MCP Gateway
Model Context Protocol gateway & proxy - unify REST, MCP, and A2A with federation, virtual servers, retries, security, and an optional admin UI.
ContextForge MCP Gateway is a feature-rich gateway, proxy and MCP Registry that federates MCP and REST services - unifying discovery, auth, rate-limiting, observability, virtual servers, multi-transport protocols, and an optional Admin UI into one clean endpoint for your AI clients. It runs as a fully compliant MCP server, deployable via PyPI or Docker, and scales to multi-cluster environments on Kubernetes with Redis-backed federation and caching.
Table of Contents
-
- 4.1. 🐳 Docker
- 4.1.1. 1 - Minimum viable run
- 4.1.2. 2 - Persist the SQLite database
- 4.1.3. 3 - Local tool discovery (host network)
- 4.2. 🦭 Podman (rootless-friendly)
- 4.2.1. 1 - Basic run
- 4.2.2. 2 - Persist SQLite
- 4.2.3. 3 - Host networking (rootless)
- 4.1. 🐳 Docker
-
- 7.1. Prerequisites
- 7.2. One-liner (dev)
- 7.3. Containerized (self-signed TLS)
- 7.4. Smoke-test the API
-
- 8.1. Via Make
- 8.2. UV (alternative)
- 8.3. pip (alternative)
- 8.4. Optional (PostgreSQL adapter)
- 8.4.1. Quick Postgres container
-
- 10.1. Basic
- 10.2. Authentication
- 10.3. A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Features
- 10.4. Email-Based Authentication & User Management
- 10.5. MCP Client Authentication
- 10.6. SSO (Single Sign-On) Configuration
- 10.7. Dynamic Client Registration & Virtual MCP Server Authentication
- 10.8. UI Features
- 10.9. Security
- 10.10. Logging
- 10.11. Transport
- 10.12. Federation
- 10.13. Resources
- 10.14. Tools
- 10.15. Prompts
- 10.16. Health Checks
- 10.17. Database
- 10.18. Cache Backend
- 10.19. Tool Lookup Cache
- 10.20. Metrics Aggregation Cache
- 10.21. Plugin Configuration
- 10.22. Development
-
- 11.1. Makefile
- 11.2. Script helper
- 11.3. Manual (Uvicorn)
-
- 14.1. 🔧 Prerequisites
- 14.2. 📦 Environment Variables
- 14.3. 🚀 Make Targets
- 14.4. 📝 Example Workflow
-
- 20.1. Diagnose the listener
- 20.2. Why localhost fails on Windows
- 20.2.1. Fix (Podman rootless)
- 20.2.2. Fix (Docker Desktop > 4.19)
🚀 Overview & Goals
ContextForge is a gateway, registry, and proxy that sits in front of any Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, A2A server or REST API-exposing a unified endpoint for all your AI clients. See the project roadmap for more details.
It currently supports:
- Federation across multiple MCP and REST services
- A2A (Agent-to-Agent) integration for external AI agents (OpenAI, Anthropic, custom)
- gRPC-to-MCP translation via automatic reflection-based service discovery
- Virtualization of legacy APIs as MCP-compliant tools and servers
- Transport over HTTP, JSON-RPC, WebSocket, SSE (with configurable keepalive), stdio and streamable-HTTP
- An Admin UI for real-time management, configuration, and log monitoring (with airgapped deployment support)
- Built-in auth, retries, and rate-limiting with user-scoped OAuth tokens and unconditional X-Upstream-Authorization header support
- OpenTelemetry observability with Phoenix, Jaeger, Zipkin, and other OTLP backends
- Scalable deployments via Docker or PyPI, Redis-backed caching, and multi-cluster federation
For a list of upcoming features, check out the ContextForge Roadmap
Note on Multi‑Tenancy (v0.7.0): A comprehensive multi‑tenant architecture with email authentication, teams, RBAC, and resource visibility is available since v0.7.0. If upgrading from an older version, see the Migration Guide and Changelog for details.
⚠️ Important: See SECURITY.md for more details.
🔌 Gateway Layer with Protocol Flexibility
- Sits in front of any MCP server or REST API
- Lets you choose your MCP protocol version (e.g.,
2025-06-18) - Exposes a single, unified interface for diverse backends
🧩 Virtualization of REST/gRPC Services
- Wraps non-MCP services as virtual MCP servers
- Registers tools, prompts, and resources with minimal configuration
- gRPC-to-MCP translation via server reflection protocol
- Automatic service discovery and method introspection
🔁 REST-to-MCP Tool Adapter
-
Adapts REST APIs into tools with:
- Automatic JSON Schema extraction
- Support for headers, tokens, and custom auth
- Retry, timeout, and rate-limit policies
🧠 Unified Registries
- Prompts: Jinja2 templates, multimodal support, rollback/versioning
- Resources: URI-based access, MIME detection, caching, SSE updates
- Tools: Native or adapted, with input validation and concurrency controls
📈 Admin UI, Observability & Dev Experience
- Admin UI built with HTMX + Alpine.js
- Real-time log viewer with filtering, search, and export capabilities
- Auth: Basic, JWT, or custom schemes
- Structured logs, health endpoints, metrics
- 400+ tests, Makefile targets, live reload, pre-commit hooks
🔍 OpenTelemetry Observability
- Vendor-agnostic tracing with OpenTelemetry (OTLP) protocol support
- Multiple backend support: Phoenix (LLM-focused), Jaeger, Zipkin, Tempo, DataDog, New Relic
- Distributed tracing across federated gateways and services
- Automatic instrumentation of tools, prompts, resources, and gateway operations
- LLM-specific metrics: Token usage, costs, model performance
- Zero-overhead when disabled with graceful degradation
- Easy configuration via environment variables
Quick start with Phoenix (LLM observability):
# Start Phoenix
docker run -p 6006:6006 -p 4317:4317 arizephoenix/phoenix:latest
# Configure gateway
export OTEL_ENABLE_OBSERVABILITY=true
export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4317
# Run gateway - traces automatically sent to Phoenix
mcpgateway
See Observability Documentation for detailed setup with other backends.
Quick Start - PyPI
ContextForge is published on PyPI as mcp-contextforge-gateway.
TLDR;: (single command using uv)
# Quick start with environment variables
BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=pass \
MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator" \
uvx --from mcp-contextforge-gateway mcpgateway --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444
# Or better: use the provided .env.example
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env to customize your settings
uvx --from mcp-contextforge-gateway mcpgateway --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444
📋 Prerequisites
- Python ≥ 3.10 (3.11 recommended)
- curl + jq - only for the last smoke-test step
1 - Install & run (copy-paste friendly)
# 1️⃣ Isolated env + install from pypi
mkdir mcpgateway && cd mcpgateway
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install mcp-contextforge-gateway
# 2️⃣ Copy and customize the configuration
# Download the example environment file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/main/.env.example
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env to customize your settings (especially passwords!)
# Or set environment variables directly:
export MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true
export MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true
export PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
export PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme
export PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator"
BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=pass JWT_SECRET_KEY=my-test-key \
mcpgateway --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444 & # admin/pass
# 3️⃣ Generate a bearer token & smoke-test the API
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://127.0.0.1:4444/version | jq
Windows (PowerShell) quick-start
# 1️⃣ Isolated env + install from PyPI
mkdir mcpgateway ; cd mcpgateway
python3 -m venv .venv ; .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install mcp-contextforge-gateway
# 2️⃣ Copy and customize the configuration
# Download the example environment file
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/main/.env.example" -OutFile ".env.example"
Copy-Item .env.example .env
# Edit .env to customize your settings
# Or set environment variables (session-only)
$Env:MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED = "true"
$Env:MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED = "true"
$Env:BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD = "changeme" # admin/changeme
$Env:JWT_SECRET_KEY = "my-test-key"
$Env:PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL = "admin@example.com"
$Env:PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD = "changeme"
$Env:PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME = "Platform Administrator"
# 3️⃣ Launch the gateway
mcpgateway.exe --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444
# Optional: background it
# Start-Process -FilePath "mcpgateway.exe" -ArgumentList "--host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444"
# 4️⃣ Bearer token and smoke-test
$Env:MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN = python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token `
--username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $Env:MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" `
http://127.0.0.1:4444/version | jq
⚡ Alternative: uv (faster)
# 1️⃣ Isolated env + install from PyPI using uv
mkdir mcpgateway ; cd mcpgateway
uv venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
uv pip install mcp-contextforge-gateway
# Continue with steps 2️⃣-4️⃣ above...
More configuration
Copy .env.example to .env and tweak any of the settings (or use them as env variables).
🚀 End-to-end demo (register a local MCP server)
# 1️⃣ Spin up the sample GO MCP time server using mcpgateway.translate & docker (replace docker with podman if needed)
python3 -m mcpgateway.translate \
--stdio "docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/ibm/fast-time-server:latest -transport=stdio" \
--expose-sse \
--port 8003
# Or using the official mcp-server-git using uvx:
pip install uv # to install uvx, if not already installed
python3 -m mcpgateway.translate --stdio "uvx mcp-server-git" --expose-sse --port 9000
# Alternative: running the local binary
# cd mcp-servers/go/fast-time-server; make build
# python3 -m mcpgateway.translate --stdio "./dist/fast-time-server -transport=stdio" --expose-sse --port 8002
# NEW: Expose via multiple protocols simultaneously!
python3 -m mcpgateway.translate \
--stdio "uvx mcp-server-git" \
--expose-sse \
--expose-streamable-http \
--port 9000
# Now accessible via both /sse (SSE) and /mcp (streamable HTTP) endpoints
# 2️⃣ Register it with the gateway
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"fast_time","url":"http://localhost:8003/sse"}' \
http://localhost:4444/gateways
# 3️⃣ Verify tool catalog
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/tools | jq
# 4️⃣ Create a *virtual server* bundling those tools. Use the ID of tools from the tool catalog (Step #3) and pass them in the associatedTools list.
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"server":{"name":"time_server","description":"Fast time tools","associated_tools":[<ID_OF_TOOLS>]}}' \
http://localhost:4444/servers | jq
# Example curl
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d '{"server":{"name":"time_server","description":"Fast time tools","associated_tools":["6018ca46d32a4ac6b4c054c13a1726a2"]}}' \
http://localhost:4444/servers | jq
# 5️⃣ List servers (should now include the UUID of the newly created virtual server)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/servers | jq
# 6️⃣ Client HTTP endpoint. Inspect it interactively with the MCP Inspector CLI (or use any MCP client)
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
# Transport Type: Streamable HTTP, URL: http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp, Header Name: "Authorization", Bearer Token
🖧 Using the stdio wrapper (mcpgateway-wrapper)
export MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}"
export MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp
python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper # Ctrl-C to exit
You can also run it with uv or inside Docker/Podman - see the Containers section above.
In MCP Inspector, define MCP_AUTH and MCP_SERVER_URL env variables, and select python3 as the Command, and -m mcpgateway.wrapper as Arguments.
echo $PWD/.venv/bin/python3 # Using the Python3 full path ensures you have a working venv
export MCP_SERVER_URL='http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp'
export MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}"
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
or
Pass the url and auth as arguments (no need to set environment variables)
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
command as `python`
Arguments as `-m mcpgateway.wrapper --url "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp" --auth "Bearer <your token>"`
When using a MCP Client such as Claude with stdio:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcpgateway-wrapper": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "mcpgateway.wrapper"],
"env": {
"MCP_AUTH": "Bearer your-token-here",
"MCP_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1",
"MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT": "120"
}
}
}
}
Quick Start - Containers
Use the official OCI image from GHCR with Docker or Podman. Please note: Currently, arm64 is not supported on production. If you are e.g. running on MacOS with Apple Silicon chips (M1, M2, etc), you can run the containers using Rosetta or install via PyPi instead.
🚀 Quick Start - Docker Compose
Get a full stack running with MariaDB and Redis in under 30 seconds:
# Clone and start the stack
git clone https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge.git
cd mcp-context-forge
# Start with MariaDB (recommended for production)
docker compose up -d
# Or start with PostgreSQL
# Uncomment postgres in docker-compose.yml and comment mariadb section
# docker compose up -d
# Check status
docker compose ps
# View logs
docker compose logs -f gateway
# Access Admin UI: http://localhost:4444/admin (admin/changeme)
# Generate API token
docker compose exec gateway python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key
What you get:
- 🗄️ MariaDB 10.6 - Production-ready database with 36+ tables
- 🚀 MCP Gateway - Full-featured gateway with Admin UI
- 📊 Redis - High-performance caching and session storage
- 🔧 Admin Tools - pgAdmin, Redis Insight for database management
- 🌐 Nginx Proxy - Caching reverse proxy (optional)
☸️ Quick Start - Helm (Kubernetes)
Deploy to Kubernetes with enterprise-grade features:
# Add Helm repository (when available)
# helm repo add mcp-context-forge https://ibm.github.io/mcp-context-forge
# helm repo update
# For now, use local chart
git clone https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge.git
cd mcp-context-forge/charts/mcp-stack
# Install with MariaDB
helm install mcp-gateway . \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourcompany.com \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.JWT_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key \
--set postgres.enabled=false \
--set mariadb.enabled=true
# Or install with PostgreSQL (default)
helm install mcp-gateway . \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourcompany.com \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
--set mcpContextForge.secret.JWT_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key
# Check deployment status
kubectl get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=mcp-context-forge
# Port forward to access Admin UI
kubectl port-forward svc/mcp-gateway-mcp-context-forge 4444:80
# Access: http://localhost:4444/admin
# Generate API token
kubectl exec deployment/mcp-gateway-mcp-context-forge -- \
python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username admin@yourcompany.com --exp 10080 --secret your-secret-key
Enterprise Features:
- 🔄 Auto-scaling - HPA with CPU/memory targets
- 🗄️ Database Choice - PostgreSQL, MariaDB, or MySQL
- 📊 Observability - Prometheus metrics, OpenTelemetry tracing
- 🔒 Security - RBAC, network policies, secret management
- 🚀 High Availability - Multi-replica deployments with Redis clustering
- 📈 Monitoring - Built-in Grafana dashboards and alerting
🐳 Docker (Single Container)
1 - Minimum viable run
docker run -d --name mcpgateway \
-p 4444:4444 \
-e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
-e MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
-e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e JWT_SECRET_KEY=my-test-key \
-e BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin \
-e BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e AUTH_REQUIRED=true \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator" \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./mcp.db \
-e SECURE_COOKIES=false \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
# Note: when not running over SSL, use SECURE_COOKIES=false to prevent the browser denying access.
# Tail logs (Ctrl+C to quit)
docker logs -f mcpgateway
# Generating an API key
docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2 \
python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username admin@example.com --exp 0 --secret my-test-key
Browse to http://localhost:4444/admin (user admin / pass changeme).
2 - Persist the SQLite database
mkdir -p $(pwd)/data
touch $(pwd)/data/mcp.db
sudo chown -R :docker $(pwd)/data
chmod 777 $(pwd)/data
docker run -d --name mcpgateway \
--restart unless-stopped \
-p 4444:4444 \
-v $(pwd)/data:/data \
-e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
-e MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
-e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e JWT_SECRET_KEY=my-test-key \
-e BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin \
-e BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator" \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
SQLite now lives on the host at ./data/mcp.db.
3 - Local tool discovery (host network)
mkdir -p $(pwd)/data
touch $(pwd)/data/mcp.db
sudo chown -R :docker $(pwd)/data
chmod 777 $(pwd)/data
docker run -d --name mcpgateway \
--network=host \
-e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
-e MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
-e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e PORT=4444 \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator" \
-v $(pwd)/data:/data \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
Using --network=host allows Docker to access the local network, allowing you to add MCP servers running on your host. See Docker Host network driver documentation for more details.
4 - Airgapped deployment (no internet access)
For environments without internet access, build a container with bundled UI assets:
# Build airgapped container (downloads CDN assets during build)
docker build -f Containerfile.lite -t mcpgateway:airgapped .
# Run in airgapped mode
docker run -d --name mcpgateway \
-p 4444:4444 \
-e MCPGATEWAY_UI_AIRGAPPED=true \
-e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
-e MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
-e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e JWT_SECRET_KEY=my-test-key \
-e BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin \
-e BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=changeme \
-e AUTH_REQUIRED=true \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./mcp.db \
mcpgateway:airgapped
The Admin UI will work completely offline with all CSS/JS assets (~932KB) served locally.
🦭 Podman (rootless-friendly)
1 - Basic run
podman run -d --name mcpgateway \
-p 4444:4444 \
-e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./mcp.db \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
2 - Persist SQLite
mkdir -p $(pwd)/data
touch $(pwd)/data/mcp.db
sudo chown -R :docker $(pwd)/data
chmod 777 $(pwd)/data
podman run -d --name mcpgateway \
--restart=on-failure \
-p 4444:4444 \
-v $(pwd)/data:/data \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
3 - Host networking (rootless)
mkdir -p $(pwd)/data
touch $(pwd)/data/mcp.db
sudo chown -R :docker $(pwd)/data
chmod 777 $(pwd)/data
podman run -d --name mcpgateway \
--network=host \
-v $(pwd)/data:/data \
-e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2
✏️ Docker/Podman tips
-
.env files - Put all the
-e FOO=lines into a file and replace them with--env-file .env. See the provided .env.example for reference. -
Pinned tags - Use an explicit version (e.g.
v0.9.0) instead oflatestfor reproducible builds. -
JWT tokens - Generate one in the running container:
docker exec mcpgateway python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key -
Upgrades - Stop, remove, and rerun with the same
-v $(pwd)/data:/datamount; your DB and config stay intact.
🚑 Smoke-test the running container
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/health | jq
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/tools | jq
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/version | jq
🖧 Running the MCP Gateway stdio wrapper
The mcpgateway.wrapper lets you connect to the gateway over stdio while keeping JWT authentication. You should run this from the MCP Client. The example below is just for testing.
# Set environment variables
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key)
export MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}"
export MCP_SERVER_URL='http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp'
export MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT=120
export MCP_WRAPPER_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG # or OFF to disable logging
docker run --rm -i \
-e MCP_AUTH=$MCP_AUTH \
-e MCP_SERVER_URL=http://host.docker.internal:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp \
-e MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT=120 \
-e MCP_WRAPPER_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2 \
python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper
Testing mcpgateway.wrapper by hand:
Because the wrapper speaks JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout, you can interact with it using nothing more than a terminal or pipes.
# Start the MCP Gateway Wrapper
export MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}"
export MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/YOUR_SERVER_UUID
python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper
Initialize the protocol
# Initialize the protocol
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"demo","version":"0.0.1"}}}
# Then after the reply:
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/initialized","params":{}}
# Get prompts
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":4,"method":"prompts/list"}
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":5,"method":"prompts/get","params":{"name":"greeting","arguments":{"user":"Bob"}}}
# Get resources
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":6,"method":"resources/list"}
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":7,"method":"resources/read","params":{"uri":"https://example.com/some.txt"}}
# Get / call tools
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list"}
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_system_time","arguments":{"timezone":"Europe/Dublin"}}}
Expected responses from mcpgateway.wrapper
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{"experimental":{},"prompts":{"listChanged":false},"resources":{"subscribe":false,"listChanged":false},"tools":{"listChanged":false}},"serverInfo":{"name":"mcpgateway-wrapper","version":"0.9.0"}}}
# When there's no tools
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":{"tools":[]}}
# After you add some tools and create a virtual server
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":{"tools":[{"annotations":{"readOnlyHint":false,"destructiveHint":true,"idempotentHint":false,"openWorldHint":true},"description":"Convert time between different timezones","inputSchema":{"properties":{"source_timezone":{"description":"Source IANA timezone name","type":"string"},"target_timezone":{"description":"Target IANA timezone name","type":"string"},"time":{"description":"Time to convert in RFC3339 format or common formats like '2006-01-02 15:04:05'","type":"string"}},"required":["time","source_timezone","target_timezone"],"type":"object"},"name":"convert_time"},{"annotations":{"readOnlyHint":false,"destructiveHint":true,"idempotentHint":false,"openWorldHint":true},"description":"Get current system time in specified timezone","inputSchema":{"properties":{"timezone":{"description":"IANA timezone name (e.g., 'America/New_York', 'Europe/London'). Defaults to UTC","type":"string"}},"type":"object"},"name":"get_system_time"}]}}
# Running the time tool:
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"2025-07-09T00:09:45+01:00"}]}}
🧩 Running from an MCP Client (mcpgateway.wrapper)
The mcpgateway.wrapper exposes everything your Gateway knows about over stdio, so any MCP client that can't (or shouldn't) open an authenticated SSE stream still gets full tool-calling power.
Remember to substitute your real Gateway URL (and server ID) for
http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp. When inside Docker/Podman, that often becomeshttp://host.docker.internal:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp(macOS/Windows) or the gateway container's hostname (Linux).
🐳 Docker / Podman
export MCP_AUTH="Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN"
docker run -i --rm \
--network=host \
-e MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp \
-e MCP_AUTH=${MCP_AUTH} \
-e MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT=120 \
ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0-BETA-2 \
python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper
📦 pipx (one-liner install & run)
# Install gateway package in its own isolated venv
pipx install --include-deps mcp-contextforge-gateway
# Run the stdio wrapper
MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}" \
MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp \
python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper
# Alternatively with uv
uv run --directory . -m mcpgateway.wrapper
Claude Desktop JSON (uses the host Python that pipx injected):
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcpgateway-wrapper": {
"command": "python3",
"args": ["-m", "mcpgateway.wrapper"],
"env": {
"MCP_AUTH": "Bearer <your-token>",
"MCP_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp",
"MCP_TOOL_CALL_TIMEOUT": "120"
}
}
}
}
⚡ uv / uvx (light-speed venvs)
1 - Install uv (uvx is an alias it provides)
# (a) official one-liner
curl -Ls https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# (b) or via pipx
pipx install uv
2 - Create an on-the-spot venv & run the wrapper
# Create venv in ~/.venv/mcpgateway (or current dir if you prefer)
uv venv ~/.venv/mcpgateway
source ~/.venv/mcpgateway/bin/activate
# Install the gateway package using uv
uv pip install mcp-contextforge-gateway
# Launch wrapper
MCP_AUTH="Bearer ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}" \
MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp \
uv run --directory . -m mcpgateway.wrapper # Use this just for testing, as the Client will run the uv command
Claude Desktop JSON (runs through uvx)
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcpgateway-wrapper": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"run",
"--",
"python",
"-m",
"mcpgateway.wrapper"
],
"env": {
"MCP_AUTH": "Bearer <your-token>",
"MCP_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/mcp"
}
}
}
🚀 Using with Claude Desktop (or any GUI MCP client)
- Edit Config →
File ▸ Settings ▸ Developer ▸ Edit Config - Paste one of the JSON blocks above (Docker / pipx / uvx).
- Restart the app so the new stdio server is spawned.
- Open logs in the same menu to verify
mcpgateway-wrapperstarted and listed your tools.
Need help? See:
- MCP Debugging Guide - https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/tools/debugging
🚀 Quick Start: VS Code Dev Container
Spin up a fully-loaded dev environment (Python 3.11, Docker/Podman CLI, all project dependencies) in just two clicks.
📋 Prerequisites
- VS Code with the Dev Containers extension
- Docker or Podman installed and running locally
🧰 Setup Instructions
1 - Clone & Open
git clone https://github.com/ibm/mcp-context-forge.git
cd mcp-context-forge
code .
VS Code will detect the .devcontainer and prompt:
"Reopen in Container"
or manually run: Ctrl/Cmd ⇧ P → Dev Containers: Reopen in Container
2 - First-Time Build (Automatic)
The container build will:
- Install system packages & Python 3.11
- Run
make install-devto pull all dependencies - Execute tests to verify the toolchain
You'll land in /workspace ready to develop.
🛠️ Daily Developer Workflow
Common tasks inside the container:
# Start dev server (hot reload)
make dev # http://localhost:4444
# Run tests & linters
make test
make lint
Optional:
make bash- drop into an interactive shellmake clean- clear build artefacts & caches- Port forwarding is automatic (customize via
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json)
☁️ GitHub Codespaces: 1-Click Cloud IDE
No local Docker? Use Codespaces:
- Go to the repo → Code ▸ Codespaces ▸ Create codespace on main
- Wait for the container image to build in the cloud
- Develop using the same workflow above
Quick Start (manual install)
Prerequisites
- Python ≥ 3.10
- GNU Make (optional, but all common workflows are available as Make targets)
- Optional: Docker / Podman for containerized runs
One-liner (dev)
make venv install serve
What it does:
- Creates / activates a
.venvin your home folder~/.venv/mcpgateway - Installs the gateway and necessary dependencies
- Launches Gunicorn (Uvicorn workers) on http://localhost:4444
For development, you can use:
make install-dev # Install development dependencies, ex: linters and test harness
make lint # optional: run style checks (ruff, mypy, etc.)
Containerized (self-signed TLS)
Container Runtime Support
This project supports both Docker and Podman. The Makefile automatically detects which runtime is available and handles image naming differences.
Auto-detection
make container-build # Uses podman if available, otherwise docker
> You can use docker or podman, ex:
```bash
make podman # build production image
make podman-run-ssl # run at https://localhost:4444
# or listen on port 4444 on your host directly, adds --network=host to podman
make podman-run-ssl-host
Smoke-test the API
curl -k -sX GET \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
https://localhost:4444/tools | jq
You should receive [] until you register a tool.
Installation
Via Make
make venv install # create .venv + install deps
make serve # gunicorn on :4444
UV (alternative)
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e '.[dev]' # IMPORTANT: in zsh, quote to disable glob expansion!
pip (alternative)
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
Optional (PostgreSQL adapter)
You can configure the gateway with SQLite, PostgreSQL (or any other compatible database) in .env.
When using PostgreSQL, you need to install the psycopg (psycopg3) driver.
System Dependencies: The PostgreSQL adapter requires the libpq development headers to compile:
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libpq-dev
# RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
sudo dnf install postgresql-devel
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install libpq
Then install the Python package:
uv pip install 'psycopg[binary]' # dev convenience (pre-built wheels)
# or
uv pip install 'psycopg[c]' # production build (requires compiler)
Connection URL format (must use +psycopg for psycopg3):
DATABASE_URL=postgresql+psycopg://user:password@localhost:5432/mcp
Quick Postgres container
docker run --name mcp-postgres \
-e POSTGRES_USER=postgres \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword \
-e POSTGRES_DB=mcp \
-p 5432:5432 -d postgres
A make compose-up target is provided along with a docker-compose.yml file to make this process simpler.
🔄 Upgrading to v0.7.0
⚠️ CRITICAL: Version 0.7.0 introduces comprehensive multi-tenancy and requires database migration.
Backup Your Data First
Before upgrading to v0.7.0, always backup your database, environment configuration, and export your settings:
# Backup database (SQLite example)
cp mcp.db mcp.db.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
# Backup existing .env file
cp .env .env.bak
# Export configuration via Admin UI or API
curl -u admin:changeme "http://localhost:4444/admin/export/configuration" \
-o config_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).json
Migration Process
- Update
.env- Copy new settings:cp .env.example .envthen configurePLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAILand other required multi-tenancy settings - Run migration - Database schema updates automatically:
python3 -m mcpgateway.bootstrap_db - Verify migration - Use verification script:
python3 scripts/verify_multitenancy_0_7_0_migration.py
If Migration Fails
If the database migration fails or you encounter issues:
- Restore database backup:
cp mcp.db.backup.YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS mcp.db - Restore .env backup:
cp .env.bak .env - Delete corrupted database:
rm mcp.db(if migration partially completed) - Restore configuration: Import your exported configuration via Admin UI
Complete Migration Guide
For detailed upgrade instructions, troubleshooting, and rollback procedures, see:
- 📖 MIGRATION-0.7.0.md - Complete step-by-step upgrade guide
- 🏗️ Multi-tenancy Architecture - Understanding the new system
Configuration (.env or env vars)
⚠️ If any required
.envvariable is missing or invalid, the gateway will fail fast at startup with a validation error via Pydantic.
You can get started by copying the provided .env.example to .env and making the necessary edits to fit your environment.
The template keeps required security-sensitive values active plus a small project defaults block (batteries-included overrides). Everything else is commented and falls back to mcpgateway/config.py defaults. The template also includes a Non-Settings section (runtime/launcher envs and auxiliary tools) which are not part of Pydantic Settings. A Performance Tuning (quick reference) section near the top groups TTLs, pools, and timeouts for faster tuning. Uncomment settings when you need to override defaults.
🔧 Environment Configuration Variables
Basic
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
APP_NAME | Gateway / OpenAPI title | MCP_Gateway | string |
HOST | Bind address for the app | 127.0.0.1 | IPv4/IPv6 |
PORT | Port the server listens on | 4444 | 1-65535 |
CLIENT_MODE | Client-only mode for gateway-as-client | false | bool |
DATABASE_URL | SQLAlchemy connection URL | sqlite:///./mcp.db | any SQLAlchemy dialect |
APP_ROOT_PATH | Subpath prefix for app (e.g. /gateway) | (empty) | string |
TEMPLATES_DIR | Path to Jinja2 templates | mcpgateway/templates | path |
STATIC_DIR | Path to static files | mcpgateway/static | path |
PROTOCOL_VERSION | MCP protocol version supported | 2025-06-18 | string |
FORGE_CONTENT_TYPE | Content-Type for outgoing requests to Forge | application/json | application/json, application/x-www-form-urlencoded |
💡 Use
APP_ROOT_PATH=/fooif reverse-proxying under a subpath likehttps://host.com/foo/. 🔄 UseFORGE_CONTENT_TYPE=application/x-www-form-urlencodedto send URL-encoded form data instead of JSON.
Authentication
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
BASIC_AUTH_USER | Username for Admin UI login and HTTP Basic authentication | admin | string |
BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD | Password for Admin UI login and HTTP Basic authentication | changeme | string |
PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL | Email for bootstrap platform admin user (auto-created with admin privileges) | admin@example.com | string |
AUTH_REQUIRED | Require authentication for all API routes | true | bool |
JWT_ALGORITHM | Algorithm used to sign the JWTs (HS256 is default, HMAC-based) | HS256 | PyJWT algs |
JWT_SECRET_KEY | Secret key used to sign JWT tokens for API access | my-test-key | string |
JWT_PUBLIC_KEY_PATH | If an asymmetric algorithm is used, a public key is required | (empty) | path to pem |
JWT_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH | If an asymmetric algorithm is used, a private key is required | (empty) | path to pem |
JWT_AUDIENCE | JWT audience claim for token validation | mcpgateway-api | string |
JWT_AUDIENCE_VERIFICATION | Disables jwt audience verification (useful for DCR) | true | boolean |
JWT_ISSUER_VERIFICATION | Disables jwt issuer verification (useful for custom auth) | true | boolean |
JWT_ISSUER | JWT issuer claim for token validation | mcpgateway | string |
TOKEN_EXPIRY | Expiry of generated JWTs in minutes | 10080 | int > 0 |
REQUIRE_TOKEN_EXPIRATION | Require all JWT tokens to have expiration claims | false | bool |
REQUIRE_JTI | Require JTI (JWT ID) claim in all tokens for revocation support | false | bool |
REQUIRE_USER_IN_DB | Require all authenticated users to exist in the database | false | bool |
EMBED_ENVIRONMENT_IN_TOKENS | Embed environment claim in gateway-issued JWTs | false | bool |
VALIDATE_TOKEN_ENVIRONMENT | Reject tokens with mismatched environment claim | false | bool |
AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET | Passphrase used to derive AES key for encrypting tool auth headers | my-test-salt | string |
OAUTH_REQUEST_TIMEOUT | OAuth request timeout in seconds | 30 | int > 0 |
OAUTH_MAX_RETRIES | Maximum retries for OAuth token requests | 3 | int > 0 |
OAUTH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT | Default OAuth token timeout in seconds | 3600 | int > 0 |
INSECURE_ALLOW_QUERYPARAM_AUTH | Enable query parameter authentication for gateways (see security warning) | false | bool |
INSECURE_QUERYPARAM_AUTH_ALLOWED_HOSTS | JSON array of hosts allowed to use query param auth | [] | JSON array |
⚠️ Query Parameter Authentication (INSECURE): The
INSECURE_ALLOW_QUERYPARAM_AUTHsetting enables API key authentication via URL query parameters. This is inherently insecure (CWE-598) as API keys may appear in proxy logs, browser history, and server access logs. Only enable this when the upstream MCP server (e.g., Tavily) requires this authentication method. Always configureINSECURE_QUERYPARAM_AUTH_ALLOWED_HOSTSto restrict which hosts can use this feature.
🔐
BASIC_AUTH_USER/PASSWORDare used for:
- Logging into the web-based Admin UI
- Accessing APIs via Basic Auth (
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN")🔑
JWT_SECRET_KEYis used to:
Sign JSON Web Tokens (
Authorization: Bearer <token>)Generate tokens via:
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username admin@example.com --exp 0 --secret my-test-key) echo $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKENTokens allow non-interactive API clients to authenticate securely.
🧪 Set
AUTH_REQUIRED=falseduring development if you want to disable all authentication (e.g. for local testing or open APIs) or clients that don't support SSE authentication. In production, you should use the SSE to stdiomcpgateway-wrapperfor such tools that don't support authenticated SSE, while still ensuring the gateway uses authentication.🔐
AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRETis used to encrypt and decrypt tool authentication credentials (auth_value). You must set the same value across environments to decode previously stored encrypted auth values. Recommended: use a long, random string.
UI Features
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED | Enable the interactive Admin dashboard | false | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED | Enable API endpoints for admin ops | false | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_UI_AIRGAPPED | Use local CDN assets for airgapped deployments | false | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_ENABLED | Enable bulk import endpoint for tools | true | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_MAX_TOOLS | Maximum number of tools per bulk import request | 200 | int |
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_RATE_LIMIT | Rate limit for bulk import endpoint (requests per minute) | 10 | int |
MCPGATEWAY_UI_TOOL_TEST_TIMEOUT | Tool test timeout in milliseconds for the admin UI | 60000 | int |
🖥️ Set both UI and Admin API to
falseto disable management UI and APIs in production. 📥 The bulk import endpoint allows importing up to 200 tools in a single request via/admin/tools/import. ⏱️ IncreaseMCPGATEWAY_UI_TOOL_TEST_TIMEOUTif your tools make multiple API calls or operate in high-latency environments.
A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Features
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_ENABLED | Enable A2A agent features | true | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_MAX_AGENTS | Maximum number of A2A agents allowed | 100 | int |
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT | Default timeout for A2A HTTP requests (seconds) | 30 | int |
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_MAX_RETRIES | Maximum retry attempts for A2A calls | 3 | int |
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_METRICS_ENABLED | Enable A2A agent metrics collection | true | bool |
🤖 A2A Integration: Register external AI agents (OpenAI, Anthropic, custom) and expose them as MCP tools 📊 Metrics: Track agent performance, success rates, and response times 🔒 Security: Encrypted credential storage and configurable authentication 🎛️ Admin UI: Dedicated tab for agent management with test functionality
A2A Configuration Effects:
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_ENABLED=false: Completely disables A2A features (API endpoints return 404, admin tab hidden)MCPGATEWAY_A2A_METRICS_ENABLED=false: Disables metrics collection while keeping functionality
ToolOps
ToolOps streamlines the entire workflow by enabling seamless tool enrichment, automated test case generation, and comprehensive tool validation.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
TOOLOPS_ENABLED | Enable ToolOps functionality | false | bool |
LLM Chat MCP Client
The LLM Chat MCP Client allows you to interact with MCP servers using conversational AI from multiple LLM providers. This feature enables natural language interaction with tools, resources, and prompts exposed by MCP servers.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
LLMCHAT_ENABLED | Enable LLM Chat functionality | false | bool |
LLM_PROVIDER | LLM provider selection | azure_openai | azure_openai, openai, anthropic, aws_bedrock, ollama |
Azure OpenAI Configuration:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT | Azure OpenAI endpoint URL | (none) | string |
AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY | Azure OpenAI API key | (none) | string |
AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT | Azure OpenAI deployment name | (none) | string |
AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION | Azure OpenAI API version | 2024-02-15-preview | string |
AZURE_OPENAI_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float (0.0-2.0) |
AZURE_OPENAI_MAX_TOKENS | Maximum tokens to generate | (none) | int |
OpenAI Configuration:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OPENAI_API_KEY | OpenAI API key | (none) | string |
OPENAI_MODEL | OpenAI model name | gpt-4o-mini | string |
OPENAI_BASE_URL | Base URL for OpenAI-compatible endpoints | (none) | string |
OPENAI_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float (0.0-2.0) |
OPENAI_MAX_RETRIES | Maximum number of retries | 2 | int |
Anthropic Claude Configuration:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | Anthropic API key | (none) | string |
ANTHROPIC_MODEL | Claude model name | claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022 | string |
ANTHROPIC_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float (0.0-1.0) |
ANTHROPIC_MAX_TOKENS | Maximum tokens to generate | 4096 | int |
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES | Maximum number of retries | 2 | int |
AWS Bedrock Configuration:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
AWS_BEDROCK_MODEL_ID | Bedrock model ID | (none) | string |
AWS_BEDROCK_REGION | AWS region name | us-east-1 | string |
AWS_BEDROCK_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float (0.0-1.0) |
AWS_BEDROCK_MAX_TOKENS | Maximum tokens to generate | 4096 | int |
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID | AWS access key ID (optional) | (none) | string |
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY | AWS secret access key (optional) | (none) | string |
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN | AWS session token (optional) | (none) | string |
IBM WatsonX AI
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
WATSONX_URL | watsonx url | (none) | string |
WATSONX_APIKEY | API key | (none) | string |
WATSONX_PROJECT_ID | Project Id for WatsonX | (none) | string |
WATSONX_MODEL_ID | Watsonx model id | ibm/granite-13b-chat-v2 | string |
WATSONX_TEMPERATURE | temperature (optional) | 0.7 | float (0.0-1.0) |
Ollama Configuration:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OLLAMA_BASE_URL | Ollama base URL | http://localhost:11434 | string |
OLLAMA_MODEL | Ollama model name | llama3.2 | string |
OLLAMA_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float (0.0-2.0) |
⚙️ ToolOps: To manage the complete tool workflow — enrich tools, generate test cases automatically, and validate them with ease. 🤖 LLM Chat Integration: Chat with MCP servers using natural language powered by Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, AWS Bedrock, or Ollama 🔧 Flexible Providers: Switch between different LLM providers without changing your MCP integration 🔒 Security: API keys and credentials are securely stored and never exposed in responses 🎛️ Admin UI: Dedicated LLM Chat tab in the admin interface for interactive conversations
ToolOps Configuration Effects:
TOOLOPS_ENABLED=false(default): Completely disables ToolOps features (API endpoints return 404, admin tab hidden)TOOLOPS_ENABLED=true: Enables ToolOps functionality in the UI
LLM Chat Configuration Effects:
LLMCHAT_ENABLED=false(default): Completely disables LLM Chat features (API endpoints return 404, admin tab hidden)LLMCHAT_ENABLED=true: Enables LLM Chat functionality with the selected provider
Provider Requirements:
- Azure OpenAI: Requires
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT,AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, andAZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT - OpenAI: Requires
OPENAI_API_KEY - Anthropic: Requires
ANTHROPIC_API_KEYandpip install langchain-anthropic - AWS Bedrock: Requires
AWS_BEDROCK_MODEL_IDandpip install langchain-aws boto3. Uses AWS credential chain if explicit credentials not provided. IBM WatsonX AI: RequiresWATSONX_URL,WATSONX_APIKEY,WATSONX_PROJECT_ID,WATSONX_MODEL_IDandpip install langchain-ibm. - Ollama: Requires local Ollama instance running (default:
http://localhost:11434)
Redis Configurations: For maintaining Chat Sessions in multi-worker environment
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
LLMCHAT_SESSION_TTL | Seconds for active_session key TTL | 300 | int |
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_TTL | Seconds for lock expiry | 30 | int |
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_RETRIES | How many times to poll while waiting | 10 | int |
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_WAIT | Seconds between polls | 0.2 | float |
LLMCHAT_CHAT_HISTORY_TTL | Seconds for chat history expiry | 3600 | int |
LLMCHAT_CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_MESSAGES | Maximum message history to store per user | 50 | int |
Documentation:
- LLM Chat Guide - Complete LLM Chat setup and provider configuration
LLM Settings (Internal API)
The LLM Settings feature enables MCP Gateway to act as a unified LLM provider with an OpenAI-compatible API. Configure multiple external LLM providers through the Admin UI and expose them through a single proxy endpoint.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
LLM_API_PREFIX | API prefix for internal LLM endpoints | /v1 | string |
LLM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT | Request timeout for LLM API calls (seconds) | 120 | int |
LLM_STREAMING_ENABLED | Enable streaming responses | true | bool |
LLM_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL | Provider health check interval (seconds) | 300 | int |
Gateway Provider Settings (for LLM Chat with provider=gateway):
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
GATEWAY_MODEL | Default model to use | gpt-4o | string |
GATEWAY_BASE_URL | Base URL for gateway LLM API | (auto) | string |
GATEWAY_TEMPERATURE | Sampling temperature | 0.7 | float |
Features:
- OpenAI-Compatible API: Exposes
/v1/chat/completionsand/v1/modelsendpoints compatible with any OpenAI client - Multi-Provider Support: Configure OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, Google, Mistral, Cohere, AWS Bedrock, Groq, and more
- Admin UI Management: Add, edit, enable/disable, and test providers through the Admin UI (LLM Settings tab)
- Model Discovery: Fetch available models from providers and sync them to the database
- Health Monitoring: Automatic health checks with status indicators
- Unified Interface: Route requests to any configured provider through a single API
API Endpoints:
# List available models
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/v1/models
# Chat completion
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model": "gpt-4o", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}' \
http://localhost:4444/v1/chat/completions
🔧 Configuration: Providers are managed through the Admin UI under "LLM Settings > Providers" 📋 Models: View and manage models under "LLM Settings > Models" ⚡ Testing: Test models directly from the Admin UI with the "Test" feature
Email-Based Authentication & User Management
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
EMAIL_AUTH_ENABLED | Enable email-based authentication system | true | bool |
PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL | Email for bootstrap platform admin user | admin@example.com | string |
PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD | Password for bootstrap platform admin user | changeme | string |
PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME | Full name for bootstrap platform admin user | Platform Administrator | string |
DEFAULT_USER_PASSWORD | Default password for newly created users | changeme | string |
ARGON2ID_TIME_COST | Argon2id time cost (iterations) | 3 | int > 0 |
ARGON2ID_MEMORY_COST | Argon2id memory cost in KiB | 65536 | int > 0 |
ARGON2ID_PARALLELISM | Argon2id parallelism (threads) | 1 | int > 0 |
PASSWORD_MIN_LENGTH | Minimum password length | 8 | int > 0 |
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_UPPERCASE | Require uppercase letters in passwords | true | bool |
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_LOWERCASE | Require lowercase letters in passwords | true | bool |
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_NUMBERS | Require numbers in passwords | false | bool |
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_SPECIAL | Require special characters in passwords | true | bool |
MAX_FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS | Maximum failed login attempts before lockout | 5 | int > 0 |
ACCOUNT_LOCKOUT_DURATION_MINUTES | Account lockout duration in minutes | 30 | int > 0 |
MCP Client Authentication
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCP_CLIENT_AUTH_ENABLED | Enable JWT authentication for MCP client operations | true | bool |
MCP_REQUIRE_AUTH | Require authentication for /mcp endpoints. If false, unauthenticated requests can access public items only | false | bool |
TRUST_PROXY_AUTH | Trust proxy authentication headers | false | bool |
PROXY_USER_HEADER | Header containing authenticated username from proxy | X-Authenticated-User | string |
🔐 MCP Client Auth: When
MCP_CLIENT_AUTH_ENABLED=false, you must setTRUST_PROXY_AUTH=trueif using a trusted authentication proxy. This is a security-sensitive setting.
🔒 MCP Require Auth: When
MCP_REQUIRE_AUTH=true, all/mcpendpoint requests must include a valid Bearer token. Whenfalse(default), unauthenticated requests are allowed but can only access public tools, resources, and prompts.
⚠️ MCP Access Control Dependencies: Full MCP access control (visibility + team scoping + membership validation) requires
MCP_CLIENT_AUTH_ENABLED=truewith valid JWT tokens containing team claims. WhenMCP_CLIENT_AUTH_ENABLED=false, access control relies onMCP_REQUIRE_AUTHplus tool/resource visibility only—team membership validation is skipped since there's no JWT to extract teams from.
SSO (Single Sign-On) Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_ENABLED | Master switch for Single Sign-On authentication | false | bool |
SSO_AUTO_CREATE_USERS | Automatically create users from SSO providers | true | bool |
SSO_TRUSTED_DOMAINS | Trusted email domains (JSON array) | [] | JSON array |
SSO_PRESERVE_ADMIN_AUTH | Preserve local admin authentication when SSO enabled | true | bool |
SSO_REQUIRE_ADMIN_APPROVAL | Require admin approval for new SSO registrations | false | bool |
SSO_ISSUERS | Optional JSON array of issuer URLs for SSO providers | (none) | JSON array |
GitHub OAuth:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_GITHUB_ENABLED | Enable GitHub OAuth authentication | false | bool |
SSO_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID | GitHub OAuth client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET | GitHub OAuth client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_GITHUB_ADMIN_ORGS | GitHub orgs granting admin privileges (JSON) | [] | JSON array |
Google OAuth:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_GOOGLE_ENABLED | Enable Google OAuth authentication | false | bool |
SSO_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID | Google OAuth client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET | Google OAuth client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_GOOGLE_ADMIN_DOMAINS | Google admin domains (JSON) | [] | JSON array |
IBM Security Verify OIDC:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_ENABLED | Enable IBM Security Verify OIDC authentication | false | bool |
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_CLIENT_ID | IBM Security Verify client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_CLIENT_SECRET | IBM Security Verify client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_ISSUER | IBM Security Verify OIDC issuer URL | (none) | string |
Keycloak OIDC:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_KEYCLOAK_ENABLED | Enable Keycloak OIDC authentication | false | bool |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_BASE_URL | Keycloak base URL | (none) | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_REALM | Keycloak realm name | master | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_ID | Keycloak client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_SECRET | Keycloak client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_MAP_REALM_ROLES | Map Keycloak realm roles to gateway teams | true | bool |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_MAP_CLIENT_ROLES | Map Keycloak client roles to gateway RBAC | false | bool |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_USERNAME_CLAIM | JWT claim for username | preferred_username | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_EMAIL_CLAIM | JWT claim for email | email | string |
SSO_KEYCLOAK_GROUPS_CLAIM | JWT claim for groups/roles | groups | string |
Microsoft Entra ID OIDC:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_ENTRA_ENABLED | Enable Microsoft Entra ID OIDC authentication | false | bool |
SSO_ENTRA_CLIENT_ID | Microsoft Entra ID client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_ENTRA_CLIENT_SECRET | Microsoft Entra ID client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_ENTRA_TENANT_ID | Microsoft Entra ID tenant ID | (none) | string |
Generic OIDC Provider (Auth0, Authentik, etc.):
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_GENERIC_ENABLED | Enable generic OIDC provider authentication | false | bool |
SSO_GENERIC_PROVIDER_ID | Provider ID (e.g., keycloak, auth0, authentik) | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_DISPLAY_NAME | Display name shown on login page | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_CLIENT_ID | Generic OIDC client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_CLIENT_SECRET | Generic OIDC client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_AUTHORIZATION_URL | Authorization endpoint URL | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_TOKEN_URL | Token endpoint URL | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_USERINFO_URL | Userinfo endpoint URL | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_ISSUER | OIDC issuer URL | (none) | string |
SSO_GENERIC_SCOPE | OAuth scopes (space-separated) | openid profile email | string |
Okta OIDC:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_OKTA_ENABLED | Enable Okta OIDC authentication | false | bool |
SSO_OKTA_CLIENT_ID | Okta client ID | (none) | string |
SSO_OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET | Okta client secret | (none) | string |
SSO_OKTA_ISSUER | Okta issuer URL | (none) | string |
SSO Admin Assignment:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSO_AUTO_ADMIN_DOMAINS | Email domains that automatically get admin privileges | [] | JSON array |
OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) & PKCE
ContextForge implements OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (RFC 7591) and PKCE (RFC 7636) for seamless integration with OAuth-protected MCP servers and upstream API gateways like HyperMCP.
Key Features:
- ✅ Automatic client registration with Authorization Servers (no manual credential configuration)
- ✅ Authorization Server metadata discovery (RFC 8414)
- ✅ PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange) enabled for all Authorization Code flows
- ✅ Support for public clients (PKCE-only, no client secret)
- ✅ Encrypted credential storage with Fernet encryption
- ✅ Configurable issuer allowlist for security
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
DCR_ENABLED | Enable Dynamic Client Registration (RFC 7591) | true | bool |
DCR_AUTO_REGISTER_ON_MISSING_CREDENTIALS | Auto-register when gateway has issuer but no client_id | true | bool |
DCR_DEFAULT_SCOPES | Default OAuth scopes to request during DCR | ["mcp:read"] | JSON array |
DCR_ALLOWED_ISSUERS | Allowlist of trusted issuer URLs (empty = allow any) | [] | JSON array |
DCR_TOKEN_ENDPOINT_AUTH_METHOD | Token endpoint auth method | client_secret_basic | client_secret_basic, client_secret_post, none |
DCR_METADATA_CACHE_TTL | AS metadata cache TTL in seconds | 3600 | int |
DCR_CLIENT_NAME_TEMPLATE | Template for client_name in DCR requests | MCP Gateway ({gateway_name}) | string |
DCR_REQUEST_REFRESH_TOKEN_WHEN_UNSUPPORTED | Request refresh_token when AS omits grant_types_supported | false | bool |
OAUTH_DISCOVERY_ENABLED | Enable AS metadata discovery (RFC 8414) | true | bool |
OAUTH_PREFERRED_CODE_CHALLENGE_METHOD | PKCE code challenge method | S256 | S256, plain |
JWT_AUDIENCE_VERIFICATION | JWT audience verification (disable for DCR) | true | bool |
JWT_ISSUER_VERIFICATION | JWT issuer verification (disable if needed) | true | bool |
Documentation:
- DCR Configuration Guide - Complete DCR setup and troubleshooting
- OAuth 2.0 Integration - OAuth configuration and PKCE details
- HyperMCP Tutorial - End-to-end DCR setup with HyperMCP gateway
Personal Teams Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
AUTO_CREATE_PERSONAL_TEAMS | Enable automatic personal team creation for new users | true | bool |
PERSONAL_TEAM_PREFIX | Personal team naming prefix | personal | string |
MAX_TEAMS_PER_USER | Maximum number of teams a user can belong to | 50 | int > 0 |
MAX_MEMBERS_PER_TEAM | Maximum number of members per team | 100 | int > 0 |
INVITATION_EXPIRY_DAYS | Number of days before team invitations expire | 7 | int > 0 |
REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION_FOR_INVITES | Require email verification for team invitations | true | bool |
MCP Server Catalog
🆕 New in v0.7.0: The MCP Server Catalog allows you to define a catalog of pre-configured MCP servers in a YAML file for easy discovery and management via the Admin UI.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_ENABLED | Enable MCP server catalog feature | true | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_FILE | Path to catalog configuration file | mcp-catalog.yml | string |
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_AUTO_HEALTH_CHECK | Automatically health check catalog servers | true | bool |
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_CACHE_TTL | Catalog cache TTL in seconds | 3600 | int > 0 |
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_PAGE_SIZE | Number of catalog servers per page | 12 | int > 0 |
Key Features:
- 🔄 Refresh Button - Manually refresh catalog without page reload
- 🔍 Debounced Search - Optimized search with 300ms debounce
- 📝 Custom Server Names - Specify custom names when registering
- 🔌 Transport Detection - Auto-detect SSE, WebSocket, or HTTP transports
- 🔐 OAuth Support - Register OAuth servers and configure later
- ⚡ Better Error Messages - User-friendly errors for common issues
Documentation:
- MCP Server Catalog Guide - Complete catalog setup and configuration
Security
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SKIP_SSL_VERIFY | Skip upstream TLS verification | false | bool |
ENVIRONMENT | Deployment environment (affects security defaults) | development | development/production |
APP_DOMAIN | Domain for production CORS origins | http://localhost:4444 | string |
ALLOWED_ORIGINS | CORS allow-list | Auto-configured by environment | JSON array |
CORS_ENABLED | Enable CORS | true | bool |
CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS | Allow credentials in CORS | true | bool |
SECURE_COOKIES | Force secure cookie flags | true | bool |
COOKIE_SAMESITE | Cookie SameSite attribute | lax | strict/lax/none |
SECURITY_HEADERS_ENABLED | Enable security headers middleware | true | bool |
X_FRAME_OPTIONS | X-Frame-Options header value | DENY | DENY/SAMEORIGIN/""/null |
X_CONTENT_TYPE_OPTIONS_ENABLED | Enable X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff header | true | bool |
X_XSS_PROTECTION_ENABLED | Enable X-XSS-Protection header | true | bool |
X_DOWNLOAD_OPTIONS_ENABLED | Enable X-Download-Options: noopen header | true | bool |
HSTS_ENABLED | Enable HSTS header | true | bool |
HSTS_MAX_AGE | HSTS max age in seconds | 31536000 | int |
HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS | Include subdomains in HSTS header | true | bool |
REMOVE_SERVER_HEADERS | Remove server identification | true | bool |
DOCS_ALLOW_BASIC_AUTH | Allow Basic Auth for docs (in addition to JWT) | false | bool |
MIN_SECRET_LENGTH | Minimum length for secret keys (JWT, encryption) | 32 | int |
MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH | Minimum length for passwords | 12 | int |
REQUIRE_STRONG_SECRETS | Enforce strong secrets (fail startup on weak secrets) | false | bool |
CORS Configuration: When
ENVIRONMENT=development, CORS origins are automatically configured for common development ports (3000, 8080, gateway port). In production, origins are constructed fromAPP_DOMAIN(e.g.,https://yourdomain.com,https://app.yourdomain.com). You can override this by explicitly settingALLOWED_ORIGINS.Security Headers: The gateway automatically adds configurable security headers to all responses including CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Download-Options, and HSTS (on HTTPS). All headers can be individually enabled/disabled. Sensitive server headers are removed.
Security Validation: Set
REQUIRE_STRONG_SECRETS=trueto enforce minimum lengths for JWT secrets and passwords at startup. This helps prevent weak credentials in production. Default isfalsefor backward compatibility.iframe Embedding: The gateway controls iframe embedding through both
X-Frame-Optionsheader and CSPframe-ancestorsdirective (both are automatically synced). Options:
X_FRAME_OPTIONS=DENY(default): Blocks all iframe embeddingX_FRAME_OPTIONS=SAMEORIGIN: Allows embedding from same domain onlyX_FRAME_OPTIONS="ALLOW-ALL": Allows embedding from all sources (setsframe-ancestors * file: http: https:)X_FRAME_OPTIONS=nullornone: Completely removes iframe restrictions (no headers sent)Modern browsers prioritize CSP
frame-ancestorsover the legacyX-Frame-Optionsheader. Both are now kept in sync automatically.Cookie Security: Authentication cookies are automatically configured with HttpOnly, Secure (in production), and SameSite attributes for CSRF protection.
Note: do not quote the ALLOWED_ORIGINS values, this needs to be valid JSON, such as: ALLOWED_ORIGINS=["http://localhost", "http://localhost:4444"]
Documentation endpoints (
/docs,/redoc,/openapi.json) are always protected by authentication. By default, they require Bearer token authentication. SettingDOCS_ALLOW_BASIC_AUTH=trueenables HTTP Basic Authentication as an additional method using the same credentials asBASIC_AUTH_USERandBASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.
Ed25519 Certificate Signing
MCP Gateway supports Ed25519 digital signatures for certificate validation and integrity verification. This cryptographic signing mechanism ensures that CA certificates used by the gateway are authentic and haven't been tampered with.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
ENABLE_ED25519_SIGNING | Enable Ed25519 signing for certificates | false | bool |
ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY | Ed25519 private key for signing (PEM format) | (none) | string |
PREV_ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY | Previous Ed25519 private key for key rotation | (none) | string |
How It Works:
-
Certificate Signing - When
ENABLE_ED25519_SIGNING=true, the gateway signs the CA certificate of each MCP server/gateway using the Ed25519 private key. -
Certificate Validation - Before using a CA certificate for subsequent calls, the gateway validates its signature to ensure authenticity and integrity.
-
Disabled Mode - When
ENABLE_ED25519_SIGNING=false, certificates are neither signed nor validated (default behavior).
Key Generation:
# Generate a new Ed25519 key pair
python mcpgateway/utils/generate_keys.py
# Output will show:
# - Private key (set this to ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY)
Key Rotation:
To rotate keys without invalidating existing signed certificates:
- Move the current
ED25519_PRIVATE_KEYvalue toPREV_ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY - Generate a new key pair using the command above
- Set the new private key to
ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY - The gateway will automatically re-sign valid certificates at the point of key change
Example Configuration:
# Enable Ed25519 signing
ENABLE_ED25519_SIGNING=true
# Current signing key (PEM format)
ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MC4CAQAwBQYDK2VwBCIEIJ5pW... (your key here)
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----"
# Previous key for rotation (optional)
PREV_ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MC4CAQAwBQYDK2VwBCIEIOld... (old key here)
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----"
🔐 Security Best Practices:
- Store private keys securely (use secrets management tools like Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, etc.)
- Rotate keys periodically (recommended: every 90-180 days)
- Never commit private keys to version control
- Use environment variables or encrypted config files
🔑 Public Key Derivation:
- Public keys are automatically derived from private keys
- No need to configure public keys separately
- Both
ED25519_PUBLIC_KEYandPREV_ED25519_PUBLIC_KEYare computed at startup⚡ Performance:
- Ed25519 signing is extremely fast (~64 microseconds per signature)
- Minimal impact on gateway performance
- Recommended for production deployments requiring certificate integrity
Response Compression
MCP Gateway includes automatic response compression middleware that reduces bandwidth usage by 30-70% for text-based responses (JSON, HTML, CSS, JS). Compression is negotiated automatically based on client Accept-Encoding headers with algorithm priority: Brotli (best compression) > Zstd (fastest) > GZip (universal fallback).
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
COMPRESSION_ENABLED | Enable response compression | true | bool |
COMPRESSION_MINIMUM_SIZE | Minimum response size in bytes to compress | 500 | int (0=compress all) |
COMPRESSION_GZIP_LEVEL | GZip compression level (1=fast, 9=best) | 6 | int (1-9) |
COMPRESSION_BROTLI_QUALITY | Brotli quality (0-3=fast, 4-9=balanced, 10-11=max) | 4 | int (0-11) |
COMPRESSION_ZSTD_LEVEL | Zstd level (1-3=fast, 4-9=balanced, 10+=slow) | 3 | int (1-22) |
Compression Behavior:
- Automatically negotiates algorithm based on client
Accept-Encodingheader - Only compresses responses larger than
COMPRESSION_MINIMUM_SIZEbytes (small responses not worth compression overhead) - Adds
Vary: Accept-Encodingheader for proper cache behavior - No client changes required (browsers/clients handle decompression automatically)
- Typical compression ratios: JSON responses 40-60%, HTML responses 50-70%
Performance Impact:
- CPU overhead: <5% (balanced settings)
- Bandwidth reduction: 30-70% for text responses
- Latency impact: <10ms for typical responses
Testing Compression:
# Start server
make dev
# Test Brotli (best compression)
curl -H "Accept-Encoding: br" http://localhost:8000/openapi.json -v | grep -i "content-encoding"
# Test GZip (universal fallback)
curl -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" http://localhost:8000/openapi.json -v | grep -i "content-encoding"
# Test Zstd (fastest)
curl -H "Accept-Encoding: zstd" http://localhost:8000/openapi.json -v | grep -i "content-encoding"
Tuning for Production:
# High-traffic (optimize for speed)
COMPRESSION_GZIP_LEVEL=4
COMPRESSION_BROTLI_QUALITY=3
COMPRESSION_ZSTD_LEVEL=1
# Bandwidth-constrained (optimize for size)
COMPRESSION_GZIP_LEVEL=9
COMPRESSION_BROTLI_QUALITY=11
COMPRESSION_ZSTD_LEVEL=9
Note: See Scaling Guide for compression performance optimization at scale.
Logging
MCP Gateway provides flexible logging with stdout/stderr output by default and optional file-based logging. When file logging is enabled, it provides JSON formatting for structured logs and text formatting for console output.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
LOG_LEVEL | Minimum log level | INFO | DEBUG...CRITICAL |
LOG_FORMAT | Console log format | json | json, text |
LOG_REQUESTS | Enable detailed request logging | false | true, false |
LOG_DETAILED_MAX_BODY_SIZE | Max request body size to log (bytes) | 16384 | 1024 - 1048576 |
LOG_DETAILED_SKIP_ENDPOINTS | Path prefixes to skip from detailed logging | [] | Comma-separated list |
LOG_DETAILED_SAMPLE_RATE | Sampling rate for detailed logging | 1.0 | 0.0 - 1.0 |
LOG_RESOLVE_USER_IDENTITY | Enable DB lookup for user identity | false | true, false |
LOG_TO_FILE | Enable file logging | false | true, false |
LOG_FILE | Log filename (when enabled) | null | mcpgateway.log |
LOG_FOLDER | Directory for log files | null | logs, /var/log/gateway |
LOG_FILEMODE | File write mode | a+ | a+ (append), w (overwrite) |
LOG_ROTATION_ENABLED | Enable log file rotation | false | true, false |
LOG_MAX_SIZE_MB | Max file size before rotation (MB) | 1 | Any positive integer |
LOG_BACKUP_COUNT | Number of backup files to keep | 5 | Any non-negative integer |
LOG_BUFFER_SIZE_MB | Size of in-memory log buffer (MB) | 1.0 | float > 0 |
Logging Behavior:
- Default: Logs only to stdout/stderr with human-readable text format
- File Logging: When
LOG_TO_FILE=true, logs to both file (JSON format) and console (text format) - Log Rotation: When
LOG_ROTATION_ENABLED=true, files rotate atLOG_MAX_SIZE_MBwithLOG_BACKUP_COUNTbackup files (e.g.,.log.1,.log.2) - Directory Creation: Log folder is automatically created if it doesn't exist
- Centralized Service: All modules use the unified
LoggingServicefor consistent formatting - Detailed Request Logging: When
LOG_REQUESTS=true, payload logging is truncated toLOG_DETAILED_MAX_BODY_SIZEand skipped for/health,/healthz,/static,/favicon.ico, and any paths inLOG_DETAILED_SKIP_ENDPOINTS - Sampling: Use
LOG_DETAILED_SAMPLE_RATEto log only a fraction of requests (e.g.,0.1for 10%) to reduce CPU overhead in high-traffic environments
Example Configurations:
# Default: stdout/stderr only (recommended for containers)
LOG_LEVEL=INFO
# No additional config needed - logs to stdout/stderr
# Optional: Enable file logging (no rotation)
LOG_TO_FILE=true
LOG_FOLDER=/var/log/mcpgateway
LOG_FILE=gateway.log
LOG_FILEMODE=a+
# Optional: Enable file logging with rotation
LOG_TO_FILE=true
LOG_ROTATION_ENABLED=true
LOG_MAX_SIZE_MB=10
LOG_BACKUP_COUNT=3
LOG_FOLDER=/var/log/mcpgateway
LOG_FILE=gateway.log
# Optional: Enable detailed request payload logging (truncated)
LOG_REQUESTS=true
LOG_DETAILED_MAX_BODY_SIZE=16384
# Optional: Reduce logging overhead in high-traffic environments
LOG_REQUESTS=true
LOG_DETAILED_SAMPLE_RATE=0.1 # Log only 10% of requests
LOG_DETAILED_SKIP_ENDPOINTS=/metrics,/api/v1/status # Skip high-volume endpoints
Default Behavior:
- Logs are written only to stdout/stderr in human-readable text format
- File logging is disabled by default (no files created)
- Set
LOG_TO_FILE=trueto enable optional file logging with JSON format
Observability (OpenTelemetry)
MCP Gateway includes vendor-agnostic OpenTelemetry support for distributed tracing. Works with Phoenix, Jaeger, Zipkin, Tempo, DataDog, New Relic, and any OTLP-compatible backend.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OTEL_ENABLE_OBSERVABILITY | Master switch for observability | false | true, false |
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME | Service identifier in traces | mcp-gateway | string |
OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION | Service version in traces | 0.9.0 | string |
OTEL_DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT | Environment tag (dev/staging/prod) | development | string |
OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER | Trace exporter backend | otlp | otlp, jaeger, zipkin, console, none |
OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES | Custom resource attributes | (empty) | key=value,key2=value2 |
OTLP Configuration (for Phoenix, Tempo, DataDog, etc.):
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | OTLP collector endpoint | (none) | http://localhost:4317 |
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL | OTLP protocol | grpc | grpc, http/protobuf |
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS | Authentication headers | (empty) | api-key=secret,x-auth=token |
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE | Skip TLS verification | true | true, false |
Alternative Backends (optional):
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OTEL_EXPORTER_JAEGER_ENDPOINT | Jaeger collector endpoint | http://localhost:14268/api/traces | URL |
OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_ENDPOINT | Zipkin collector endpoint | http://localhost:9411/api/v2/spans | URL |
Performance Tuning:
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER | Sampling strategy | parentbased_traceidratio | always_on, always_off, traceidratio |
OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG | Sample rate (0.0-1.0) | 0.1 | float (0.1 = 10% sampling) |
OTEL_BSP_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE | Max queued spans | 2048 | int > 0 |
OTEL_BSP_MAX_EXPORT_BATCH_SIZE | Max batch size for export | 512 | int > 0 |
OTEL_BSP_SCHEDULE_DELAY | Export interval (ms) | 5000 | int > 0 |
Quick Start with Phoenix:
# Start Phoenix for LLM observability
docker run -p 6006:6006 -p 4317:4317 arizephoenix/phoenix:latest
# Configure gateway
export OTEL_ENABLE_OBSERVABILITY=true
export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4317
# Run gateway - traces automatically sent to Phoenix
mcpgateway
🔍 What Gets Traced: Tool invocations, prompt rendering, resource fetching, gateway federation, health checks, plugin execution (if enabled)
🚀 Zero Overhead: When
OTEL_ENABLE_OBSERVABILITY=false, all tracing is disabled with no performance impact📊 View Traces: Phoenix UI at
http://localhost:6006, Jaeger athttp://localhost:16686, or your configured backend
Internal Observability & Tracing
The gateway includes built-in observability features for tracking HTTP requests, spans, and traces independent of OpenTelemetry. This provides database-backed trace storage and analysis directly in the Admin UI.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
OBSERVABILITY_ENABLED | Enable internal observability tracing and metrics | false | bool |
OBSERVABILITY_TRACE_HTTP_REQUESTS | Automatically trace HTTP requests | true | bool |
OBSERVABILITY_TRACE_RETENTION_DAYS | Number of days to retain trace data | 7 | int (≥ 1) |
OBSERVABILITY_MAX_TRACES | Maximum number of traces to retain | 100000 | int (≥ 1000) |
OBSERVABILITY_SAMPLE_RATE | Trace sampling rate (0.0-1.0) | 1.0 | float (0.0-1.0) |
OBSERVABILITY_INCLUDE_PATHS | Regex patterns to include for tracing | `["^/rpc/?$","^/sse$","^/message$","^/mcp(?:/ | $)","^/servers/[^/]+/mcp/?$","^/servers/[^/]+/sse$","^/servers/[^/]+/message$","^/a2a(?:/ |
OBSERVABILITY_EXCLUDE_PATHS | Regex patterns to exclude (after include patterns) | ["/health","/healthz","/ready","/metrics","/static/.*"] | JSON array |
OBSERVABILITY_METRICS_ENABLED | Enable metrics collection | true | bool |
OBSERVABILITY_EVENTS_ENABLED | Enable event logging within spans | true | bool |
Key Features:
- 📊 Database-backed storage: Traces stored in SQLite/PostgreSQL for persistence
- 🔍 Admin UI integration: View traces, spans, and metrics in the diagnostics tab
- 🎯 Sampling control: Configure sampling rate to reduce overhead in high-traffic scenarios
- 🕐 Automatic cleanup: Old traces automatically purged based on retention settings
- 🚫 Path filtering: Only include-listed endpoints are traced by default (MCP/A2A); regex excludes apply after includes
Configuration Effects:
OBSERVABILITY_ENABLED=false: Completely disables internal observability (no database writes, zero overhead)OBSERVABILITY_SAMPLE_RATE=0.1: Traces 10% of requests (useful for high-volume production)OBSERVABILITY_INCLUDE_PATHS=["^/mcp(?:/|$)","^/a2a(?:/|$)"]: Limits tracing to MCP and A2A endpointsOBSERVABILITY_INCLUDE_PATHS=[]: Traces all endpoints (still subject to exclude patterns)OBSERVABILITY_EXCLUDE_PATHS=["/health","/metrics"]: Prevents noisy endpoints from creating traces
📝 Note: This is separate from OpenTelemetry. You can use both systems simultaneously - internal observability for Admin UI visibility and OpenTelemetry for external systems like Phoenix/Jaeger.
🎛️ Admin UI Access: When enabled, traces appear in Admin → Diagnostics → Observability tab with filtering, search, and export capabilities
Prometheus Metrics
The gateway exposes Prometheus-compatible metrics at /metrics/prometheus for monitoring and alerting.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
ENABLE_METRICS | Enable Prometheus metrics instrumentation | true | bool |
METRICS_EXCLUDED_HANDLERS | Regex patterns for paths to exclude from metrics | (empty) | comma-separated |
METRICS_NAMESPACE | Prometheus metrics namespace (prefix) | default | string |
METRICS_SUBSYSTEM | Prometheus metrics subsystem (secondary prefix) | (empty) | string |
METRICS_CUSTOM_LABELS | Static custom labels for app_info gauge | (empty) | key=value,... |
Key Features:
- 📊 Standard metrics: HTTP request duration, response codes, active requests
- 🏷️ Custom labels: Add static labels (environment, region, team) for filtering in Prometheus/Grafana
- 🚫 Path exclusions: Prevent high-cardinality issues by excluding dynamic paths
- 📈 Namespace isolation: Group metrics by application or organization
Configuration Examples:
# Production deployment with custom labels
ENABLE_METRICS=true
METRICS_NAMESPACE=mycompany
METRICS_SUBSYSTEM=gateway
METRICS_CUSTOM_LABELS=environment=production,region=us-east-1,team=platform
# Exclude high-volume endpoints from metrics
METRICS_EXCLUDED_HANDLERS=/servers/.*/sse,/static/.*,.*health.*
# Disable metrics for development
ENABLE_METRICS=false
Metric Names:
- With namespace + subsystem:
mycompany_gateway_http_requests_total - Default (no namespace/subsystem):
default_http_requests_total
⚠️ High-Cardinality Warning: Never use high-cardinality values (user IDs, request IDs, timestamps) in
METRICS_CUSTOM_LABELS. Only use low-cardinality static values (environment, region, cluster).📊 Prometheus Endpoint: Access metrics at
GET /metrics/prometheus(requires authentication ifAUTH_REQUIRED=true)🎯 Grafana Integration: Import metrics into Grafana dashboards using the configured namespace as a filter
Metrics Cleanup & Rollup
Automatic management of metrics data to prevent unbounded table growth and maintain query performance.
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
DB_METRICS_RECORDING_ENABLED | Enable execution metrics recording (tool/resource/prompt/server/A2A) | true | bool |
METRICS_CLEANUP_ENABLED | Enable automatic cleanup of old metrics | true | bool |
METRICS_RETENTION_DAYS | Days to retain raw metrics (fallback) | 7 | 1-365 |
METRICS_CLEANUP_INTERVAL_HOURS | Hours between automatic cleanup runs | 1 | 1-168 |
METRICS_CLEANUP_BATCH_SIZE | Batch size for deletion (prevents long locks) | 10000 | 100-100000 |
METRICS_ROLLUP_ENABLED | Enable hourly metrics rollup | true | bool |
METRICS_ROLLUP_INTERVAL_HOURS | Hours between rollup runs | 1 | 1-24 |
METRICS_ROLLUP_RETENTION_DAYS | Days to retain hourly rollup data | 365 | 30-3650 |
METRICS_ROLLUP_LATE_DATA_HOURS | Hours to re-process for late-arriving data | 1 | 1-48 |
METRICS_DELETE_RAW_AFTER_ROLLUP | Delete raw metrics after rollup exists | true | bool |
METRICS_DELETE_RAW_AFTER_ROLLUP_HOURS | Hours to retain raw when rollup exists | 1 | 1-8760 |
USE_POSTGRESDB_PERCENTILES | Use PostgreSQL-native percentile_cont for p50/p95/p99 | true | bool |
YIELD_BATCH_SIZE | Rows per batch when streaming rollup queries | 1000 | 100-10000 |
Key Features:
- 📊 Hourly rollup: Pre-aggregated summaries with p50/p95/p99 percentiles
- 🗑️ Batched cleanup: Prevents long table locks during deletion
- 📈 Admin API: Manual triggers at
/api/metrics/cleanupand/api/metrics/rollup - ⚙️ Configurable retention: Separate retention for raw and rollup data
Deletion behavior:
- Deleted tools/resources/prompts/servers are removed from Top Performers by default, but historical rollups remain for reporting.
- To permanently erase metrics for a deleted entity, use the Admin UI delete prompt and choose Purge metrics, or call the delete endpoints with
?purge_metrics=true. - Purge deletes use batched deletes sized by
METRICS_CLEANUP_BATCH_SIZEto reduce long table locks on large datasets.
🚀 Performance: Reduces storage by 90%+ and query latency from seconds to milliseconds for historical data
Transport
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
TRANSPORT_TYPE | Enabled transports | all | http,ws,sse,stdio,all |
WEBSOCKET_PING_INTERVAL | WebSocket ping (secs) | 30 | int > 0 |
SSE_RETRY_TIMEOUT | SSE retry timeout (ms) | 5000 | int > 0 |
SSE_KEEPALIVE_ENABLED | Enable SSE keepalive events | true | bool |
SSE_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL | SSE keepalive interval (secs) | 30 | int > 0 |
USE_STATEFUL_SESSIONS | streamable http config | false | bool |
JSON_RESPONSE_ENABLED | json/sse streams (streamable http) | true | bool |
💡 SSE Keepalive Events: The gateway sends periodic keepalive events to prevent connection timeouts with proxies and load balancers. Disable with
SSE_KEEPALIVE_ENABLED=falseif your client doesn't handle unknown event types. Common intervals: 30s (default), 60s (AWS ALB), 240s (Azure).
Federation
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
FEDERATION_TIMEOUT | Gateway timeout (secs) | 30 | int > 0 |
Resources
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
RESOURCE_CACHE_SIZE | LRU cache size | 1000 | int > 0 |
RESOURCE_CACHE_TTL | Cache TTL (seconds) | 3600 | int > 0 |
MAX_RESOURCE_SIZE | Max resource bytes | 10485760 | int > 0 |
ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES | Acceptable MIME types | see code | JSON array |
Tools
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
TOOL_TIMEOUT | Tool invocation timeout (secs) | 60 | int > 0 |
MAX_TOOL_RETRIES | Max retry attempts | 3 | int ≥ 0 |
TOOL_RATE_LIMIT | Tool calls per minute | 100 | int > 0 |
TOOL_CONCURRENT_LIMIT | Concurrent tool invocations | 10 | int > 0 |
GATEWAY_TOOL_NAME_SEPARATOR | Tool name separator for gateway routing | - | -, --, _, . |
Prompts
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
PROMPT_CACHE_SIZE | Cached prompt templates | 100 | int > 0 |
MAX_PROMPT_SIZE | Max prompt template size (bytes) | 102400 | int > 0 |
PROMPT_RENDER_TIMEOUT | Jinja render timeout (secs) | 10 | int > 0 |
Health Checks
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL | Health poll interval (secs) | 60 | int > 0 |
HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT | Health request timeout (secs) | 5 | int > 0 |
GATEWAY_HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT | Per-check timeout for gateway health check (secs) | 5.0 | float > 0 |
UNHEALTHY_THRESHOLD | Fail-count before peer deactivation, | 3 | int > 0 |
| Set to -1 if deactivation is not needed. | |||
GATEWAY_VALIDATION_TIMEOUT | Gateway URL validation timeout (secs) | 5 | int > 0 |
MAX_CONCURRENT_HEALTH_CHECKS | Max Concurrent health checks | 20 | int > 0 |
AUTO_REFRESH_SERVERS | Auto Refresh tools/prompts/resources | false | bool |
FILELOCK_NAME | File lock for leader election | gateway_service_leader.lock | string |
DEFAULT_ROOTS | Default root paths for resources | [] | JSON array |
Database
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
DB_POOL_SIZE . | SQLAlchemy connection pool size | 200 | int > 0 |
DB_MAX_OVERFLOW. | Extra connections beyond pool | 10 | int ≥ 0 |
DB_POOL_TIMEOUT. | Wait for connection (secs) | 30 | int > 0 |
DB_POOL_RECYCLE. | Recycle connections (secs) | 3600 | int > 0 |
DB_MAX_RETRIES . | Max retry attempts at startup (exponential backoff) | 30 | int > 0 |
DB_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS | Base retry interval (ms), doubles each attempt up to 30s | 2000 | int > 0 |
DB_SQLITE_BUSY_TIMEOUT | SQLite lock wait timeout (ms) | 5000 | 1000-60000 |
Cache Backend
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
CACHE_TYPE | Backend type | database | none, memory, database, redis |
REDIS_URL | Redis connection URL | (none) | string or empty |
CACHE_PREFIX | Key prefix | mcpgw: | string |
SESSION_TTL | Session validity (secs) | 3600 | int > 0 |
MESSAGE_TTL | Message retention (secs) | 600 | int > 0 |
REDIS_MAX_RETRIES | Max retry attempts at startup (exponential backoff) | 30 | int > 0 |
REDIS_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS | Base retry interval (ms), doubles each attempt up to 30s | 2000 | int > 0 |
REDIS_MAX_CONNECTIONS | Connection pool size | 50 | int > 0 |
REDIS_SOCKET_TIMEOUT | Socket timeout (secs) | 2.0 | float > 0 |
REDIS_SOCKET_CONNECT_TIMEOUT | Connect timeout (secs) | 2.0 | float > 0 |
REDIS_RETRY_ON_TIMEOUT | Retry on timeout | true | bool |
REDIS_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL | Health check (secs) | 30 | int >= 0 |
REDIS_DECODE_RESPONSES | Return strings vs bytes | true | bool |
REDIS_LEADER_TTL | Leader election TTL (secs) | 15 | int > 0 |
REDIS_LEADER_KEY | Leader key name | gateway_service_leader | string |
REDIS_LEADER_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL | Heartbeat (secs) | 5 | int > 0 |
🧠
nonedisables caching entirely. Usememoryfor dev,databasefor local persistence, orredisfor distributed caching across multiple instances.
Tool Lookup Cache
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_ENABLED | Enable tool lookup cache for invoke_tool hot path | true | bool |
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS | Cache TTL (seconds) for tool lookup entries | 60 | int (5-600) |
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_NEGATIVE_TTL_SECONDS | Cache TTL (seconds) for missing/inactive/offline entries | 10 | int (1-60) |
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_L1_MAXSIZE | Max entries in in-memory L1 cache | 10000 | int (100-1000000) |
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_L2_ENABLED | Enable Redis-backed L2 cache when CACHE_TYPE=redis | true | bool |
⚡ Performance: Eliminates a DB lookup per tool invocation. L1 is always available; L2 activates when
CACHE_TYPE=redisandTOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_L2_ENABLED=true.
Metrics Aggregation Cache
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
METRICS_CACHE_ENABLED | Enable metrics query caching | true | bool |
METRICS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS | Cache TTL (seconds) | 60 | int (1-300) |
⚡ Performance: Caches aggregate metrics queries to reduce full table scans. Under high load (3000+ users), setting TTL to 60-120 seconds can reduce database scans by 6-12×. See Issue #1906.
MCP Session Pool
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCP_SESSION_POOL_ENABLED | Enable session pooling (10-20x latency improvement) | false | bool |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_MAX_PER_KEY | Max sessions per (URL, identity, transport) | 10 | int (1-100) |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_TTL | Session TTL before forced close (seconds) | 300 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_TRANSPORT_TIMEOUT | Timeout for all HTTP operations (seconds) | 30 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL | Idle time before health check (seconds) | 60 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_ACQUIRE_TIMEOUT | Timeout waiting for session slot (seconds) | 30 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CREATE_TIMEOUT | Timeout creating new session (seconds) | 30 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CIRCUIT_BREAKER_THRESHOLD | Failures before circuit opens | 5 | int |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CIRCUIT_BREAKER_RESET | Seconds before circuit resets | 60 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_IDLE_EVICTION | Evict idle pool keys after (seconds) | 600 | float |
MCP_SESSION_POOL_EXPLICIT_HEALTH_RPC | Force explicit RPC on health checks | false | bool |
⚡ Performance: Session pooling reduces per-request overhead from ~20ms to ~1-2ms (10-20x improvement). Sessions are isolated per user/tenant via identity hashing to prevent cross-user session sharing.
🔒 Security: Sessions are keyed by
(URL, identity_hash, transport_type)to ensure different users never share sessions.🏥 Health Checks: By default, the pool's internal staleness check handles health verification. Set
MCP_SESSION_POOL_EXPLICIT_HEALTH_RPC=truefor stricter verification at ~5ms latency cost per check.
Database Management
MCP Gateway uses Alembic for database migrations. Common commands:
make db-current- Show current database versionmake db-upgrade- Apply pending migrationsmake db-migrate- Create new migrationmake db-history- Show migration historymake db-status- Detailed migration status
Troubleshooting
Common Issues:
-
"No 'script_location' key found": Ensure you're running from the project root directory.
-
"Unknown SSE event: keepalive" warnings: Some MCP clients don't recognize keepalive events. These warnings are harmless and don't affect functionality. To disable:
SSE_KEEPALIVE_ENABLED=false -
Connection timeouts with proxies/load balancers: If experiencing timeouts, adjust keepalive interval to match your infrastructure:
SSE_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL=60(AWS ALB) or240(Azure).
Development
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
DEV_MODE | Enable dev mode | false | bool |
RELOAD | Auto-reload on changes | false | bool |
DEBUG | Debug logging | false | bool |
Well-Known URI Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
WELL_KNOWN_ENABLED | Enable well-known URI endpoints (/.well-known/*) | true | bool |
WELL_KNOWN_ROBOTS_TXT | robots.txt content | (blocks crawlers) | string |
WELL_KNOWN_SECURITY_TXT | security.txt content (RFC 9116) | (empty) | string |
WELL_KNOWN_SECURITY_TXT_ENABLED | Enable security.txt endpoint (auto-enabled when content provided) | false | bool |
WELL_KNOWN_CUSTOM_FILES | Additional custom well-known files (JSON) | {} | JSON object |
WELL_KNOWN_CACHE_MAX_AGE | Cache control for well-known files (seconds) | 3600 | int > 0 |
🔍 robots.txt: By default, blocks all crawlers for security. Customize for your needs.
🔐 security.txt: Define security contact information per RFC 9116. Leave empty to disable.
📄 Custom Files: Add arbitrary well-known files like
ai.txt,dnt-policy.txt, etc.
Header Passthrough Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
ENABLE_HEADER_PASSTHROUGH | Enable HTTP header passthrough feature (⚠️ Security implications) | false | bool |
ENABLE_OVERWRITE_BASE_HEADERS | Enable overwriting of base headers (⚠️ Advanced usage) | false | bool |
DEFAULT_PASSTHROUGH_HEADERS | Default headers to pass through (JSON array) | ["X-Tenant-Id", "X-Trace-Id"] | JSON array |
GLOBAL_CONFIG_CACHE_TTL | In-memory cache TTL for GlobalConfig (seconds). Reduces DB queries under load. | 60 | int (5-3600) |
⚠️ Security Warning: Header passthrough is disabled by default for security. Only enable if you understand the implications and have reviewed which headers should be passed through to backing MCP servers. Authorization headers are not included in defaults.
Plugin Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
PLUGINS_ENABLED | Enable the plugin framework | false | bool |
PLUGIN_CONFIG_FILE | Path to main plugin configuration file | plugins/config.yaml | string |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_CA_BUNDLE | (Optional) default CA bundle for external plugin mTLS | (empty) | string |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_CERTFILE | (Optional) gateway client certificate for plugin mTLS | (empty) | string |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_KEYFILE | (Optional) gateway client key for plugin mTLS | (empty) | string |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_KEYFILE_PASSWORD | (Optional) password for plugin client key | (empty) | string |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_VERIFY | (Optional) verify remote plugin certificates (true/false) | true | bool |
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_CHECK_HOSTNAME | (Optional) enforce hostname verification for plugins | true | bool |
PLUGINS_CLI_COMPLETION | Enable auto-completion for plugins CLI | false | bool |
PLUGINS_CLI_MARKUP_MODE | Set markup mode for plugins CLI | (none) | rich, markdown, disabled |
🔐 Plugin mTLS envs:
PLUGINS_CLIENT_MTLS_*are read directly by the plugin framework (not via Pydantic Settings).
HTTP Retry Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS | Maximum retry attempts for HTTP requests | 3 | int > 0 |
RETRY_BASE_DELAY | Base delay between retries (seconds) | 1.0 | float > 0 |
RETRY_MAX_DELAY | Maximum delay between retries (seconds) | 60 | int > 0 |
RETRY_JITTER_MAX | Maximum jitter fraction of base delay | 0.5 | float 0-1 |
CPU Spin Loop Mitigation (Issue #2360)
These settings mitigate CPU spin loops that can occur when SSE/MCP connections are cancelled and internal tasks don't respond to CancelledError. The spin happens in anyio's _deliver_cancellation method.
📖 Full Documentation: See CPU Spin Loop Mitigation Guide for detailed explanation and tuning advice.
🐛 Related Issues: Issue #2360, anyio#695
Layer 1: SSE Connection Protection - Detect and close dead connections early
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
SSE_SEND_TIMEOUT | ASGI send() timeout - protects against hung connections | 30.0 | float (0=disabled) |
SSE_RAPID_YIELD_WINDOW_MS | Time window for rapid yield detection (milliseconds) | 1000 | int > 0 |
SSE_RAPID_YIELD_MAX | Max yields per window before assuming client dead | 50 | int (0=disabled) |
Layer 2: Cleanup Timeouts - Limit how long cleanup waits for stuck tasks
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT | Session __aexit__ timeout (seconds) | 5.0 | float > 0 |
SSE_TASK_GROUP_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT | SSE task group cleanup timeout (seconds) | 5.0 | float > 0 |
Layer 3: EXPERIMENTAL - anyio Monkey-Patch - Last resort for stubborn spin loops
| Setting | Description | Default | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
ANYIO_CANCEL_DELIVERY_PATCH_ENABLED | Enable anyio _deliver_cancellation iteration limit | false | bool |
ANYIO_CANCEL_DELIVERY_MAX_ITERATIONS | Max iterations before forcing termination | 100 | int > 0 |
⚠️ Layer 3 Warning: The monkey-patch is experimental and may be removed when upstream fixes become available. Only enable if Layers 1-2 don't fully resolve the issue.
🔧 Tuning Tips:
- Aggressive (faster recovery): Set cleanup timeouts to
0.5-2.0seconds- Conservative (reliable cleanup): Keep defaults at
5.0seconds- Worker recycling (
GUNICORN_MAX_REQUESTS) provides additional protection
Complete Settings Reference (authoritative)
The list below is generated from mcpgateway/config.py (Pydantic Settings). Use .env.example for descriptions, defaults, examples, and non-Settings envs.
📜 Full Settings env list (alphabetical)
A2A_STATS_CACHE_TTL
ACCOUNT_LOCKOUT_DURATION_MINUTES
ADMIN_REQUIRE_PASSWORD_CHANGE_ON_BOOTSTRAP
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_ENABLED
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_OBSERVABILITY_TTL
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_PERFORMANCE_TTL
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_PLUGINS_TTL
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_SYSTEM_TTL
ADMIN_STATS_CACHE_TAGS_TTL
ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES
ALLOWED_ORIGINS
ALLOWED_ROOTS
ANYIO_CANCEL_DELIVERY_MAX_ITERATIONS
ANYIO_CANCEL_DELIVERY_PATCH_ENABLED
APP_DOMAIN
APP_NAME
APP_ROOT_PATH
ARGON2ID_MEMORY_COST
ARGON2ID_PARALLELISM
ARGON2ID_TIME_COST
AUDIT_TRAIL_ENABLED
AUTH_CACHE_BATCH_QUERIES
AUTH_CACHE_ENABLED
AUTH_CACHE_REVOCATION_TTL
AUTH_CACHE_ROLE_TTL
AUTH_CACHE_TEAMS_ENABLED
AUTH_CACHE_TEAMS_TTL
AUTH_CACHE_TEAM_TTL
AUTH_CACHE_USER_TTL
AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET
AUTH_REQUIRED
AUTO_CREATE_PERSONAL_TEAMS
AUTO_REFRESH_SERVERS
BACKOFF_FACTOR
BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
BASIC_AUTH_USER
CACHE_PREFIX
CACHE_TYPE
CLIENT_MODE
COMPRESSION_BROTLI_QUALITY
COMPRESSION_ENABLED
COMPRESSION_GZIP_LEVEL
COMPRESSION_MINIMUM_SIZE
COMPRESSION_ZSTD_LEVEL
COOKIE_SAMESITE
CORRELATION_ID_ENABLED
CORRELATION_ID_HEADER
CORRELATION_ID_PRESERVE
CORRELATION_ID_RESPONSE_HEADER
CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS
CORS_ENABLED
DANGEROUS_PATTERNS
DATABASE_URL
DB_DRIVER
DB_MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS
DB_MAX_OVERFLOW
DB_MAX_RETRIES
DB_METRICS_RECORDING_ENABLED
DB_POOL_CLASS
DB_POOL_PRE_PING
DB_POOL_RECYCLE
DB_POOL_SIZE
DB_POOL_TIMEOUT
DB_PREPARE_THRESHOLD
DB_QUERY_LOG_DETECT_N1
DB_QUERY_LOG_ENABLED
DB_QUERY_LOG_FILE
DB_QUERY_LOG_FORMAT
DB_QUERY_LOG_INCLUDE_PARAMS
DB_QUERY_LOG_JSON_FILE
DB_QUERY_LOG_MIN_QUERIES
DB_QUERY_LOG_N1_THRESHOLD
DB_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS
DB_SQLITE_BUSY_TIMEOUT
DCR_ALLOWED_ISSUERS
DCR_AUTO_REGISTER_ON_MISSING_CREDENTIALS
DCR_CLIENT_NAME_TEMPLATE
DCR_DEFAULT_SCOPES
DCR_ENABLED
DCR_METADATA_CACHE_TTL
DCR_REQUEST_REFRESH_TOKEN_WHEN_UNSUPPORTED
DCR_TOKEN_ENDPOINT_AUTH_METHOD
DEBUG
DEFAULT_PASSTHROUGH_HEADERS
DEFAULT_ROOTS
DEFAULT_USER_PASSWORD
DETECT_DEFAULT_PASSWORD_ON_LOGIN
DEV_MODE
DOCS_ALLOW_BASIC_AUTH
ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY
ED25519_PUBLIC_KEY
ELASTICSEARCH_ENABLED
ELASTICSEARCH_INDEX_PREFIX
ELASTICSEARCH_URL
EMAIL_AUTH_ENABLED
EMBED_ENVIRONMENT_IN_TOKENS
ENABLE_ED25519_SIGNING
ENABLE_HEADER_PASSTHROUGH
ENABLE_METRICS
ENABLE_OVERWRITE_BASE_HEADERS
ENVIRONMENT
EXPERIMENTAL_VALIDATE_IO
FEDERATION_TIMEOUT
FILELOCK_NAME
FORGE_CONTENT_TYPE
GATEWAY_AUTO_REFRESH_INTERVAL
GATEWAY_HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT
GATEWAY_MAX_REDIRECTS
GATEWAY_TOOL_NAME_SEPARATOR
GATEWAY_VALIDATION_TIMEOUT
GLOBAL_CONFIG_CACHE_TTL
HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL
HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT
HOST
HSTS_ENABLED
HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS
HSTS_MAX_AGE
HTTPX_ADMIN_READ_TIMEOUT
HTTPX_CONNECT_TIMEOUT
HTTPX_HTTP2_ENABLED
HTTPX_KEEPALIVE_EXPIRY
HTTPX_MAX_CONNECTIONS
HTTPX_MAX_KEEPALIVE_CONNECTIONS
HTTPX_POOL_TIMEOUT
HTTPX_READ_TIMEOUT
HTTPX_WRITE_TIMEOUT
INSECURE_ALLOW_QUERYPARAM_AUTH
INSECURE_QUERYPARAM_AUTH_ALLOWED_HOSTS
INVITATION_EXPIRY_DAYS
JSON_RESPONSE_ENABLED
JWT_ALGORITHM
JWT_AUDIENCE
JWT_AUDIENCE_VERIFICATION
JWT_ISSUER
JWT_ISSUER_VERIFICATION
JWT_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
JWT_PUBLIC_KEY_PATH
JWT_SECRET_KEY
LLMCHAT_CHAT_HISTORY_MAX_MESSAGES
LLMCHAT_CHAT_HISTORY_TTL
LLMCHAT_ENABLED
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_RETRIES
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_TTL
LLMCHAT_SESSION_LOCK_WAIT
LLMCHAT_SESSION_TTL
LLM_API_PREFIX
LLM_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL
LLM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT
LLM_STREAMING_ENABLED
LOG_BACKUP_COUNT
LOG_BUFFER_SIZE_MB
LOG_DETAILED_MAX_BODY_SIZE
LOG_DETAILED_SAMPLE_RATE
LOG_DETAILED_SKIP_ENDPOINTS
LOG_FILE
LOG_FILEMODE
LOG_FOLDER
LOG_FORMAT
LOG_LEVEL
LOG_MAX_SIZE_MB
LOG_REQUESTS
LOG_RESOLVE_USER_IDENTITY
LOG_RETENTION_DAYS
LOG_ROTATION_ENABLED
LOG_SEARCH_MAX_RESULTS
LOG_TO_FILE
MASKED_AUTH_VALUE
MAX_CONCURRENT_HEALTH_CHECKS
MAX_FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS
MAX_INTERVAL
MAX_MEMBERS_PER_TEAM
MAX_PARAM_LENGTH
MAX_PATH_DEPTH
MAX_PROMPT_SIZE
MAX_RESOURCE_SIZE
MAX_TEAMS_PER_USER
MAX_TOOL_RETRIES
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_MAX_AGENTS
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_MAX_RETRIES
MCPGATEWAY_A2A_METRICS_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_BOOTSTRAP_ROLES_IN_DB_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_BOOTSTRAP_ROLES_IN_DB_FILE
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_MAX_TOOLS
MCPGATEWAY_BULK_IMPORT_RATE_LIMIT
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_AUTO_HEALTH_CHECK
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_CACHE_TTL
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_FILE
MCPGATEWAY_CATALOG_PAGE_SIZE
MCPGATEWAY_ELICITATION_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_ELICITATION_MAX_CONCURRENT
MCPGATEWAY_ELICITATION_TIMEOUT
MCPGATEWAY_GRPC_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_GRPC_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE
MCPGATEWAY_GRPC_REFLECTION_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_GRPC_TIMEOUT
MCPGATEWAY_GRPC_TLS_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_COLLECTION_INTERVAL
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_DISTRIBUTED
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_MAX_SNAPSHOTS
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_NET_CONNECTIONS_CACHE_TTL
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_NET_CONNECTIONS_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_RETENTION_DAYS
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_RETENTION_HOURS
MCPGATEWAY_PERFORMANCE_TRACKING
MCPGATEWAY_TOOL_CANCELLATION_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_UI_AIRGAPPED
MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED
MCPGATEWAY_UI_TOOL_TEST_TIMEOUT
MCP_CLIENT_AUTH_ENABLED
MCP_REQUIRE_AUTH
MCP_SESSION_POOL_ACQUIRE_TIMEOUT
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CIRCUIT_BREAKER_RESET
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CIRCUIT_BREAKER_THRESHOLD
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT
MCP_SESSION_POOL_CREATE_TIMEOUT
MCP_SESSION_POOL_ENABLED
MCP_SESSION_POOL_EXPLICIT_HEALTH_RPC
MCP_SESSION_POOL_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL
MCP_SESSION_POOL_HEALTH_CHECK_METHODS
MCP_SESSION_POOL_HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT
MCP_SESSION_POOL_IDENTITY_HEADERS
MCP_SESSION_POOL_IDLE_EVICTION
MCP_SESSION_POOL_MAX_PER_KEY
MCP_SESSION_POOL_TRANSPORT_TIMEOUT
MCP_SESSION_POOL_TTL
MESSAGE_TTL
METRICS_AGGREGATION_AUTO_START
METRICS_AGGREGATION_BACKFILL_HOURS
METRICS_AGGREGATION_ENABLED
METRICS_AGGREGATION_WINDOW_MINUTES
METRICS_BUFFER_ENABLED
METRICS_BUFFER_FLUSH_INTERVAL
METRICS_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE
METRICS_CACHE_ENABLED
METRICS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS
METRICS_CLEANUP_BATCH_SIZE
METRICS_CLEANUP_ENABLED
METRICS_CLEANUP_INTERVAL_HOURS
METRICS_CUSTOM_LABELS
METRICS_DELETE_RAW_AFTER_ROLLUP
METRICS_DELETE_RAW_AFTER_ROLLUP_HOURS
METRICS_EXCLUDED_HANDLERS
METRICS_NAMESPACE
METRICS_RETENTION_DAYS
METRICS_ROLLUP_ENABLED
METRICS_ROLLUP_INTERVAL_HOURS
METRICS_ROLLUP_LATE_DATA_HOURS
METRICS_ROLLUP_RETENTION_DAYS
METRICS_SUBSYSTEM
MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH
MIN_SECRET_LENGTH
OAUTH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
OAUTH_DISCOVERY_ENABLED
OAUTH_MAX_RETRIES
OAUTH_PREFERRED_CODE_CHALLENGE_METHOD
OAUTH_REQUEST_TIMEOUT
OBSERVABILITY_ENABLED
OBSERVABILITY_EVENTS_ENABLED
OBSERVABILITY_EXCLUDE_PATHS
OBSERVABILITY_INCLUDE_PATHS
OBSERVABILITY_MAX_TRACES
OBSERVABILITY_METRICS_ENABLED
OBSERVABILITY_SAMPLE_RATE
OBSERVABILITY_TRACE_HTTP_REQUESTS
OBSERVABILITY_TRACE_RETENTION_DAYS
OTEL_BSP_MAX_EXPORT_BATCH_SIZE
OTEL_BSP_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE
OTEL_BSP_SCHEDULE_DELAY
OTEL_ENABLE_OBSERVABILITY
OTEL_EXPORTER_JAEGER_ENDPOINT
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL
OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_ENDPOINT
OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME
OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER
PAGINATION_BASE_URL
PAGINATION_COUNT_CACHE_TTL
PAGINATION_CURSOR_ENABLED
PAGINATION_CURSOR_THRESHOLD
PAGINATION_DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE
PAGINATION_DEFAULT_SORT_FIELD
PAGINATION_DEFAULT_SORT_ORDER
PAGINATION_INCLUDE_LINKS
PAGINATION_MAX_OFFSET
PAGINATION_MAX_PAGE_SIZE
PAGINATION_MIN_PAGE_SIZE
PASSTHROUGH_HEADERS_SOURCE
PASSWORD_CHANGE_ENFORCEMENT_ENABLED
PASSWORD_MAX_AGE_DAYS
PASSWORD_MIN_LENGTH
PASSWORD_POLICY_ENABLED
PASSWORD_PREVENT_REUSE
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_LOWERCASE
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_NUMBERS
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_SPECIAL
PASSWORD_REQUIRE_UPPERCASE
PERFORMANCE_DEGRADATION_MULTIPLIER
PERFORMANCE_THRESHOLD_DATABASE_QUERY_MS
PERFORMANCE_THRESHOLD_HTTP_REQUEST_MS
PERFORMANCE_THRESHOLD_RESOURCE_READ_MS
PERFORMANCE_THRESHOLD_TOOL_INVOCATION_MS
PERFORMANCE_TRACKING_ENABLED
PERSONAL_TEAM_PREFIX
PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL
PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME
PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD
PLUGINS_CLI_COMPLETION
PLUGINS_CLI_MARKUP_MODE
PLUGINS_ENABLED
PLUGIN_CONFIG_FILE
POLL_INTERVAL
PORT
PREV_ED25519_PRIVATE_KEY
PREV_ED25519_PUBLIC_KEY
PROMPT_CACHE_SIZE
PROMPT_RENDER_TIMEOUT
PROTOCOL_VERSION
PROXY_USER_HEADER
REDIS_DECODE_RESPONSES
REDIS_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL
REDIS_LEADER_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL
REDIS_LEADER_KEY
REDIS_LEADER_TTL
REDIS_MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS
REDIS_MAX_CONNECTIONS
REDIS_MAX_RETRIES
REDIS_PARSER
REDIS_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS
REDIS_RETRY_ON_TIMEOUT
REDIS_SOCKET_CONNECT_TIMEOUT
REDIS_SOCKET_TIMEOUT
REDIS_URL
REGISTRY_CACHE_AGENTS_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_CATALOG_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_ENABLED
REGISTRY_CACHE_GATEWAYS_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_PROMPTS_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_RESOURCES_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_SERVERS_TTL
REGISTRY_CACHE_TOOLS_TTL
RELOAD
REMOVE_SERVER_HEADERS
REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION_FOR_INVITES
REQUIRE_JTI
REQUIRE_PASSWORD_CHANGE_FOR_DEFAULT_PASSWORD
REQUIRE_STRONG_SECRETS
REQUIRE_TOKEN_EXPIRATION
REQUIRE_USER_IN_DB
RESOURCE_CACHE_SIZE
RESOURCE_CACHE_TTL
RETRY_BASE_DELAY
RETRY_JITTER_MAX
RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS
RETRY_MAX_DELAY
SANITIZE_OUTPUT
SECURE_COOKIES
SECURITY_FAILED_AUTH_THRESHOLD
SECURITY_HEADERS_ENABLED
SECURITY_LOGGING_ENABLED
SECURITY_LOGGING_LEVEL
SECURITY_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES
SECURITY_THREAT_SCORE_ALERT
SESSION_TTL
SKIP_SSL_VERIFY
SLUG_REFRESH_BATCH_SIZE
SSE_KEEPALIVE_ENABLED
SSE_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL
SSE_RAPID_YIELD_MAX
SSE_RAPID_YIELD_WINDOW_MS
SSE_RETRY_TIMEOUT
SSE_SEND_TIMEOUT
SSE_TASK_GROUP_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT
SSO_AUTO_ADMIN_DOMAINS
SSO_AUTO_CREATE_USERS
SSO_ENABLED
SSO_ENTRA_ADMIN_GROUPS
SSO_ENTRA_CLIENT_ID
SSO_ENTRA_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_ENTRA_DEFAULT_ROLE
SSO_ENTRA_ENABLED
SSO_ENTRA_GROUPS_CLAIM
SSO_ENTRA_ROLE_MAPPINGS
SSO_ENTRA_SYNC_ROLES_ON_LOGIN
SSO_ENTRA_TENANT_ID
SSO_GENERIC_AUTHORIZATION_URL
SSO_GENERIC_CLIENT_ID
SSO_GENERIC_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_GENERIC_DISPLAY_NAME
SSO_GENERIC_ENABLED
SSO_GENERIC_ISSUER
SSO_GENERIC_PROVIDER_ID
SSO_GENERIC_SCOPE
SSO_GENERIC_TOKEN_URL
SSO_GENERIC_USERINFO_URL
SSO_GITHUB_ADMIN_ORGS
SSO_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID
SSO_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_GITHUB_ENABLED
SSO_GOOGLE_ADMIN_DOMAINS
SSO_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
SSO_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_GOOGLE_ENABLED
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_CLIENT_ID
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_ENABLED
SSO_IBM_VERIFY_ISSUER
SSO_ISSUERS
SSO_KEYCLOAK_BASE_URL
SSO_KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_ID
SSO_KEYCLOAK_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_KEYCLOAK_EMAIL_CLAIM
SSO_KEYCLOAK_ENABLED
SSO_KEYCLOAK_GROUPS_CLAIM
SSO_KEYCLOAK_MAP_CLIENT_ROLES
SSO_KEYCLOAK_MAP_REALM_ROLES
SSO_KEYCLOAK_REALM
SSO_KEYCLOAK_USERNAME_CLAIM
SSO_OKTA_CLIENT_ID
SSO_OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET
SSO_OKTA_ENABLED
SSO_OKTA_ISSUER
SSO_PRESERVE_ADMIN_AUTH
SSO_REQUIRE_ADMIN_APPROVAL
SSO_TRUSTED_DOMAINS
STATIC_DIR
STRUCTURED_LOGGING_DATABASE_ENABLED
STRUCTURED_LOGGING_ENABLED
STRUCTURED_LOGGING_EXTERNAL_ENABLED
SYSLOG_ENABLED
SYSLOG_HOST
SYSLOG_PORT
TEAM_MEMBER_COUNT_CACHE_ENABLED
TEAM_MEMBER_COUNT_CACHE_TTL
TEMPLATES_AUTO_RELOAD
TEMPLATES_DIR
TOKEN_EXPIRY
TOOLOPS_ENABLED
TOOL_CONCURRENT_LIMIT
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_ENABLED
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_L1_MAXSIZE
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_L2_ENABLED
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_NEGATIVE_TTL_SECONDS
TOOL_LOOKUP_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS
TOOL_RATE_LIMIT
TOOL_TIMEOUT
TRANSPORT_TYPE
TRUST_PROXY_AUTH
UNHEALTHY_THRESHOLD
USE_POSTGRESDB_PERCENTILES
USE_STATEFUL_SESSIONS
VALIDATE_TOKEN_ENVIRONMENT
VALIDATION_ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES
VALIDATION_ALLOWED_URL_SCHEMES
VALIDATION_DANGEROUS_HTML_PATTERN
VALIDATION_DANGEROUS_JS_PATTERN
VALIDATION_IDENTIFIER_PATTERN
VALIDATION_MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MAX_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MAX_JSON_DEPTH
VALIDATION_MAX_METHOD_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MAX_NAME_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MAX_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE
VALIDATION_MAX_RPC_PARAM_SIZE
VALIDATION_MAX_TEMPLATE_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MAX_URL_LENGTH
VALIDATION_MIDDLEWARE_ENABLED
VALIDATION_NAME_PATTERN
VALIDATION_SAFE_URI_PATTERN
VALIDATION_STRICT
VALIDATION_TOOL_METHOD_PATTERN
VALIDATION_TOOL_NAME_PATTERN
VALIDATION_UNSAFE_URI_PATTERN
WEBHOOK_LOGGING_ENABLED
WEBHOOK_LOGGING_URLS
WEBSOCKET_PING_INTERVAL
WELL_KNOWN_CACHE_MAX_AGE
WELL_KNOWN_CUSTOM_FILES
WELL_KNOWN_ENABLED
WELL_KNOWN_ROBOTS_TXT
WELL_KNOWN_SECURITY_TXT
WELL_KNOWN_SECURITY_TXT_ENABLED
X_CONTENT_TYPE_OPTIONS_ENABLED
X_DOWNLOAD_OPTIONS_ENABLED
X_FRAME_OPTIONS
X_XSS_PROTECTION_ENABLED
YIELD_BATCH_SIZE
Running
Makefile
make serve # Run production Gunicorn server on
make serve-ssl # Run Gunicorn behind HTTPS on :4444 (uses ./certs)
Script helper
To run the development (uvicorn) server:
make dev
# or
./run.sh --reload --log debug --workers 2
run.shis a wrapper arounduvicornthat loads.env, supports reload, and passes arguments to the server.
Key flags:
| Flag | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
-e, --env FILE | load env-file | --env prod.env |
-H, --host | bind address | --host 127.0.0.1 |
-p, --port | listen port | --port 8080 |
-w, --workers | gunicorn workers | --workers 4 |
-r, --reload | auto-reload | --reload |
Manual (Uvicorn)
uvicorn mcpgateway.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444 --workers 4
Authentication examples
⚠️ Security Warning: CLI Token Generation
The CLI token generator (create_jwt_token.py) has access to JWT_SECRET_KEY and can create tokens with ANY claims. It bypasses all API security controls including:
- User authentication and authorization
- Team membership validation
- Permission scope containment
- Audit logging
Only use the CLI tool for:
- Development and testing environments
- Controlled CI/CD pipelines with proper secret management
- Admin bootstrapping when database is unavailable
For production token management, use the /tokens API endpoint which enforces proper security controls.
Simple Token (Basic Testing)
# Generate a simple JWT token for basic testing
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username admin@example.com --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key)
# Use the JWT token in an API call
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/tools
Rich Token with Admin Privileges (⚠️ DEV/TEST ONLY)
# Generate admin token with elevated privileges
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username admin@example.com \
--admin \
--full-name "Admin User" \
--exp 10080 \
--secret my-test-key 2>/dev/null | head -1)
Team-Scoped Token (⚠️ DEV/TEST ONLY)
# Generate token scoped to specific teams
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username user@example.com \
--teams team-123,team-456 \
--full-name "Team User" \
--exp 10080 \
--secret my-test-key 2>/dev/null | head -1)
Token with Permission Scopes (⚠️ DEV/TEST ONLY)
# Generate token with specific permission restrictions
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
--username user@example.com \
--scopes '{"permissions": ["tools.read", "resources.read"], "server_id": "server-123"}' \
--exp 10080 \
--secret my-test-key 2>/dev/null | head -1)
Production Token Management
For production environments, always use the /tokens API endpoint:
# Authenticate first (interactive login required)
curl -X POST http://localhost:4444/auth/login \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"email": "admin@example.com", "password": "your-password"}'
# Create team-scoped token via API (with validation)
curl -X POST http://localhost:4444/tokens \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AUTH_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "My Production Token",
"description": "Token for production access",
"team_id": "team-123",
"expires_in_days": 30,
"scope": {
"permissions": ["tools.read", "resources.read"]
}
}'
The API endpoint validates:
- User exists in database
- User is an active team member
- Permissions don't exceed caller's permissions
- Token name is unique
- All operations are logged for audit
☁️ AWS / Azure / OpenShift
Deployment details can be found in the GitHub Pages.
☁️ IBM Cloud Code Engine Deployment
This project supports deployment to IBM Cloud Code Engine using the ibmcloud CLI and the IBM Container Registry.
☁️ IBM Cloud Code Engine Deployment
🔧 Prerequisites
- Podman or Docker installed locally
- IBM Cloud CLI (use
make ibmcloud-cli-installto install) - An IBM Cloud API key with access to Code Engine & Container Registry
- Code Engine and Container Registry services enabled in your IBM Cloud account
📦 Environment Variables
Create a .env file (or export the variables in your shell).
The first block is required; the second provides tunable defaults you can override:
# ── Required ─────────────────────────────────────────────
IBMCLOUD_REGION=us-south
IBMCLOUD_RESOURCE_GROUP=default
IBMCLOUD_PROJECT=my-codeengine-project
IBMCLOUD_CODE_ENGINE_APP=mcpgateway
IBMCLOUD_IMAGE_NAME=us.icr.io/myspace/mcpgateway:latest
IBMCLOUD_IMG_PROD=mcpgateway/mcpgateway
IBMCLOUD_API_KEY=your_api_key_here # Optional - omit to use interactive `ibmcloud login --sso`
# ── Optional overrides (sensible defaults provided) ──────
IBMCLOUD_CPU=1 # vCPUs for the app
IBMCLOUD_MEMORY=4G # Memory allocation
IBMCLOUD_REGISTRY_SECRET=my-regcred # Name of the Container Registry secret
✅ Quick check:
make ibmcloud-check-env
🚀 Make Targets
| Target | Purpose |
|---|---|
make ibmcloud-cli-install | Install IBM Cloud CLI and required plugins |
make ibmcloud-login | Log in to IBM Cloud (API key or SSO) |
make ibmcloud-ce-login | Select the Code Engine project & region |
make ibmcloud-tag | Tag the local container image |
make ibmcloud-push | Push the image to IBM Container Registry |
make ibmcloud-deploy | Create or update the Code Engine application (uses CPU/memory/secret) |
make ibmcloud-ce-status | Show current deployment status |
make ibmcloud-ce-logs | Stream logs from the running app |
make ibmcloud-ce-rm | Delete the Code Engine application |
📝 Example Workflow
make ibmcloud-check-env
make ibmcloud-cli-install
make ibmcloud-login
make ibmcloud-ce-login
make ibmcloud-tag
make ibmcloud-push
make ibmcloud-deploy
make ibmcloud-ce-status
make ibmcloud-ce-logs
API Endpoints
You can test the API endpoints through curl, or Swagger UI, and check detailed documentation on ReDoc:
- Swagger UI → http://localhost:4444/docs
- ReDoc → http://localhost:4444/redoc
Generate an API Bearer token, and test the various API endpoints.
🔐 Authentication & Health Checks
# Generate a bearer token using the configured secret key (use the same as your .env)
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username admin@example.com --secret my-test-key)
echo ${MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN}
# Quickly confirm that authentication works and the gateway is healthy
curl -s -k -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" https://localhost:4444/health
# {"status":"healthy"}
# Quickly confirm the gateway version & DB connectivity
curl -s -k -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" https://localhost:4444/version | jq
🧱 Protocol APIs (MCP) /protocol
# Initialize MCP session
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"protocol_version":"2025-06-18",
"capabilities":{},
"client_info":{"name":"MyClient","version":"1.0.0"}
}' \
http://localhost:4444/protocol/initialize
# Ping (JSON-RPC style)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"ping"}' \
http://localhost:4444/protocol/ping
# Completion for prompt/resource arguments (not implemented)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"ref":{"type":"ref/prompt","name":"example_prompt"},
"argument":{"name":"topic","value":"py"}
}' \
http://localhost:4444/protocol/completion/complete
# Sampling (streaming) (not implemented)
curl -N -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"messages":[{"role":"user","content":{"type":"text","text":"Hello"}}],
"maxTokens":16
}' \
http://localhost:4444/protocol/sampling/createMessage
🧠 JSON-RPC Utility /rpc
# Generic JSON-RPC calls (tools, gateways, roots, etc.)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"list_tools"}' \
http://localhost:4444/rpc
Handles any method name: list_tools, list_gateways, prompts/get, or invokes a tool if method matches a registered tool name .
🔧 Tool Management /tools
# Register a new tool
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name":"clock_tool",
"url":"http://localhost:9000/rpc",
"description":"Returns current time",
"input_schema":{
"type":"object",
"properties":{"timezone":{"type":"string"}},
"required":[]
}
}' \
http://localhost:4444/tools
# List tools (returns first 50 by default)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/tools
# List tools with filtering and pagination
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
"http://localhost:4444/tools?gateway_id=<id>&limit=100&include_pagination=true"
# Get ALL tools (no pagination limit)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
"http://localhost:4444/tools?limit=0"
# Get tool by ID
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/tools/1
# Update tool
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "description":"Updated desc" }' \
http://localhost:4444/tools/1
# Toggle active status
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/tools/1/state?activate=false
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/tools/1/state?activate=true
# Delete tool
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/tools/1
🤖 A2A Agent Management /a2a
# Register a new A2A agent
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name":"hello_world_agent",
"endpoint_url":"http://localhost:9999/",
"agent_type":"jsonrpc",
"description":"External AI agent for hello world functionality",
"auth_type":"api_key",
"auth_value":"your-api-key",
"tags":["ai", "hello-world"]
}' \
http://localhost:4444/a2a
# List A2A agents
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/a2a
# Get agent by ID
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/a2a/agent-id
# Update agent
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "description":"Updated description" }' \
http://localhost:4444/a2a/agent-id
# Test agent (direct invocation)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"parameters": {
"method": "message/send",
"params": {
"message": {
"messageId": "test-123",
"role": "user",
"parts": [{"type": "text", "text": "Hello!"}]
}
}
},
"interaction_type": "test"
}' \
http://localhost:4444/a2a/agent-name/invoke
# Toggle agent status
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/a2a/agent-id/state?activate=false
# Delete agent
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/a2a/agent-id
# Associate agent with virtual server (agents become available as MCP tools)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name":"AI Assistant Server",
"description":"Virtual server with AI agents",
"associated_a2a_agents":["agent-id"]
}' \
http://localhost:4444/servers
🤖 A2A Integration: A2A agents are external AI agents that can be registered and exposed as MCP tools 🔄 Protocol Detection: Gateway automatically detects JSONRPC vs custom A2A protocols 📊 Testing: Built-in test functionality via Admin UI or
/a2a/{agent_id}/testendpoint 🎛️ Virtual Servers: Associate agents with servers to expose them as standard MCP tools
🌐 Gateway Management /gateways
# Register an MCP server as a new gateway provider
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"peer_gateway","url":"http://peer:4444"}' \
http://localhost:4444/gateways
# List gateways
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/gateways
# Get gateway by ID
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/gateways/1
# Update gateway
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"description":"New description"}' \
http://localhost:4444/gateways/1
# Toggle active status
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/gateways/1/state?activate=false
# Delete gateway
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/gateways/1
📁 Resource Management /resources
# Register resource
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"uri":"config://app/settings",
"name":"App Settings",
"content":"key=value"
}' \
http://localhost:4444/resources
# List resources
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/resources
# Read a resource
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/resources/config://app/settings
# Update resource
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"content":"new=value"}' \
http://localhost:4444/resources/config://app/settings
# Delete resource
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/resources/config://app/settings
# Subscribe to updates (SSE)
curl -N -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/resources/subscribe/config://app/settings
📝 Prompt Management /prompts
# Create prompt template
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name":"greet",
"template":"Hello, {{ user }}!",
"argument_schema":{
"type":"object",
"properties":{"user":{"type":"string"}},
"required":["user"]
}
}' \
http://localhost:4444/prompts
# List prompts
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/prompts
# Get prompt (with args)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"user":"Alice"}' \
http://localhost:4444/prompts/greet
# Get prompt (no args)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/prompts/greet
# Update prompt
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"template":"Hi, {{ user }}!"}' \
http://localhost:4444/prompts/greet
# Toggle active
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/prompts/5/state?activate=false
# Delete prompt
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/prompts/greet
🌲 Root Management /roots
# List roots
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/roots
# Add root
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"uri":"/data","name":"Data Root"}' \
http://localhost:4444/roots
# Remove root
curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/roots/%2Fdata
# Subscribe to root changes (SSE)
curl -N -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/roots/changes
🖥️ Server Management /servers
# List servers
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/servers
# Get server
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1
# Create server
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"db","description":"Database","associatedTools": ["1","2","3"]}' \
http://localhost:4444/servers
# Update server
curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"description":"Updated"}' \
http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1
# Toggle active
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4444/servers/UUID_OF_SERVER_1/state?activate=false
📊 Metrics /metrics
# Get aggregated metrics
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/metrics
# Reset metrics (all or per-entity)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/metrics/reset
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/metrics/reset?entity=tool&id=1
📡 Events & Health
# SSE: all events
curl -N -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/events
# WebSocket
wscat -c ws://localhost:4444/ws \
-H "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n admin:changeme|base64)"
# Health check
curl http://localhost:4444/health
Full Swagger UI at /docs.
🛠️ Sample Tool
uvicorn sample_tool.clock_tool:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9000
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"get_time","params":{"timezone":"UTC"}}' \
http://localhost:9000/rpc
Testing
make test # Run unit tests
make lint # Run lint tools
Doctest Coverage
ContextForge implements comprehensive doctest coverage to ensure all code examples in documentation are tested and verified:
make doctest # Run all doctests
make doctest-verbose # Run with detailed output
make doctest-coverage # Generate coverage report
make doctest-check # Check coverage percentage
Coverage Status:
- ✅ Transport Modules: 100% (base, stdio, SSE, WebSocket, streamable HTTP)
- ✅ Utility Functions: 100% (slug generation, JWT tokens, validation)
- ✅ Configuration: 100% (settings, environment variables)
- 🔄 Service Classes: ~60% (in progress)
- 🔄 Complex Classes: ~40% (in progress)
Benefits:
- All documented examples are automatically tested
- Documentation stays accurate and up-to-date
- Developers can run examples directly from docstrings
- Regression prevention through automated verification
For detailed information, see the Doctest Coverage Guide.
Project Structure
📁 Directory and file structure for mcpgateway
# ────────── CI / Quality & Meta-files ──────────
├── .bumpversion.cfg # Automated semantic-version bumps
├── .coveragerc # Coverage.py settings
├── .darglint # Doc-string linter rules
├── .dockerignore # Context exclusions for image builds
├── .editorconfig # Consistent IDE / editor behaviour
├── .env # Local runtime variables (git-ignored)
├── .env.ce # IBM Code Engine runtime env (ignored)
├── .env.ce.example # Sample env for IBM Code Engine
├── .env.example # Generic sample env file
├── .env.gcr # Google Cloud Run runtime env (ignored)
├── .eslintrc.json # ESLint rules for JS / TS assets
├── .flake8 # Flake-8 configuration
├── .gitattributes # Git attributes (e.g. EOL normalisation)
├── .github # GitHub settings, CI/CD workflows & templates
│ ├── CODEOWNERS # Default reviewers
│ └── workflows/ # Bandit, Docker, CodeQL, Python Package, Container Deployment, etc.
├── .gitignore # Git exclusion rules
├── .hadolint.yaml # Hadolint rules for Dockerfiles
├── .htmlhintrc # HTMLHint rules
├── .markdownlint.json # Markdown-lint rules
├── .pre-commit-config.yaml # Pre-commit hooks (ruff, black, mypy, ...)
├── .pycodestyle # PEP-8 checker settings
├── .pylintrc # Pylint configuration
├── .pyspelling.yml # Spell-checker dictionary & filters
├── .ruff.toml # Ruff linter / formatter settings
├── .spellcheck-en.txt # Extra dictionary entries
├── .stylelintrc.json # Stylelint rules for CSS
├── .travis.yml # Legacy Travis CI config (reference)
├── .whitesource # WhiteSource security-scanning config
├── .yamllint # yamllint ruleset
# ────────── Documentation & Guidance ──────────
├── CHANGELOG.md # Version-by-version change log
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md # Community behaviour guidelines
├── CONTRIBUTING.md # How to file issues & send PRs
├── DEVELOPING.md # Contributor workflows & style guide
├── LICENSE # Apache License 2.0
├── README.md # Project overview & quick-start
├── SECURITY.md # Security policy & CVE disclosure process
├── TESTING.md # Testing strategy, fixtures & guidelines
# ────────── Containerisation & Runtime ──────────
├── Containerfile # OCI image build (Docker / Podman)
├── Containerfile.lite # FROM scratch UBI-Micro production build
├── docker-compose.yml # Local multi-service stack
├── podman-compose-sonarqube.yaml # One-liner SonarQube stack
├── run-gunicorn.sh # Opinionated Gunicorn startup script
├── run.sh # Uvicorn shortcut with arg parsing
# ────────── Build / Packaging / Tooling ──────────
├── MANIFEST.in # sdist inclusion rules
├── Makefile # Dev & deployment targets
├── package-lock.json # Deterministic npm lock-file
├── package.json # Front-end / docs tooling deps
├── pyproject.toml # Poetry / PDM config & lint rules
├── sonar-code.properties # SonarQube analysis settings
├── uv.lock # UV resolver lock-file
# ────────── Kubernetes & Helm Assets ──────────
├── charts # Helm chart(s) for K8s / OpenShift
│ ├── mcp-stack # Umbrella chart
│ │ ├── Chart.yaml # Chart metadata
│ │ ├── templates/... # Manifest templates
│ │ └── values.yaml # Default values
│ └── README.md # Install / upgrade guide
├── k8s # Raw (non-Helm) K8s manifests
│ └── *.yaml # Deployment, Service, PVC resources
# ────────── Documentation Source ──────────
├── docs # MkDocs site source
│ ├── base.yml # MkDocs "base" configuration snippet (do not modify)
│ ├── mkdocs.yml # Site configuration (requires base.yml)
│ ├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies for the MkDocs site
│ ├── Makefile # Make targets for building/serving the docs
│ └── theme # Custom MkDocs theme assets
│ └── logo.png # Logo for the documentation theme
│ └── docs # Markdown documentation
│ ├── architecture/ # ADRs for the project
│ ├── articles/ # Long-form writeups
│ ├── blog/ # Blog posts
│ ├── deployment/ # Deployment guides (AWS, Azure, etc.)
│ ├── development/ # Development workflows & CI docs
│ ├── images/ # Diagrams & screenshots
│ ├── index.md # Top-level docs landing page
│ ├── manage/ # Management topics (backup, logging, tuning, upgrade)
│ ├── overview/ # Feature overviews & UI documentation
│ ├── security/ # Security guidance & policies
│ ├── testing/ # Testing strategy & fixtures
│ └── using/ # User-facing usage guides (agents, clients, etc.)
│ ├── media/ # Social media, press coverage, videos & testimonials
│ │ ├── press/ # Press articles and blog posts
│ │ ├── social/ # Tweets, LinkedIn posts, YouTube embeds
│ │ ├── testimonials/ # Customer quotes & community feedback
│ │ └── kit/ # Media kit & logos for bloggers & press
├── dictionary.dic # Custom dictionary for spell-checker (make spellcheck)
# ────────── Application & Libraries ──────────
├── agent_runtimes # Configurable agentic frameworks converted to MCP Servers
├── mcpgateway # ← main application package
│ ├── __init__.py # Package metadata & version constant
│ ├── admin.py # FastAPI routers for Admin UI
│ ├── cache
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ ├── resource_cache.py # LRU+TTL cache implementation
│ │ └── session_registry.py # Session ↔ cache mapping
│ ├── config.py # Pydantic settings loader
│ ├── db.py # SQLAlchemy models & engine setup
│ ├── federation
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ ├── discovery.py # Peer-gateway discovery
│ │ ├── forward.py # RPC forwarding
│ ├── handlers
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── sampling.py # Streaming sampling handler
│ ├── main.py # FastAPI app factory & startup events
│ ├── mcp.db # SQLite fixture for tests
│ ├── py.typed # PEP 561 marker (ships type hints)
│ ├── schemas.py # Shared Pydantic DTOs
│ ├── services
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ ├── completion_service.py # Prompt / argument completion
│ │ ├── gateway_service.py # Peer-gateway registry
│ │ ├── logging_service.py # Central logging helpers
│ │ ├── prompt_service.py # Prompt CRUD & rendering
│ │ ├── resource_service.py # Resource registration & retrieval
│ │ ├── root_service.py # File-system root registry
│ │ ├── server_service.py # Server registry & monitoring
│ │ └── tool_service.py # Tool registry & invocation
│ ├── static
│ │ ├── admin.css # Styles for Admin UI
│ │ └── admin.js # Behaviour for Admin UI
│ ├── templates
│ │ └── admin.html # HTMX/Alpine Admin UI template
│ ├── transports
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ ├── base.py # Abstract transport interface
│ │ ├── sse_transport.py # Server-Sent Events transport
│ │ ├── stdio_transport.py # stdio transport for embedding
│ │ └── websocket_transport.py # WS transport with ping/pong
│ ├── models.py # Core enums / type aliases
│ ├── utils
│ │ ├── create_jwt_token.py # CLI & library for JWT generation
│ │ ├── services_auth.py # Service-to-service auth dependency
│ │ └── verify_credentials.py # Basic / JWT auth helpers
│ ├── validation
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ └── jsonrpc.py # JSON-RPC 2.0 validation
│ └── version.py # Library version helper
├── mcpgateway-wrapper # Stdio client wrapper (PyPI)
│ ├── pyproject.toml
│ ├── README.md
│ └── src/mcpgateway_wrapper/
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── server.py # Wrapper entry-point
├── mcp-servers # Sample downstream MCP servers
├── mcp.db # Default SQLite DB (auto-created)
├── mcpgrid # Experimental grid client / PoC
├── os_deps.sh # Installs system-level deps for CI
# ────────── Tests & QA Assets ──────────
├── test_readme.py # Guard: README stays in sync
├── tests
│ ├── conftest.py # Shared fixtures
│ ├── e2e/... # End-to-end scenarios
│ ├── hey/... # Load-test logs & helper script
│ ├── integration/... # API-level integration tests
│ └── unit/... # Pure unit tests for business logic
API Documentation
- Swagger UI → http://localhost:4444/docs
- ReDoc → http://localhost:4444/redoc
- Admin Panel → http://localhost:4444/admin
Makefile targets
This project offer the following Makefile targets. Type make in the project root to show all targets.
🔧 Available Makefile targets
🐍 MCP CONTEXTFORGE (An enterprise-ready Model Context Protocol Gateway)
🔧 SYSTEM-LEVEL DEPENDENCIES (DEV BUILD ONLY)
os-deps - Install Graphviz, Pandoc, Trivy, SCC used for dev docs generation and security scan
🌱 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT & INSTALLATION
venv - Create a fresh virtual environment with uv & friends
activate - Activate the virtual environment in the current shell
install - Install project into the venv
install-dev - Install project (incl. dev deps) into the venv
install-db - Install project (incl. postgres and redis) into venv
update - Update all installed deps inside the venv
check-env - Verify all required env vars in .env are present
▶️ SERVE & TESTING
serve - Run production Gunicorn server on :4444
certs - Generate self-signed TLS cert & key in ./certs (won't overwrite)
serve-ssl - Run Gunicorn behind HTTPS on :4444 (uses ./certs)
dev - Run fast-reload dev server (uvicorn)
run - Execute helper script ./run.sh
test - Run unit tests with pytest
test-curl - Smoke-test API endpoints with curl script
pytest-examples - Run README / examples through pytest-examples
clean - Remove caches, build artefacts, virtualenv, docs, certs, coverage, SBOM, etc.
📊 COVERAGE & METRICS
coverage - Run tests with coverage, emit md/HTML/XML + badge
pip-licenses - Produce dependency license inventory (markdown)
scc - Quick LoC/complexity snapshot with scc
scc-report - Generate HTML LoC & per-file metrics with scc
📚 DOCUMENTATION & SBOM
docs - Build docs (graphviz + handsdown + images + SBOM)
images - Generate architecture & dependency diagrams
🔍 LINTING & STATIC ANALYSIS
lint - Run the full linting suite (see targets below)
black - Reformat code with black
autoflake - Remove unused imports / variables with autoflake
isort - Organise & sort imports with isort
flake8 - PEP-8 style & logical errors
pylint - Pylint static analysis
markdownlint - Lint Markdown files with markdownlint (requires markdownlint-cli)
mypy - Static type-checking with mypy
bandit - Security scan with bandit
pydocstyle - Docstring style checker
pycodestyle - Simple PEP-8 checker
pre-commit - Run all configured pre-commit hooks
ruff - Ruff linter + formatter
ty - Ty type checker from astral
pyright - Static type-checking with Pyright
radon - Code complexity & maintainability metrics
pyroma - Validate packaging metadata
importchecker - Detect orphaned imports
spellcheck - Spell-check the codebase
fawltydeps - Detect undeclared / unused deps
wily - Maintainability report
pyre - Static analysis with Facebook Pyre
depend - List dependencies in ≈requirements format
snakeviz - Profile & visualise with snakeviz
pstats - Generate PNG call-graph from cProfile stats
spellcheck-sort - Sort local spellcheck dictionary
tox - Run tox across multi-Python versions
sbom - Produce a CycloneDX SBOM and vulnerability scan
pytype - Flow-sensitive type checker
check-manifest - Verify sdist/wheel completeness
yamllint - Lint YAML files (uses .yamllint)
jsonlint - Validate every *.json file with jq (--exit-status)
tomllint - Validate *.toml files with tomlcheck
🕸️ WEBPAGE LINTERS & STATIC ANALYSIS (HTML/CSS/JS lint + security scans + formatting)
install-web-linters - Install HTMLHint, Stylelint, ESLint, Retire.js & Prettier via npm
lint-web - Run HTMLHint, Stylelint, ESLint, Retire.js and npm audit
format-web - Format HTML, CSS & JS files with Prettier
osv-install - Install/upgrade osv-scanner (Go)
osv-scan-source - Scan source & lockfiles for CVEs
osv-scan-image - Scan the built container image for CVEs
osv-scan - Run all osv-scanner checks (source, image, licence)
📡 SONARQUBE ANALYSIS
sonar-deps-podman - Install podman-compose + supporting tools
sonar-deps-docker - Install docker-compose + supporting tools
sonar-up-podman - Launch SonarQube with podman-compose
sonar-up-docker - Launch SonarQube with docker-compose
sonar-submit-docker - Run containerized Sonar Scanner CLI with Docker
sonar-submit-podman - Run containerized Sonar Scanner CLI with Podman
pysonar-scanner - Run scan with Python wrapper (pysonar-scanner)
sonar-info - How to create a token & which env vars to export
🛡️ SECURITY & PACKAGE SCANNING
trivy - Scan container image for CVEs (HIGH/CRIT). Needs podman socket enabled
grype-scan - Scan container for security audit and vulnerability scanning
dockle - Lint the built container image via tarball (no daemon/socket needed)
hadolint - Lint Containerfile/Dockerfile(s) with hadolint
pip-audit - Audit Python dependencies for published CVEs
📦 DEPENDENCY MANAGEMENT
deps-update - Run update-deps.py to update all dependencies in pyproject.toml and docs/requirements.txt
containerfile-update - Update base image in Containerfile to latest tag
📦 PACKAGING & PUBLISHING
dist - Clean-build wheel *and* sdist into ./dist
wheel - Build wheel only
sdist - Build source distribution only
verify - Build + twine + check-manifest + pyroma (no upload)
publish - Verify, then upload to PyPI (needs TWINE_* creds)
🦭 PODMAN CONTAINER BUILD & RUN
podman-dev - Build development container image
podman - Build container image
podman-prod - Build production container image (using ubi-micro → scratch). Not supported on macOS.
podman-run - Run the container on HTTP (port 4444)
podman-run-shell - Run the container on HTTP (port 4444) and start a shell
podman-run-ssl - Run the container on HTTPS (port 4444, self-signed)
podman-run-ssl-host - Run the container on HTTPS with --network=host (port 4444, self-signed)
podman-stop - Stop & remove the container
podman-test - Quick curl smoke-test against the container
podman-logs - Follow container logs (⌃C to quit)
podman-stats - Show container resource stats (if supported)
podman-top - Show live top-level process info in container
podman-shell - Open an interactive shell inside the Podman container
🐋 DOCKER BUILD & RUN
docker-dev - Build development Docker image
docker - Build production Docker image
docker-prod - Build production container image (using ubi-micro → scratch). Not supported on macOS.
docker-run - Run the container on HTTP (port 4444)
docker-run-ssl - Run the container on HTTPS (port 4444, self-signed)
docker-stop - Stop & remove the container
docker-test - Quick curl smoke-test against the container
docker-logs - Follow container logs (⌃C to quit)
docker-stats - Show container resource usage stats (non-streaming)
docker-top - Show top-level process info in Docker container
docker-shell - Open an interactive shell inside the Docker container
🛠️ COMPOSE STACK - Build / start / stop the multi-service stack
compose-up - Bring the whole stack up (detached)
compose-restart - Recreate changed containers, pulling / building as needed
compose-build - Build (or rebuild) images defined in the compose file
compose-pull - Pull the latest images only
compose-logs - Tail logs from all services (Ctrl-C to exit)
compose-ps - Show container status table
compose-shell - Open an interactive shell in the "gateway" container
compose-stop - Gracefully stop the stack (keep containers)
compose-down - Stop & remove containers (keep named volumes)
compose-rm - Remove *stopped* containers
compose-clean - ✨ Down **and** delete named volumes (data-loss ⚠)
☁️ IBM CLOUD CODE ENGINE
ibmcloud-check-env - Verify all required IBM Cloud env vars are set
ibmcloud-cli-install - Auto-install IBM Cloud CLI + required plugins (OS auto-detected)
ibmcloud-login - Login to IBM Cloud CLI using IBMCLOUD_API_KEY (--sso)
ibmcloud-ce-login - Set Code Engine target project and region
ibmcloud-list-containers - List deployed Code Engine apps
ibmcloud-tag - Tag container image for IBM Container Registry
ibmcloud-push - Push image to IBM Container Registry
ibmcloud-deploy - Deploy (or update) container image in Code Engine
ibmcloud-ce-logs - Stream logs for the deployed application
ibmcloud-ce-status - Get deployment status
ibmcloud-ce-rm - Delete the Code Engine application
🧪 MINIKUBE LOCAL CLUSTER
minikube-install - Install Minikube (macOS, Linux, or Windows via choco)
helm-install - Install Helm CLI (macOS, Linux, or Windows)
minikube-start - Start local Minikube cluster with Ingress + DNS + metrics-server
minikube-stop - Stop the Minikube cluster
minikube-delete - Delete the Minikube cluster
minikube-image-load - Build and load ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:latest into Minikube
minikube-k8s-apply - Apply Kubernetes manifests from deployment/k8s/
minikube-status - Show status of Minikube and ingress pods
🛠️ HELM CHART TASKS
helm-lint - Lint the Helm chart (static analysis)
helm-package - Package the chart into dist/ as mcp-stack-<ver>.tgz
helm-deploy - Upgrade/Install chart into Minikube (profile mcpgw)
helm-delete - Uninstall the chart release from Minikube
🏠 LOCAL PYPI SERVER
local-pypi-install - Install pypiserver for local testing
local-pypi-start - Start local PyPI server on :8084 (no auth)
local-pypi-start-auth - Start local PyPI server with basic auth (admin/admin)
local-pypi-stop - Stop local PyPI server
local-pypi-upload - Upload existing package to local PyPI (no auth)
local-pypi-upload-auth - Upload existing package to local PyPI (with auth)
local-pypi-test - Install package from local PyPI
local-pypi-clean - Full cycle: build → upload → install locally
🏠 LOCAL DEVPI SERVER
devpi-install - Install devpi server and client
devpi-init - Initialize devpi server (first time only)
devpi-start - Start devpi server
devpi-stop - Stop devpi server
devpi-setup-user - Create user and dev index
devpi-upload - Upload existing package to devpi
devpi-test - Install package from devpi
devpi-clean - Full cycle: build → upload → install locally
devpi-status - Show devpi server status
devpi-web - Open devpi web interface
🔍 Troubleshooting
macOS: SQLite "disk I/O error" when running make serve
If the gateway fails on macOS with sqlite3.OperationalError: disk I/O error (works on Linux/Docker), it's usually a filesystem/locking quirk rather than a schema bug.
Quick placement guidance (macOS):
-
Avoid cloning/running the repo under
~/Documentsor~/Desktopif iCloud "Desktop & Documents" sync is enabled. -
A simple, safe choice is a project folder directly under your home directory:
mkdir -p "$HOME/mcp-context-forge" && cd "$HOME/mcp-context-forge"- If you keep the DB inside the repo, use a subfolder like
data/and an absolute path in.env:mkdir -p "$HOME/mcp-context-forge/data"DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////Users/$USER/mcp-context-forge/data/mcp.db
-
Use a safe, local APFS path for SQLite (avoid iCloud/Dropbox/OneDrive/Google Drive, network shares, or external exFAT/NAS):
- Option A (system location): point the DB to Application Support (note spaces):
mkdir -p "$HOME/Library/Application Support/mcpgateway"export DATABASE_URL="sqlite:////Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/mcpgateway/mcp.db"
- Option B (project-local): keep the DB under
~/mcp-context-forge/data:mkdir -p "$HOME/mcp-context-forge/data"export DATABASE_URL="sqlite:////Users/$USER/mcp-context-forge/data/mcp.db"
- Option A (system location): point the DB to Application Support (note spaces):
-
Clean stale SQLite artifacts after any crash:
pkill -f mcpgateway || true && rm -f mcp.db-wal mcp.db-shm mcp.db-journal
-
Reduce startup concurrency to rule out multi-process contention:
GUNICORN_WORKERS=1 make serve(or usemake devwhich runs single-process)
-
Run the diagnostic helper to verify the environment:
python3 scripts/test_sqlite.py --verbose
-
While debugging, consider lowering pool pressure and retry:
DB_POOL_SIZE=10 DB_MAX_OVERFLOW=0 DB_POOL_TIMEOUT=60 DB_MAX_RETRIES=10 DB_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS=5000
-
Optional: temporarily disable the file-lock leader path by using the in-process mode:
export CACHE_TYPE=none
If the error persists, update SQLite and ensure Python links against it:
brew install sqlite3 && brew link --force sqlite3brew install python3 && /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 -c 'import sqlite3; print(sqlite3.sqlite_version)'
See the full migration guide's "SQLite Troubleshooting Guide" for deeper steps (WAL cleanup, integrity check, recovery): MIGRATION-0.7.0.md.
Port publishing on WSL2 (rootless Podman & Docker Desktop)
Diagnose the listener
# Inside your WSL distro
ss -tlnp | grep 4444 # Use ss
netstat -anp | grep 4444 # or netstat
Seeing :::4444 LISTEN rootlessport is normal - the IPv6 wildcard
socket (::) also accepts IPv4 traffic when
net.ipv6.bindv6only = 0 (default on Linux).
Why localhost fails on Windows
WSL 2's NAT layer rewrites only the IPv6 side of the dual-stack listener. From Windows, http://127.0.0.1:4444 (or Docker Desktop's "localhost") therefore times-out.
Fix (Podman rootless)
# Inside the WSL distro
echo "wsl" | sudo tee /etc/containers/podman-machine
systemctl --user restart podman.socket
ss should now show 0.0.0.0:4444 instead of :::4444, and the
service becomes reachable from Windows and the LAN.
Fix (Docker Desktop > 4.19)
Docker Desktop adds a "WSL integration" switch per-distro. Turn it on for your distro, restart Docker Desktop, then restart the container:
docker restart mcpgateway
Gateway starts but immediately exits ("Failed to read DATABASE_URL")
Copy .env.example to .env first:
cp .env.example .env
Then edit DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET_KEY, BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD, etc.
Missing or empty required vars cause a fast-fail at startup.
Contributing
- Fork the repo, create a feature branch.
- Run
make lintand fix any issues. - Keep
make testgreen and 100% coverage. - Open a PR - describe your changes clearly.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.
Changelog
A complete changelog can be found here: CHANGELOG.md
License
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see LICENSE
Core Authors and Maintainers
- Mihai Criveti - Distinguished Engineer, Agentic AI
Special thanks to our contributors for helping us improve ContextForge:
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