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martin-santiago

MCPGate

by martin-santiago
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TypeScript
Hybrid

MCPGate

Lightweight MCP gateway — aggregate, filter, and observe your MCP tools.

MCPGate sits between your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code) and multiple MCP servers. It presents a single unified MCP endpoint while giving you granular control over which tools are exposed.

Features

  • Tool Aggregation — Connect multiple MCP servers, expose all tools through one endpoint

  • Tool Filtering — Allow/block specific tools per server via simple YAML config

  • Tool Prefixing — Automatic namespacing (github.create_issue) to avoid collisions

  • Web Dashboard — Real-time status page showing servers, tools, and request logs

  • Dual Transport — Stdio (Claude Desktop) or HTTP/SSE (remote clients)

  • Audit Trail — Every tool call logged with timing; optional PostgreSQL persistence

  • Self-Hosted — Deploy on Railway, Docker, or run locally

Quick Start

Local (stdio — for Claude Desktop)

npx mcp-gate start --config mcpgate.yaml

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpgate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-gate", "start", "--config", "/path/to/mcpgate.yaml"]
    }
  }
}

Local (HTTP — with dashboard)

npx mcp-gate start --config mcpgate.yaml
# Dashboard at http://localhost:3000
# MCP endpoint at http://localhost:3000/mcp

Docker

docker compose up
# Dashboard at http://localhost:3000
# Includes PostgreSQL for persistent audit trail

Or standalone:

docker run -p 3000:3000 \
  -e MCPGATE_CONFIG=$(cat mcpgate.yaml | base64 -w 0) \
  -e GITHUB_TOKEN=$GITHUB_TOKEN \
  ghcr.io/mprezz/mcpgate

Railway

Deploy on Railway

Add a PostgreSQL plugin for persistent audit trail — MCPGate detects DATABASE_URL automatically.

Configuration

Create a mcpgate.yaml:

gateway:
  name: "my-gateway"
  transport: "stdio" # stdio | http | both
  port: 3000
  toolPrefix: true # prefix tools with server name

servers:
  - name: "github"
    transport: "stdio"
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"]
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
    tools:
      allow:
        - "create_issue"
        - "search_repos"

  - name: "filesystem"
    transport: "stdio"
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/home/user"]
    tools:
      block:
        - "write_file"
        - "delete_file"

logging:
  level: "info"

See mcpgate.example.yaml for the full reference.

Tool Filtering

Each server supports allow or block (mutually exclusive):

  • allow — Only these tools are exposed (whitelist)

  • block — All tools EXCEPT these are exposed (blacklist)

  • Neither — All tools are exposed

Authentication

Add a bearer token to protect the HTTP transport:

gateway:
  auth:
    token: "${MCPGATE_AUTH_TOKEN}"

When auth is configured:

  • All endpoints require Authorization: Bearer <token> header

  • /health remains public (for Railway/Docker health checks)

  • MCP clients pass the token via custom headers in their transport config

Without auth configured, all endpoints are open (for local/private use).

Environment Variable Interpolation

Use ${VAR} or ${VAR:-default} in YAML to reference environment variables:

env:
  GITHUB_TOKEN: "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
  API_URL: "${API_URL:-https://api.example.com}"

Dashboard

When running in HTTP mode, MCPGate serves a web dashboard at the root URL:

  • / — Status page with upstream servers, tools, and request logs

  • /api/status — JSON API for programmatic access

  • /health — Health check endpoint (for Railway/Docker)

  • /mcp — MCP protocol endpoint (Streamable HTTP)

Storage

MCPGate logs every tool call with timing and error information.

  • Default — In-memory (no setup required, lost on restart)

  • PostgreSQL — Set DATABASE_URL environment variable (tables created automatically)

# Local development with Docker Compose
docker compose up postgres -d
export DATABASE_URL=postgresql://mcpgate:mcpgate@localhost:5432/mcpgate
npx mcp-gate start --config mcpgate.yaml

Environment Variables

Variable

Required

Default

Description

PORT

No

3000

HTTP port (Railway sets this automatically)

MCPGATE_CONFIG

No

—

Base64-encoded YAML config (for Railway/Docker)

DATABASE_URL

No

—

PostgreSQL connection string (enables persistent audit trail)

LOG_LEVEL

No

info

debug / info / warn / error

MCPGATE_AUTH_TOKEN

No

—

Bearer token for HTTP auth (reference in YAML via ${MCPGATE_AUTH_TOKEN})

Development

git clone https://github.com/mprezz/mcpgate.git
cd mcpgate
npm install

npm run dev          # development with hot reload
npm run build        # compile TypeScript
npm run test         # run tests (vitest)
npm run lint         # eslint
npm run typecheck    # tsc --noEmit

Architecture

Client (Claude, Cursor)
    │
    ▼ stdio or HTTP/SSE
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│         MCPGate              │
│                              │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐     │
│  │   Tool Registry     │     │  ← filters + namespaces tools
│  └─────────────────────┘     │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐     │
│  │   Tool Router       │     │  ← routes calls to correct server
│  └─────────────────────┘     │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐     │
│  │  Upstream Manager   │     │  ← manages server connections
│  └─────────────────────┘     │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐     │
│  │   Storage           │     │  ← memory or PostgreSQL
│  └─────────────────────┘     │
└──────────────────────────────┘
    │           │           │
    ▼           ▼           ▼
 Server A    Server B    Server C
 (GitHub)  (Filesystem)  (Custom)

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE

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-
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