Summary
On July 7, 2026, Google announced major updates to Managed Agents in the Gemini API, the service that runs autonomous, stateful agents in Google-hosted isolated Linux sandboxes. The update adds long-running background task support, remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration, custom function execution, and streamlined credential management, building on the preview Google opened at I/O 2026.
What changed
Google's 2026-07-07 Gemini API Managed Agents update added long-running background task execution, remote MCP server integration, custom function execution, and streamlined credential management to the Google-hosted managed-agent runtime introduced in preview at I/O 2026.
Why it matters
Remote MCP support and background tasks make Gemini's managed-agent runtime a more complete host for production agents that call external tools and run beyond a single request, reducing the need for developers to operate their own agent infrastructure. It sharpens Google's competition with AWS Bedrock AgentCore and Anthropic's Managed Agents for hosting stateful agents.
Evidence excerpt
On July 7, 2026, Google announced significant updates to Managed Agents including long-running background task support, remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration, custom function execution, and streamlined credential management.