How to integrate Stack exchange MCP with Autogen

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Stack exchange to AutoGen using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Stack exchange agent that can find top-voted javascript questions this week, list all collectives on stack overflow, show recent comments on my math stackexchange post, get edit history for a specific question through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your AutoGen agent real control over a Stack exchange account through Composio's Stack exchange MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the required dependencies for Autogen and Composio
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Stack exchange
  • Wire that MCP URL into Autogen using McpWorkbench and StreamableHttpServerParams
  • Configure an Autogen AssistantAgent that can call Stack exchange tools
  • Run a live chat loop where you ask the agent to perform Stack exchange operations

What is AutoGen?

Autogen is a framework for building multi-agent conversational AI systems from Microsoft. It enables you to create agents that can collaborate, use tools, and maintain complex workflows.

Key features include:

  • Multi-Agent Systems: Build collaborative agent workflows
  • MCP Workbench: Native support for Model Context Protocol tools
  • Streaming HTTP: Connect to external services through streamable HTTP
  • AssistantAgent: Pre-built agent class for tool-using assistants

What is the Stack exchange MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Stack exchange MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Stack Exchange account. It provides structured and secure access to your Stack Exchange activity, so your agent can perform actions like searching questions, exploring collectives, retrieving comments, and analyzing post revisions on your behalf.

  • Powerful question search and discovery: Instantly ask your agent to search for Stack Exchange questions by keyword or tag, helping you find relevant discussions and solutions faster.
  • Collectives and tags exploration: Have your agent retrieve lists of collectives and their associated tags, making it easy to discover expert communities and filter content by topic.
  • Comment management and flagging: Let your agent fetch comments from specific sites and check valid flag options, streamlining comment moderation and participation.
  • Revision history analysis: Direct your agent to retrieve and review the full edit history of posts, enabling transparent audits or understanding how answers evolve over time.
  • Site discovery and navigation: Use your agent to list all available Stack Exchange sites and their API parameters, ensuring you always target the right community for your needs.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Get Collective QuestionsTool to retrieve questions associated with the specified collective.
Get CollectivesTool to retrieve all collectives on a stack exchange site in alphabetical order.
Get Collective TagsTool to retrieve tags associated with specified collectives.
Get Comment Flag OptionsTool to fetch valid flag options for a given comment.
Get CommentsTool to retrieve comments from a specified stack exchange site.
Get Revisions By IDsTool to retrieve revisions for specific posts by their ids.
Search QuestionsTool to search the site for questions meeting certain criteria.
Get SitesTool to retrieve all stack exchange sites and their api site parameter values.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

You will need:

  • A Composio API key
  • An OpenAI API key (used by Autogen's OpenAIChatCompletionClient)
  • A Stack exchange account you can connect to Composio
  • Some basic familiarity with Autogen and Python async

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install dependencies

bash
pip install composio python-dotenv
pip install autogen-agentchat autogen-ext-openai autogen-ext-tools

Install Composio, Autogen extensions, and dotenv.

What's happening:

  • composio connects your agent to Stack exchange via MCP
  • autogen-agentchat provides the AssistantAgent class
  • autogen-ext-openai provides the OpenAI model client
  • autogen-ext-tools provides MCP workbench support

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-composio-api-key
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
USER_ID=your-user-identifier@example.com

Create a .env file in your project folder.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY is required to talk to Composio
  • OPENAI_API_KEY is used by Autogen's OpenAI client
  • USER_ID is how Composio identifies which user's Stack exchange connections to use

Import dependencies and create Tool Router session

python
import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio

from autogen_agentchat.agents import AssistantAgent
from autogen_ext.models.openai import OpenAIChatCompletionClient
from autogen_ext.tools.mcp import McpWorkbench, StreamableHttpServerParams

load_dotenv()

async def main():
    # Initialize Composio and create a Stack exchange session
    composio = Composio(api_key=os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY"))
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["stack_exchange"]
    )
    url = session.mcp.url
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() reads your .env file
  • Composio(api_key=...) initializes the SDK
  • create(...) creates a Tool Router session that exposes Stack exchange tools
  • session.mcp.url is the MCP endpoint that Autogen will connect to

Configure MCP parameters for Autogen

python
# Configure MCP server parameters for Streamable HTTP
server_params = StreamableHttpServerParams(
    url=url,
    timeout=30.0,
    sse_read_timeout=300.0,
    terminate_on_close=True,
    headers={"x-api-key": os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")}
)

Autogen expects parameters describing how to talk to the MCP server. That is what StreamableHttpServerParams is for.

What's happening:

  • url points to the Tool Router MCP endpoint from Composio
  • timeout is the HTTP timeout for requests
  • sse_read_timeout controls how long to wait when streaming responses
  • terminate_on_close=True cleans up the MCP server process when the workbench is closed

Create the model client and agent

python
# Create model client
model_client = OpenAIChatCompletionClient(
    model="gpt-5",
    api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
)

# Use McpWorkbench as context manager
async with McpWorkbench(server_params) as workbench:
    # Create Stack exchange assistant agent with MCP tools
    agent = AssistantAgent(
        name="stack_exchange_assistant",
        description="An AI assistant that helps with Stack exchange operations.",
        model_client=model_client,
        workbench=workbench,
        model_client_stream=True,
        max_tool_iterations=10
    )

What's happening:

  • OpenAIChatCompletionClient wraps the OpenAI model for Autogen
  • McpWorkbench connects the agent to the MCP tools
  • AssistantAgent is configured with the Stack exchange tools from the workbench

Run the interactive chat loop

python
print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n")
print("Ask any Stack exchange related question or task to the agent.\n")

# Conversation loop
while True:
    user_input = input("You: ").strip()

    if user_input.lower() in ["exit", "quit", "bye"]:
        print("\nGoodbye!")
        break

    if not user_input:
        continue

    print("\nAgent is thinking...\n")

    # Run the agent with streaming
    try:
        response_text = ""
        async for message in agent.run_stream(task=user_input):
            if hasattr(message, "content") and message.content:
                response_text = message.content

        # Print the final response
        if response_text:
            print(f"Agent: {response_text}\n")
        else:
            print("Agent: I encountered an issue processing your request.\n")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Agent: Sorry, I encountered an error: {str(e)}\n")
What's happening:
  • The script prompts you in a loop with You:
  • Autogen passes your input to the model, which decides which Stack exchange tools to call via MCP
  • agent.run_stream(...) yields streaming messages as the agent thinks and calls tools
  • Typing exit, quit, or bye ends the loop

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Stack exchange and AutoGen:

python
import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio

from autogen_agentchat.agents import AssistantAgent
from autogen_ext.models.openai import OpenAIChatCompletionClient
from autogen_ext.tools.mcp import McpWorkbench, StreamableHttpServerParams

load_dotenv()

async def main():
    # Initialize Composio and create a Stack exchange session
    composio = Composio(api_key=os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY"))
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["stack_exchange"]
    )
    url = session.mcp.url

    # Configure MCP server parameters for Streamable HTTP
    server_params = StreamableHttpServerParams(
        url=url,
        timeout=30.0,
        sse_read_timeout=300.0,
        terminate_on_close=True,
        headers={"x-api-key": os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")}
    )

    # Create model client
    model_client = OpenAIChatCompletionClient(
        model="gpt-5",
        api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
    )

    # Use McpWorkbench as context manager
    async with McpWorkbench(server_params) as workbench:
        # Create Stack exchange assistant agent with MCP tools
        agent = AssistantAgent(
            name="stack_exchange_assistant",
            description="An AI assistant that helps with Stack exchange operations.",
            model_client=model_client,
            workbench=workbench,
            model_client_stream=True,
            max_tool_iterations=10
        )

        print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n")
        print("Ask any Stack exchange related question or task to the agent.\n")

        # Conversation loop
        while True:
            user_input = input("You: ").strip()

            if user_input.lower() in ['exit', 'quit', 'bye']:
                print("\nGoodbye!")
                break

            if not user_input:
                continue

            print("\nAgent is thinking...\n")

            # Run the agent with streaming
            try:
                response_text = ""
                async for message in agent.run_stream(task=user_input):
                    if hasattr(message, 'content') and message.content:
                        response_text = message.content

                # Print the final response
                if response_text:
                    print(f"Agent: {response_text}\n")
                else:
                    print("Agent: I encountered an issue processing your request.\n")

            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Agent: Sorry, I encountered an error: {str(e)}\n")

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

Conclusion

You now have an Autogen assistant wired into Stack exchange through Composio's Tool Router and MCP. From here you can:
  • Add more toolkits to the toolkits list, for example notion or hubspot
  • Refine the agent description to point it at specific workflows
  • Wrap this script behind a UI, Slack bot, or internal tool
Once the pattern is clear for Stack exchange, you can reuse the same structure for other MCP-enabled apps with minimal code changes.

How to build Stack exchange MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Stack exchange MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Stack exchange MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Google ADK

Google ADK

Use Stack exchange MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

LangChain

Use Stack exchange MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Use Stack exchange MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

Mastra AI

Use Stack exchange MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex

Use Stack exchange MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use Stack exchange MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Stack exchange MCP?

With a standalone Stack exchange MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Stack exchange tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Stack exchange and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Autogen?

Yes, you can. Autogen fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Stack exchange tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Stack exchange while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Stack exchange scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Stack exchange data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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