MCP Gateway
README.md
# MCP Gateway
Production-ready unified entry point for AI Agents and downstream APIs, implementing the [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/).
---
## Quick Start (Local — 5 minutes)
### Prerequisites
| Tool | Minimum Version | Check |
|------|----------------|-------|
| Python | 3.10+ | `python3 --version` |
| pip | 23+ | `pip3 --version` |
| make | any | `make --version` |
| Docker *(optional)* | 24+ | `docker --version` |
> **macOS**: Install Python via [Homebrew](https://brew.sh): `brew install python@3.12`
> **Windows**: Install Python from [python.org](https://python.org), then use `make` via WSL or Git Bash.
---
### Option A — Run with Python directly (recommended for development)
```bash
# 1. Clone / open the project folder
cd mcp-gateway
# 2. One-command setup (creates virtualenv + installs deps + copies .env)
make setup
# 3. Start the gateway
make run
```
The gateway starts at **http://localhost:8080**.
Open the interactive API docs at **http://localhost:8080/docs**.
---
### Option B — Run with Docker Compose (full stack)
```bash
# Starts gateway + Redis + Prometheus + Grafana + Jaeger
make docker-up
```
| Service | URL |
|---------|-----|
| Gateway API | http://localhost:8080 |
| API Docs | http://localhost:8080/docs |
| Grafana | http://localhost:3000 (admin/admin) |
| Prometheus | http://localhost:9091 |
| Jaeger (traces) | http://localhost:16686 |
---
## Manual Setup (step by step)
If you prefer not to use `make`:
```bash
# 1. Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # macOS/Linux
# .venv\Scripts\activate # Windows
# 2. Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# 3. Copy environment config
cp .env.example .env
# 4. Create log directory
mkdir -p logs
# 5. Start the gateway
uvicorn src.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080 --reload
```
---
## Configuration
All configuration is in the `.env` file (copied from `.env.example` during setup).
### Key settings
```dotenv
# Auth — who can call the gateway
GATEWAY_AUTH_ENABLED=true
GATEWAY_API_KEYS_FILE=config/api_keys.json # your API keys
# Upstream APIs — what the gateway proxies to
GATEWAY_UPSTREAM_CONFIG_FILE=config/upstreams.json
# Rate limiting
GATEWAY_RATE_LIMIT__DEFAULT_RPM=60 # requests per minute per identity
GATEWAY_RATE_LIMIT__BURST_ALLOWANCE=10
# Debug / dev mode
GATEWAY_DEBUG=true
GATEWAY_ENVIRONMENT=development
```
### Add your own upstream API
Edit `config/upstreams.json`:
```json
[
{
"name": "my-api",
"url": "https://api.example.com",
"description": "My downstream API",
"upstream_token": "your-bearer-token-here",
"timeout_seconds": 30,
"tags": ["internal"]
}
]
```
### Add an API key
Edit `config/api_keys.json`:
```json
[
{
"key": "my-secret-key-001",
"owner": "your-name",
"allowed_upstreams": [],
"rate_limit_rpm": -1,
"scopes": ["read", "write"]
}
]
```
---
## Try It Out
Once the gateway is running, open a new terminal and try these:
### Health check (no auth required)
```bash
curl http://localhost:8080/health
```
### List configured upstreams
```bash
curl http://localhost:8080/upstreams \
-H "X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001"
```
### Send an MCP initialize request
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/mcp \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001" \
-d '{
"version": "1.0",
"request": {
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 1,
"method": "initialize",
"params": {
"protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
"clientInfo": {"name": "my-agent", "version": "1.0"}
}
}
}'
```
### Register an AI agent (get a session token)
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/agents/register \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001" \
-d '{
"agent_name": "my-llm-agent",
"agent_version": "1.0.0",
"requested_upstreams": [],
"requested_scopes": ["read", "write"]
}'
```
### Use agent token to call MCP
```bash
# Replace <token> with the token from the register response
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/mcp \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Agent-Token: <token>" \
-d '{
"request": {
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 2,
"method": "tools/list"
}
}'
```
### Proxy directly to an upstream
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/mcp/notion \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'
```
---
## Common Commands
```bash
make run # Start gateway (http://localhost:8080)
make run-reload # Start with hot-reload (auto-restarts on code change)
make test # Run all tests
make test-unit # Run unit tests only
make lint # Lint code with ruff
make format # Auto-format code
make typecheck # Type check with mypy
make docker-up # Start full stack (gateway + Redis + monitoring)
make docker-down # Stop Docker stack
make clean # Remove virtualenv and caches
```
---
## Project Structure
```
mcp-gateway/
├── src/
│ ├── main.py ← Entry point
│ ├── core/
│ │ ├── app.py ← App factory + middleware wiring
│ │ ├── config.py ← All configuration (env + JSON)
│ │ └── state.py ← Shared HTTP pool + rate buckets
│ ├── protocol/
│ │ ├── mcp_types.py ← MCP message types
│ │ └── validator.py ← Request validation pipeline
│ ├── routing/
│ │ ├── mcp_router.py ← MCP method handling
│ │ └── proxy.py ← Reverse proxy with retries
│ ├── security/
│ │ ├── auth.py ← API Key + OAuth JWT + Agent auth
│ │ └── agent_registry.py ← Agent session management
│ ├── middleware/
│ │ ├── rate_limiter.py ← Token-bucket rate limiting
│ │ ├── logging_mw.py ← Structured JSON access logs
│ │ └── circuit_breaker.py ← Per-upstream circuit breaker
│ └── observability/
│ ├── telemetry.py ← OpenTelemetry + Prometheus
│ └── health.py ← /health, /readyz, /metrics
├── config/
│ ├── api_keys.json ← API credentials
│ └── upstreams.json ← Downstream API definitions
├── tests/
│ ├── unit/ ← Fast, isolated tests
│ └── integration/ ← Full stack tests
├── deploy/k8s/ ← Kubernetes manifests
├── monitoring/ ← Prometheus + Grafana configs
├── Dockerfile ← Multi-stage production image
├── docker-compose.yml ← Local dev stack
├── Makefile ← Developer commands
└── .env.example ← Config template
```
---
## Authentication
The gateway supports three auth methods, all tried in order on each request:
| Method | Header | Example |
|--------|--------|---------|
| API Key | `X-Api-Key` | `X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001` |
| Agent Token | `X-Agent-Token` | `X-Agent-Token: <jwt>` |
| OAuth Bearer | `Authorization` | `Authorization: Bearer <jwt>` |
Public paths (no auth needed): `/health`, `/readyz`, `/metrics`, `/docs`
---
## Key Endpoints
| Endpoint | Method | Auth | Description |
|----------|--------|------|-------------|
| `/health` | GET | None | Liveness probe |
| `/readyz` | GET | None | Readiness + upstream health |
| `/metrics` | GET | None | Prometheus metrics |
| `/docs` | GET | None | Swagger UI |
| `/mcp` | POST | Required | MCP protocol endpoint |
| `/mcp/{upstream}` | POST | Required | Direct upstream proxy |
| `/agents/register` | POST | Required | Register AI agent |
| `/agents/sessions` | GET | Required | List active sessions |
| `/upstreams` | GET | Required | List configured upstreams |
| `/config/info` | GET | Required | Gateway configuration info |
---
## Troubleshooting
**`ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'src'`**
→ Make sure you're in the `mcp-gateway/` directory, not a subdirectory.
→ Run `pip install -e ".[dev]"` from the project root.
**`401 Unauthorized`**
→ Add header `-H "X-Api-Key: dev-key-alice-001"` to your requests.
→ Check `config/api_keys.json` contains the key you're using.
**`Address already in use` (port 8080)**
→ Change the port: `uvicorn src.main:app --port 8090`
→ Or update `GATEWAY_PORT=8090` in your `.env` file.
**`429 Too Many Requests`**
→ You've hit the rate limit. Wait a minute or increase `GATEWAY_RATE_LIMIT__DEFAULT_RPM` in `.env`.
---
## Documentation
Full architecture document: [`docs/ARCHITECTURE.md`](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md)
This server cannot be deployed
Maintenance
ActivityInactive
ResponsivenessNo issues