Use Nextcloud with AI via MCP
Many organizations run Nextcloud in their own data center on purpose – and with it the documents, appointments and project notes that make an AI assistant genuinely useful. The connection runs through a self-hosted MCP server that we operate together with you, so the data path stays entirely under your control.
What is Nextcloud?
Nextcloud is an open source collaboration platform from Nextcloud GmbH. What started as file storage has grown into a full suite: Nextcloud Hub combines Files, calendars and contacts via CalDAV and CardDAV, Talk for chat and video meetings, Deck as a kanban board, Notes, Tables and an office integration. The software runs in your own data center, at a European hoster or as a managed service – one reason public authorities, hospitals and mid-sized companies across the DACH region rely on it.
What makes Nextcloud valuable for AI agents is the kind of content it holds: offers and contracts in the file tree, appointments in the calendar, tasks in Deck, meeting notes in Notes. Opening up these sources means answers come from your own material rather than from general model knowledge – while the data itself never leaves your infrastructure.
Connection at a Glance
- MCP server
- Community, self-hosted (no vendor-operated service)
- Projects
- cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server (AGPL-3.0), MCP Connector ExApp in the Nextcloud App Store
- Transport
- Streamable HTTP (stdio optional)
- Authentication
- Per-user app password, Login Flow v2 or OAuth 2.1 with PKCE
- Operating model
- On-premises or managed hosting – server runs in your environment
- Permissions
- Follow the shares of the underlying Nextcloud account
How to Connect Nextcloud to CompanyGPT
Nextcloud GmbH does not run a central remote MCP service – which fits the product’s architecture, since your Nextcloud already runs on your own infrastructure. The MCP endpoint is therefore created where your data lives. Two routes have become established: the community server cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server, which runs as a container alongside your instance and ships tools for Files, calendar, contacts, Notes, Deck, Tables, Talk and sharing, and the App Store connector “MCP Connector”, installed directly inside your instance as an ExApp via the Nextcloud AppAPI. Both projects come from the community rather than from the vendor.
We set up whichever server fits your landscape, either as a container in your CompanyGPT environment or as an ExApp inside your Nextcloud. Streamable HTTP serves as the transport. Depending on the variant, authentication uses a per-user app password, the Nextcloud Login Flow v2, or OAuth 2.1 with PKCE in the case of the ExApp connector. In every case the same rule applies: the agent only sees the folders, calendars and boards that the underlying Nextcloud account is already entitled to. Write tools can be switched off individually if read-only access is what you want.
Whether a secured network connection is required depends purely on your instance: if your Nextcloud is reachable at a public address with a valid certificate, plain HTTPS is enough. If it lives strictly on the internal network, we connect CompanyGPT through a protected network path together with your IT team. Inside CompanyGPT, your administrators then decide by role and group which teams may call the Nextcloud integration at all.
Note for on-premises operation: CompanyGPT runs in your own Azure tenant – so your on-premises network can be connected directly: via a site-to-site VPN (Azure VPN Gateway) or ExpressRoute between your corporate network and the virtual network of your CompanyGPT environment. The system does not need to be publicly reachable; we set up the connection together with your IT team.
Typical Use Cases
How AI agents in CompanyGPT work with Nextcloud
Review contracts in the file tree
Legal has termination clauses searched across several contract folders and receives an overview with the path and the exact passage for each document.
Summarize project status from Deck
Project management asks for the open cards on a board, grouped by owner and due date, and turns the result into a status note for the weekly report.
Connect appointments and notes
Ahead of a client meeting, the assistant lines up the upcoming calendar entries, the related notes and the customer's most recently changed files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nextcloud and AI – the most important answers
Does Nextcloud offer an official MCP server?
Nextcloud GmbH does not operate a central MCP service. What exists are community projects: the actively maintained server cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server and the MCP Connector in the Nextcloud App Store, installed as an ExApp via the AppAPI. Which variant suits your instance is something we determine during the project.
Where does the MCP server run?
In your own environment – either as a container in your CompanyGPT instance or as an ExApp inside your Nextcloud. No third-party relay service is involved; the connection stays between your own systems.
Does the AI see every file in our Nextcloud?
No. Access uses the credentials of a Nextcloud account, and that account's shares continue to apply unchanged. Folders, calendars or boards it cannot see remain invisible to the agent as well.
Do we need a secured network connection?
Only if your Nextcloud is reachable exclusively on the internal network. Instances with a public address and a valid certificate are connected over regular HTTPS. For purely internal installations we set up the network path together with your IT team.
Can the AI modify or delete files?
That is your decision. The available tools can be restricted per agent – for example to searching, reading and summarizing without any write operation. Some connector variants are deliberately built read-first in the first place.
Nextcloud and Your AI – GDPR-Compliant with CompanyGPT
CompanyGPT is the enterprise AI assistant in your own cloud tenant: all relevant AI models, your company data and integrations like Nextcloud – centrally managed, with roles and permissions. We set up the connection together with you.
Nextcloud is a trademark of its respective owner (Nextcloud GmbH). Its mention describes compatibility and does not imply any partnership or endorsement. Availability and scope of the connection depend on the respective vendor.