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Archestra.AI

Web UIs and Automation

You can connect visual chat interfaces and workflow automation platforms to Archestra. Routing model requests through the LLM Proxy provides unified logs, spending limits, and guardrails, while the MCP Gateway supplies tools to your workflows.

Requirements

You need a running Archestra deployment.

  • For model routing: Configure an OpenAI provider key in Archestra and create a standard virtual key mapped to that provider. Choose a model available under that provider, such as gpt-4o.
  • For tool access: Create an MCP Gateway and generate a gateway token.

The client application must be able to reach Archestra's API. The examples use http://localhost:9000/v1/openai; replace this with your deployment's base URL. Applications running inside Docker containers should use a reachable network host such as host.docker.internal rather than localhost.

n8n

n8n AI workflows can route model inference through the LLM Proxy and execute tools via the MCP Gateway.

Connect the Model

  1. Open your workflow and attach an AI Agent node to your trigger.
  2. Connect an OpenAI Chat Model node to the agent's model input.
  3. Configure the OpenAI credential: set Base URL to http://localhost:9000/v1/openai and API Key to your Archestra virtual key.
  4. Select a model supported by your provider and save the workflow.
  5. If Guardrails are active, add the session header.

Store virtual keys in n8n's credential manager rather than inline workflow expressions.

Configure Guardrails

Send the session header so Guardrails track the workflow.

  1. Open the OpenAI credential used by your OpenAI Chat Model node.
  2. Turn on Add Custom Header.
  3. Set Header Name to X-Appa-Session-ID.
  4. Set Header Value to a session identifier, such as a UUID.

For workflows that use an HTTP Request node, add X-Appa-Session-ID to the request headers.

For subagents or child workflows, also send X-Appa-Parent-ID with the parent workflow's session ID.

Connect Tools

  1. In Archestra, create an MCP Gateway, assign the required tools, and copy the connection URL and gateway token.
  2. In n8n, add an MCP Client Tool node to your agent's tools input.
  3. Set the endpoint URL to https://api.example.com/v1/mcp/<gateway-id>.
  4. Choose Bearer Auth and supply your Archestra gateway token.
  5. Select the tools to expose to the agent.

Archestra supports both legacy SSE and modern Streamable HTTP transports.

Open WebUI

Open WebUI connects to Archestra via its OpenAI-compatible model provider and remote MCP tool server settings.

Connect the Model

  1. Navigate to Settings → Admin → Connections in Open WebUI.
  2. Add a new connection under OpenAI API.
  3. Set the API URL to http://localhost:9000/v1/openai and enter your Archestra virtual key as the API key.
  4. Verify the connection, save it, and select your model in a new conversation.

Configure Guardrails

Send the session header so Guardrails track conversations from Open WebUI.

  1. Go to Settings → Admin → Connections in Open WebUI.
  2. Edit your OpenAI API connection.
  3. Under Headers, add X-Appa-Session-ID with a session identifier as the value.

For child sessions or pipelines, also send X-Appa-Parent-ID with the parent session ID.

Connect Tools

  1. Navigate to Settings → Admin → Integrations.
  2. Under External Tool Servers, add a connection of type MCP (Streamable HTTP).
  3. Set the URL to https://api.example.com/v1/mcp/<gateway-id> and configure Bearer authentication with your gateway token.
  4. Save and enable the tool server for your chat sessions.

Verify the Connection

Send Reply with connection verified. to confirm inference. In Archestra, open Logs → LLM Proxy and verify that the request appears with the expected model and virtual key.

  • A 401 status indicates a missing or invalid virtual key.
  • A connection error indicates that the client cannot reach the Archestra API URL.
  • A model error indicates that the requested model is not available under the mapped provider.

To test tools, prompt the client to run a read-only action supported by an assigned tool. Check Logs → MCP Gateway in Archestra to confirm tool execution. Configure guardrails on your gateway to enforce invocation policies.