> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.fabricgateway.ai/fabric/gateways/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.fabricgateway.ai/_mcp/server.

# Manage connections and routes

> Connect and manage LLM providers, MCP servers, and REST APIs, and review the routes that expose them.

> **Info**
>
> This topic describes the product direction and implementation, but much of the platform is still evolving. Some details, capabilities, and decisions may change as development continues.

Fabric AI Gateway can manage your **LLM providers**, **MCP servers**, and plain **REST APIs**. They share the same underlying connection model: a connection, one or more routes, and an upstream target. Each type also has settings specific to its protocol.

This topic shows you how to choose what to connect and how to review your connections, routes, and providers. If you haven't connected anything yet, start with the [Quickstart](/get-started/quickstart).

## Choose what to connect

| What you connect | Use it to                                                        | Guide                                                     |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **LLM provider** | Proxy requests to a model provider, such as Anthropic or OpenAI. | [Connect an LLM provider](/fabric/gateways/llm-providers) |
| **MCP server**   | Expose tools and resources to agents over MCP.                   | [Connect an MCP server](/fabric/gateways/mcp-servers)     |
| **REST API**     | Connect a plain HTTP API by importing an OpenAPI spec.           | [Connect a REST API](/fabric/gateways/rest-apis)          |

## Understand the LLMs page

**LLMs** has the following components:

| Component       | What it's for                                                                                                    |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Connections** | Every LLM provider you've connected, such as `anthropic`, `bedrock`, or `openai`.                                |
| **Routes**      | The route generated for each connection, including every path it exposes and the plugin instance attached to it. |
| **Providers**   | The full catalog of LLM providers available to connect in your organization.                                     |

Each tab shows a count, for example the number of connections.

### View your connections

To view your LLM connections, do the following:

1. In the sidebar, click **LLMs** under **Gateway**.
2. Click the **Connections** tab.

Each connection card shows the connection name, an **Open** or **Gated** badge, the provider icon, and the target URL. Use **Search connections** to find a connection. In organizations with many connections, the list spans several pages, and the footer shows the range you're viewing, for example **Showing 1–24 of 165**. To add another provider, click **Create connection**. You can also specify your own target URL, which lets you connect a model that you host yourself.

### View your routes

To view the routes generated for your connections, do the following:

1. In the sidebar, click **LLMs** under **Gateway**.
2. Select the **Routes** tab.

Each row shows a route's paths and methods, along with the plugin instance attached to it. For example:

| Route             | Paths                                                                                                              | Plugin instance               |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------- |
| `anthropic-route` | `/anthropic/v1/messages` (POST), `/anthropic/v1/messages/count_tokens` (ANY), `/anthropic/v1/models` (GET)         | `route-auth--anthropic-route` |
| `openai-route`    | Chat completions, responses, embeddings, models, audio transcription and speech, image generation, and moderations | `route-auth--openai-route`    |

### Browse available providers

To browse the LLM provider catalog, do the following:

1. In the sidebar, click **LLMs** under **Gateway**.
2. Select the **Providers** tab.

This tab lists every LLM provider that you can connect in your organization. Click **Connect** next to a provider to start the setup wizard.

## Set the access mode

A route's **Access mode** controls whether callers need a grant to use it:

| Access mode | Behavior                           |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **Open**    | The route doesn't require a grant. |
| **Gated**   | The route requires a grant.        |

You set the access mode in the **Route & gateway** step of the setup wizard. For MCP connections, you set it in the connection editor.

## Next steps

* To add authentication, rate limiting, routing, or transforms to any of these routes, see [Control traffic with plugins](/fabric/plugins).
* To monitor traffic on these routes, see [Monitor gateway traffic](/fabric/observability).
* To add an upstream credential for a connected service, see [Manage credentials and vaults](/fabric/administration/credentials).

> Connect and manage LLM providers, MCP servers, and REST APIs, and review the routes that expose them.

## Docs

- [Connect an LLM provider](https://docs.fabricgateway.ai/fabric/gateways/llm-providers.md): Use the setup wizard to connect an LLM provider and create a route for it.
- [Connect an MCP server](https://docs.fabricgateway.ai/fabric/gateways/mcp-servers.md): Configure an MCP server connection, add upstreams, and set the access mode.
- [Connect a REST API](https://docs.fabricgateway.ai/fabric/gateways/rest-apis.md): Import an OpenAPI spec to connect a REST API as a service and generate its routes.