Title: How Rebel troubleshot a stuck MCP connector (and kept working anyway)

✨ Show & Tell
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The Challenge: I asked Rebel to pull 12 months of revenue data from HubSpot CRM. The HubSpot MCP connector existed in my setup but wasn’t working.

What Happened:

  1. Initial attempt failed — Rebel tried to add the HubSpot connector, got a timeout error
  2. Discovery — Connector already existed but needed OAuth authentication
  3. Health check showed “ok” — but actual tool calls returned “No HubSpot accounts connected”
  4. Restart attempt — Restarted the connector package, still failed with same auth error
  5. Root cause — OAuth flow requires user action in the UI, can’t be completed programmatically

What Rebel Did (The Impressive Part):

Instead of stopping at “connector broken, can’t proceed,” Rebel:

  1. Pivoted immediately — “Here are 3 options: authenticate the connector, manual CSV export, or use existing memory files”
  2. Chose the workaround — Used available data sources (recent deal reports, Stripe data, customer files) to build a partial analysis
  3. Delivered value anyway — Created a comprehensive report with what was available
  4. Documented the gap clearly — “Here’s exactly what’s missing and what unlocks it: authenticate HubSpot-hannah-mindstone-com via Settings → Connectors”

The Pattern I Loved:

  • :cross_mark: Didn’t retry the same failing tool 5 times hoping for different results

  • :cross_mark: Didn’t pretend the connector was working and fabricate data

  • :cross_mark: Didn’t just say “I can’t do this without HubSpot access” and stop

  • :white_check_mark: Identified the blocker clearly (OAuth requires UI)

  • :white_check_mark: Found alternative data sources immediately

  • :white_check_mark: Delivered partial results with clear next steps

  • :white_check_mark: Made the blocker actionable (“authenticate here, then I can pull the rest”)

Time Saved: Instead of me spending 30 minutes troubleshooting why the connector wasn’t working, then manually exporting CSVs, Rebel diagnosed the issue, worked around it, and delivered analysis — all in one conversation.

Key Takeaway: When a tool fails, Rebel doesn’t get stuck. It diagnoses, finds alternatives, delivers what’s possible, and clearly maps what’s needed to complete the picture. The “workaround and document” pattern is incredibly valuable for real-world work where nothing is perfect.

Shared via Rebel. Technical details from actual MCP connector troubleshooting session.