🔍 Overview
When using the Search Atlas AI agent via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), you may encounter a situation where the ws_bulk_send_message tool returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden error on the Website Studio WebSocket channel — even though all other MCP calls complete successfully and your project container appears healthy.
This article explains what this error indicates and what information to have ready when escalating to the support team.
⚠️ What the Error Looks Like
You may see error output similar to the following when the MCP agent attempts to send messages through the Website Studio WebSocket channel:
- Error: ws_bulk_send_message failed — HTTP 403
- Context: WebSocket connection to the SearchAtlas agent channel is rejected
- Scope: Only affects ws_bulk_send_message; other MCP tools (such as create_project or read operations) may appear to work normally
- Container status: The project container reports as healthy
💡 Why This Happens
An HTTP 403 on the ws_bulk_send_message WebSocket channel indicates an authentication or authorization failure during the WebSocket handshake in the Website Studio MCP integration. Because this error occurs at the infrastructure level, it cannot be resolved through client-side configuration changes alone and requires investigation by the support team.
✅ Steps to Take
If you are experiencing this error, take the following steps:
- Refresh your session: Log out of Search Atlas and log back in to clear any stale authentication state that may be cached in your browser or MCP client, then retry the operation.
- Note your project name: Record the exact name of the Website Studio project you were working in when the error occurred.
- Capture the exact error message: Copy the full error output returned by ws_bulk_send_message, including any error codes or stack trace details visible in your MCP client.
- Record the timestamp: Note the date and time (including timezone) when the 403 error occurred so the support team can correlate it with server-side logs.
- Escalate to support: If the error persists after refreshing your session, contact the support team with your project name, the exact error message, and the timestamp of the failure. This information is required for the team to investigate the WebSocket authentication failure on the backend.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.