feat(mcp): Add optional `visibility` parameter to control chat visibility by brendan-kellam · Pull Request #903 · sourcebot-dev/sourcebot · GitHub

Add an optional visibility parameter to the ask_codebase tool to allow agents to control chat session visibility.

This enables agents to set chat sessions to public in shared environments like Slack, preventing 404 errors for users who did not create the API key used by the MCP server.

Linear Issue: SOU-510

Summary by CodeRabbit

New Features
- Added an optional visibility setting (PRIVATE or PUBLIC) to control chat session privacy.
- Smart defaults: PRIVATE for authenticated users, PUBLIC for anonymous users; anonymous users cannot create PRIVATE chats.
- Help text updated to explain visibility behavior and how to configure visibility in shared environments.

- Add visibility parameter to askCodebaseRequestSchema in MCP - Update blocking chat API to accept and use visibility parameter - Allow agents to override default visibility (PRIVATE/PUBLIC) - Useful for shared environments like Slack where links should be public Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

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Walkthrough

Adds an optional visibility parameter to the /api/chat/blocking endpoint and the MCP ask_codebase tool. Values: PRIVATE or PUBLIC. Defaults: PRIVATE for authenticated users, PUBLIC for anonymous users (anonymous requests cannot create PRIVATE chats).

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Changelog Documentation CHANGELOG.md, packages/mcp/CHANGELOG.md	Added Unreleased entries documenting the new optional visibility parameter for controlling chat session visibility.
Tool Descriptions packages/mcp/src/index.ts	Updated help text for search_code and ask_codebase to mention the visibility parameter and its behavior in shared/anonymous contexts.
Request Schema packages/mcp/src/schemas.ts	Added optional visibility enum (PRIVATE
Blocking Chat Route packages/web/src/app/api/(server)/chat/blocking/route.ts	Parsed incoming visibility, computed chatVisibility (use requested value when provided; otherwise default PRIVATE for authenticated users and PUBLIC for anonymous users), and used it when creating the chat.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Client
  participant MCP_Tool as MCP Tool
  participant Server
  participant DB

  Client->>MCP_Tool: send ask_codebase request (optional visibility)
  MCP_Tool->>Server: POST /api/chat/blocking (visibility param forwarded)
  Server->>Server: determine chatVisibility (requested or default based on auth)
  Server->>DB: create chat record with chatVisibility
  DB-->>Server: chat created
  Server-->>MCP_Tool: return chat link/metadata
  MCP_Tool-->>Client: present chat link (visibility noted)

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Possibly related PRs

fix(web): Fix ask link generation for anonymous access #873: Modifies the same blocking chat route to change visibility defaulting and plumbing for public/anonymous chat visibility.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3 ✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately summarizes the main change: adding an optional visibility parameter to control chat visibility in the MCP ask_codebase tool, which aligns with the file changes across CHANGELOG, schemas, and API route implementations.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

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Commit unit tests in branch cursor/SOU-510-mcp-chat-visibility-d270

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@cursoragent add changelog entries to the main changelog and the packages/mcp changelog. The PR link is #903

Done! I've added changelog entries to both CHANGELOG.md files and pushed the changes.

Changes Made

Main CHANGELOG.md (/workspace/CHANGELOG.md)

Added entry under [Unreleased] > ### Added:
- "Added optional visibility parameter to MCP ask_codebase tool to allow controlling chat session visibility in shared environments. #903"

MCP CHANGELOG.md (/workspace/packages/mcp/CHANGELOG.md)

Added entry under [Unreleased] > ### Added:
- "Added optional visibility parameter to ask_codebase tool to allow controlling chat session visibility in shared environments. #903"

Both entries follow the repository's changelog conventions with the PR link included. The changes have been committed and pushed to the cursor/SOU-510-mcp-chat-visibility-d270 branch.

- Add entry to main CHANGELOG.md - Add entry to packages/mcp/CHANGELOG.md Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

- Clarify that the change affects both the API endpoint and MCP tool Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Inline comments:
In `@packages/web/src/app/api/`(server)/chat/blocking/route.ts:
- Around line 102-103: The code computes chatVisibility using
requestedVisibility ?? (user ? ChatVisibility.PRIVATE : ChatVisibility.PUBLIC),
which allows an anonymous caller to explicitly set PRIVATE; change the guard so
PRIVATE is only allowed for authenticated users — e.g., if (!user &&
requestedVisibility === ChatVisibility.PRIVATE) set chatVisibility =
ChatVisibility.PUBLIC, otherwise use requestedVisibility ?? (user ?
ChatVisibility.PRIVATE : ChatVisibility.PUBLIC); update the logic around the
chatVisibility variable (and any downstream use) to enforce that
ChatVisibility.PRIVATE is only accepted when user is present.

- Update visibility logic to ignore PRIVATE requests from unauthenticated users - Add guard to ensure anonymous users can only create PUBLIC chats - Update tool description and schema to document this behavior - Prevents creation of inaccessible ownerless private chats Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

- Remove note from MCP tool descriptions (schemas.ts and index.ts) - Add note to blocking chat API route's visibility parameter description - Clarifies that the restriction is enforced at the API level Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

brendan-kellam marked this pull request as ready for review February 18, 2026 20:36

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Update CHANGELOG entries for PR #903

9c5361f

- Add entry to main CHANGELOG.md - Add entry to packages/mcp/CHANGELOG.md Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

brendan-kellam changed the title Mcp chat visibility feat(mcp): Add optional visibility parameter to control chat visibility Feb 18, 2026

brendan-kellam commented Feb 18, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread CHANGELOG.md Outdated

Update CHANGELOG to mention /api/chat/blocking endpoint

d5e44c0

- Clarify that the change affects both the API endpoint and MCP tool Co-authored-by: Brendan Kellam <brendan@sourcebot.dev>

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Feb 18, 2026

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Comment thread packages/web/src/app/api/(server)/chat/blocking/route.ts Outdated

brendan-kellam commented Feb 18, 2026

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Comment thread packages/mcp/src/index.ts Outdated

brendan-kellam commented Feb 18, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread packages/mcp/src/schemas.ts Outdated

brendan-kellam merged commit 1d57be3 into main Feb 18, 2026
9 of 10 checks passed

brendan-kellam deleted the cursor/SOU-510-mcp-chat-visibility-d270 branch February 18, 2026 21:32

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Feb 18, 2026

Sourcebot Roadmap 🚀 #459

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coderabbitai Bot mentioned this pull request Feb 18, 2026

chore(mcp): Change default sourcebot host to localhost #906

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coderabbitai Bot mentioned this pull request Mar 20, 2026

feat(mcp): hide ask_codebase tool when no LLM providers configured #1018

Merged

feat(mcp): Add optional `visibility` parameter to control chat visibility by brendan-kellam · Pull Request #903 · sourcebot-dev/sourcebot · GitHub

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feat(mcp): Add optional `visibility` parameter to control chat visibility by brendan-kellam · Pull Request #903 · sourcebot-dev/sourcebot · GitHub

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feat(mcp): Add optional visibility parameter to control chat visibility - #903

feat(mcp): Add optional visibility parameter to control chat visibility#903brendan-kellam merged 5 commits intomainsourcebot-dev/sourcebot:mainfrom cursor/SOU-510-mcp-chat-visibility-d270sourcebot-dev/sourcebot:cursor/SOU-510-mcp-chat-visibility-d270Copy head branch name to clipboard

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