diff --git a/client/src/hooks/Config/__tests__/useAppStartup.spec.tsx b/client/src/hooks/Config/__tests__/useAppStartup.spec.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eef2795a76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/hooks/Config/__tests__/useAppStartup.spec.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import { RecoilRoot } from 'recoil';
+import { renderHook } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { PermissionTypes, Permissions } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+import type { TUser } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+
+const mockUseHasAccess = jest.fn();
+const mockUseMCPServersQuery = jest.fn();
+const mockUseMCPToolsQuery = jest.fn();
+
+jest.mock('~/hooks', () => ({
+  useHasAccess: (args: unknown) => mockUseHasAccess(args),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('~/data-provider', () => ({
+  useMCPServersQuery: (config: unknown) => mockUseMCPServersQuery(config),
+  useMCPToolsQuery: (config: unknown) => mockUseMCPToolsQuery(config),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../useSpeechSettingsInit', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  default: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('~/utils/timestamps', () => ({
+  cleanupTimestampedStorage: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('react-gtm-module', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  default: { initialize: jest.fn() },
+}));
+
+import useAppStartup from '../useAppStartup';
+
+const mockUser = {
+  id: 'user-123',
+  username: 'testuser',
+  email: 'test@example.com',
+  name: 'Test User',
+  avatar: '',
+  role: 'USER',
+  provider: 'local',
+  emailVerified: true,
+  createdAt: '2023-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+  updatedAt: '2023-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+} as TUser;
+
+const wrapper: React.FC<{ children: React.ReactNode }> = ({ children }) => (
+  <RecoilRoot>{children}</RecoilRoot>
+);
+
+describe('useAppStartup — MCP permission gating', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockUseMCPServersQuery.mockReturnValue({ data: undefined, isLoading: false });
+    mockUseMCPToolsQuery.mockReturnValue({ data: undefined, isLoading: false });
+  });
+
+  it('checks the MCP_SERVERS.USE permission via useHasAccess', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(false);
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: mockUser }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseHasAccess).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      permissionType: PermissionTypes.MCP_SERVERS,
+      permission: Permissions.USE,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses all MCP queries when user lacks MCP_SERVERS.USE', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(false);
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: mockUser }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseMCPServersQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: false });
+    expect(mockUseMCPToolsQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: false });
+  });
+
+  it('enables servers query and tools query when permission granted, servers loaded, and user present', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(true);
+    mockUseMCPServersQuery.mockReturnValue({
+      data: { 'test-server': { url: 'http://test' } },
+      isLoading: false,
+    });
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: mockUser }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseMCPServersQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: true });
+    expect(mockUseMCPToolsQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: true });
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses tools query when permission granted but user prop is undefined', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(true);
+    mockUseMCPServersQuery.mockReturnValue({
+      data: { 'test-server': { url: 'http://test' } },
+      isLoading: false,
+    });
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: undefined }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseMCPServersQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: true });
+    expect(mockUseMCPToolsQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: false });
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses tools query when permission granted but no servers loaded', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(true);
+    mockUseMCPServersQuery.mockReturnValue({ data: {}, isLoading: false });
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: mockUser }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseMCPServersQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: true });
+    expect(mockUseMCPToolsQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: false });
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses tools query while servers are still loading', () => {
+    mockUseHasAccess.mockReturnValue(true);
+    mockUseMCPServersQuery.mockReturnValue({ data: undefined, isLoading: true });
+
+    renderHook(() => useAppStartup({ startupConfig: undefined, user: mockUser }), { wrapper });
+
+    expect(mockUseMCPToolsQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ enabled: false });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/client/src/hooks/Config/useAppStartup.ts b/client/src/hooks/Config/useAppStartup.ts
index 52b4325eea..f40b283ee2 100644
--- a/client/src/hooks/Config/useAppStartup.ts
+++ b/client/src/hooks/Config/useAppStartup.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import { useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useRecoilState } from 'recoil';
 import TagManager from 'react-gtm-module';
-import { LocalStorageKeys } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+import { LocalStorageKeys, PermissionTypes, Permissions } from 'librechat-data-provider';
 import type { TStartupConfig, TUser } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+import { useMCPToolsQuery, useMCPServersQuery } from '~/data-provider';
 import { cleanupTimestampedStorage } from '~/utils/timestamps';
 import useSpeechSettingsInit from './useSpeechSettingsInit';
-import { useMCPToolsQuery, useMCPServersQuery } from '~/data-provider';
+import { useHasAccess } from '~/hooks';
 import store from '~/store';
 
 export default function useAppStartup({
@@ -16,12 +17,23 @@ export default function useAppStartup({
   user?: TUser;
 }) {
   const [defaultPreset, setDefaultPreset] = useRecoilState(store.defaultPreset);
+  const canUseMcp = useHasAccess({
+    permissionType: PermissionTypes.MCP_SERVERS,
+    permission: Permissions.USE,
+  });
 
   useSpeechSettingsInit(!!user);
-  const { data: loadedServers, isLoading: serversLoading } = useMCPServersQuery();
+  const { data: loadedServers, isLoading: serversLoading } = useMCPServersQuery({
+    enabled: canUseMcp,
+  });
 
   useMCPToolsQuery({
-    enabled: !serversLoading && !!loadedServers && Object.keys(loadedServers).length > 0 && !!user,
+    enabled:
+      canUseMcp &&
+      !serversLoading &&
+      !!loadedServers &&
+      Object.keys(loadedServers).length > 0 &&
+      !!user,
   });
 
   /** Clean up old localStorage entries on startup */
diff --git a/client/src/hooks/MCP/useMCPServerManager.ts b/client/src/hooks/MCP/useMCPServerManager.ts
index af65ba4507..4ba1ff6278 100644
--- a/client/src/hooks/MCP/useMCPServerManager.ts
+++ b/client/src/hooks/MCP/useMCPServerManager.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,14 @@ import { useCallback, useState, useMemo, useRef, useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useAtom } from 'jotai';
 import { useToastContext } from '@librechat/client';
 import { useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
-import { Constants, QueryKeys, MCPOptions, ResourceType } from 'librechat-data-provider';
+import {
+  Constants,
+  QueryKeys,
+  MCPOptions,
+  Permissions,
+  ResourceType,
+  PermissionTypes,
+} from 'librechat-data-provider';
 import {
   useCancelMCPOAuthMutation,
   useUpdateUserPluginsMutation,
@@ -11,7 +18,7 @@ import {
 } from 'librechat-data-provider/react-query';
 import type { TUpdateUserPlugins, TPlugin, MCPServersResponse } from 'librechat-data-provider';
 import type { ConfigFieldDetail } from '~/common';
-import { useLocalize, useMCPSelect, useMCPConnectionStatus } from '~/hooks';
+import { useLocalize, useHasAccess, useMCPSelect, useMCPConnectionStatus } from '~/hooks';
 import { useGetStartupConfig, useMCPServersQuery } from '~/data-provider';
 import { mcpServerInitStatesAtom, getServerInitState } from '~/store/mcp';
 import type { MCPServerInitState } from '~/store/mcp';
@@ -35,12 +42,19 @@ export function useMCPServerManager({
   const localize = useLocalize();
   const queryClient = useQueryClient();
   const { showToast } = useToastContext();
-  const { data: startupConfig } = useGetStartupConfig(); // Keep for UI config only
+  /** Retained for `interface.mcpServers.placeholder` used by `placeholderText` below */
+  const { data: startupConfig } = useGetStartupConfig();
+  const canUseMcp = useHasAccess({
+    permissionType: PermissionTypes.MCP_SERVERS,
+    permission: Permissions.USE,
+  });
 
-  const { data: loadedServers, isLoading } = useMCPServersQuery();
+  const { data: loadedServers, isLoading } = useMCPServersQuery({ enabled: canUseMcp });
 
   // Fetch effective permissions for all MCP servers
-  const { data: permissionsMap } = useGetAllEffectivePermissionsQuery(ResourceType.MCPSERVER);
+  const { data: permissionsMap } = useGetAllEffectivePermissionsQuery(ResourceType.MCPSERVER, {
+    enabled: canUseMcp,
+  });
 
   const [isConfigModalOpen, setIsConfigModalOpen] = useState(false);
   const [selectedToolForConfig, setSelectedToolForConfig] = useState<TPlugin | null>(null);