.
Ready to get started?
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