Secure Mcp Gateway

Enkrypt AI Secure MCP Gateway

> 📖 Featured Blog Post: Learn how the Secure MCP Gateway prevents top attacks and vulnerabilities in our latest blog: > > How Enkrypt's Secure MCP Gateway and MCP Scanner Prevent Top Attacks > > Discover real-world attack scenarios, security best practices, and how our gateway protects your AI applications.

Overview

This Secure MCP Gateway is built with authentication, automatic tool discovery, caching, and guardrail enforcement.

It sits between your MCP client and MCP servers. So, by it's nature it itself also acts as an MCP server as well as an MCP client :)

When your MCP client connects to the Gateway, it acts as an MCP server. When the Gateway connects to the actual MCP server, it acts as an MCP client.

• Pypi Package

• Docker Image

• Also see:
• [CLI-Commands-Reference.md](./CLI-Commands-Reference.md) for the list of commands and their usage
• [API-Reference.md](./API-Reference.md) for the list of API endpoints and their usage
• [MCP Gateway Setup Notebook](./mcpgatewaysetup.ipynb) for a complete walkthrough of all the essential commands

Table of Contents

• [1. Features 🚀](#1-features)
• [2. High level steps of how the MCP Gateway works 🪜](#2-high-level-steps-of-how-the-mcp-gateway-works)
• [3. Prerequisites 🧩](#3-prerequisites)
• [4. Gateway Setup 👨‍💻](#4-gateway-setup)
• [5. (Optional) OpenTelemetry Setup 📊](#5-optional-opentelemetry-setup)
• [6. Verify Installation and check the files generated ✅](#6-verify-installation-and-check-the-files-generated)
• [7. Edit the Gateway config as needed ✏️](#7-edit-the-gateway-config-as-needed)
• [8. CLI Quick Start Guide 🖥️](#8-cli-quick-start-guide)
• [9. (Optional) Add GitHub MCP Server to the Gateway 🤖](#9-optional-add-github-mcp-server-to-the-gateway)
• [9.1 (Optional) Connect to MCP Servers with OAuth 🔐](#91-optional-connect-to-mcp-servers-with-oauth)
• [10. (Optional) Protect GitHub MCP Server and Test Echo Server 🔒](#10-optional-protect-github-mcp-server-and-test-echo-server)
• [11. Recommendations for using Guardrails 💡](#11-recommendations-for-using-guardrails)
• [12. Other tools available 🔧](#12-other-tools-available)
• [13. (Optional) Sandbox Isolation 🛡️](#13-optional-sandbox-isolation)
• [14. Deployment Patterns 🪂](#14-deployment-patterns)
• [15. Uninstall the Gateway 🗑️](#15-uninstall-the-gateway)
• [16. Troubleshooting 🕵](#16-troubleshooting)
• [17. Known Issues being worked on 🏗️](#17-known-issues-being-worked-on)
• [18. Known Limitations ⚠️](#18-known-limitations)
• [19. Contribute 🤝](#19-contribute)
• [20. Testing 🧪](#20-testing)
• [21. License](#21-license)

1. Features

Below are the list of features Enkrypt AI Secure MCP Gateway provides:

1. Authentication: We use Unique Key to authenticate with the Gateway. We also use Enkrypt API Key if you want to protect your MCPs with Enkrypt Guardrails. Additionally, a secure admin_apikey (256-character random string) is automatically generated for administrative REST API operations.

1. Ease of use: You can configure all your MCP servers locally in the config file or better yet in Enkrypt (Coming soon) and use them in the Gateway by using their name

1. Dynamic Tool Discovery: The Gateway discovers tools from the MCP servers dynamically and makes them available to the MCP client

1. Restrict Tool Invocation: If you don't want all tools to be accessible of a an MCP server, you can restrict them by explicitly mentioning the tools in the Gateway config so that only the allowed tools are accessible to the MCP client

1. Caching: We cache the user gateway config and tools discovered from various MCP servers locally or in an external cache server like KeyDB if configured to improve performance

1. Guardrails: You can configure guardrails for each MCP server in Enkrypt both on input side (before sending the request to the MCP server) and output side (after receiving the response from the MCP server)

1. Logging: We log every request and response from the Gateway locally in your MCP logs and also forward them to Enkrypt (Coming soon) for monitoring. This enables you to see all the calls made in your account, servers used, tools invoked, requests blocked, etc.

1. Sandbox Isolation: MCP servers can be launched inside isolated sandbox environments (Docker, Podman, or microVMs) so that a compromised or malicious server cannot access the host filesystem, network, or other resources. Each sandbox is ephemeral — created per session and destroyed when done.

1.1 Guardrails

Input Protection: Topic detection, NSFW filtering, toxicity detection, injection attack prevention, keyword detection, policy violation detection, bias detection, and PII redaction (More coming soon like system prompt protection, copyright protection, etc.)

Output Protection: All input protections plus adherence checking and relevancy validation (More coming soon like hallucination detection, etc.) We also auto unredact the response if it was redacted on input.

1.2 Concepts

• MCP Config is an array of MCP servers like mcp_server_1, mcp_server_2, mcp_server_3 etc.
• Each config has a unique ID

• User is a user of the gateway with unique email and ID

• A project is a collection of users that share an MCP Config
• Project has a name and unique ID
• The MCP Config can be updated or can be pointed to a different config by the Admin
• Users can be added to multiple projects

• An API Key is created for a user and project combination
• A user can have different API Keys for different projects
• This API Key is used to authenticate the user and identify the right project and MCP Config

• See [6.5 Example config file generated](#65-example-config-file-generated) and [7. Edit the Gateway config as needed](#7-edit-the-gateway-config-as-needed) for schema reference

2. High level steps of how the MCP Gateway works

🪜 Steps

1. Your MCP client connects to the Secure MCP Gateway server with API Key (handled by src/secure_mcp_gateway/gateway.py).

1. Gateway server fetches gateway config from local enkrypt_mcp_config.json file or remote Enkrypt Auth server (Coming soon).

• It caches the config locally or in an external cache server like KeyDB if configured to improve performance.

1. If input guardrails are enabled, request is validated before the tool call (handled by src/secure_mcp_gateway/guardrail.py).

• Request is blocked if it violates any of the configured guardrails and the specific detector is configured to block.

1. Requests are forwarded to the Gateway Client (handled by src/secure_mcp_gateway/client.py).

1. The Gateway client forwards the request to the appropriate MCP server (handled by src/secure_mcp_gateway/client.py).

1. The MCP server processes the request and returns the response to the Gateway client.

1. If it was a discover tools call, the Gateway client caches the tools locally or in an external cache server like KeyDB if configured. It then forwards the response to the Gateway server.

1. The Gateway server receives the response from the Gateway client and if output guardrails are enabled, it validates the response against the configured guardrails (handled by src/secure_mcp_gateway/guardrail.py).

• Response is blocked if it violates any of the configured guardrails and the specific detector is configured to block.

1. The Gateway server forwards the response back to the MCP client if everything is fine.

3. Prerequisites

🔗 Dependencies

• Git 2.43 or higher

• Python 3.11 or higher installed on your system and is accessible from the command line using either python or python3 command

• pip 25.0.1 or higher is installed on your system and is accessible from the command line using either pip or python -m pip command

• uv 0.7.9 or higher is installed on your system and is accessible from the command line using either uv or python -m uv command

🔍 Check versions

• Check if Python, pip and uv are installed

• If any of the below commands fail, please refer the respective documentation to install them properly

# ------------------

# Python

# ------------------

python --version

# Example output
Python 3.13.3

# If not, install python from their website and run the version check again

# ------------------

# pip

# ------------------
pip --version

# Example output
pip 25.0.1 from C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python313\site-packages\pip (python 3.13)

# If not, try the following and run the version check again
python -m ensurepip

# ------------------

# uv

# ------------------

uv --version

# Or run with "python -m" if uv is not found directly

# If this works, use "python -m" before all uv commands from now on
python -m uv --version

# Example output
uv 0.7.9 (13a86a23b 2025-05-30)

# If not, try the following and run the version check again
python -m pip install uv

• Install Claude Desktop as the MCP Client from their website if you haven't already and login to it

• If you are using Linux and cannot run any unofficial version of Claude Desktop, you can use any supported MCP Client to test the Gateway. If it does not support mcp cli mcp install command, then go through the scripts code and run the commands supported manually.

• Any other dependencies required for the MCP servers we want to proxy requests to

• Follow the instructions of the respective MCP server to install its dependencies

• Like Node.js, npx, docker, etc.

• (Optional) A cache server like KeyDB installed and running (If you want to cache externally and not locally)

🔒 Optional Protection with Enkrypt Guardrails

If you want to protect your MCPs with Enkrypt Guardrails, you need to do the following:

• Create a new account if you don't have one. It's free! 🆓 No credit card required 💳🚫

• An ENKRYPT_API_KEY which you can get from Enkrypt Dashboard Settings

• To protect your MCPs with Guardrails, you can use the default sample Guardrail Sample Airline Guardrail to get started or you can create your own custom Guardrail

• To configure custom Guardrails, you need to either login to Enkrypt AI App or use the APIs/SDK

• Create Guardrails in Enkrypt AI App Dashboard ✅

• Create Guardrails using APIs

• Create Guardrails using SDK

• You can also use Enkrypt MCP Server 🤯 to create Guardrails and use them in the Gateway

4. Gateway Setup

4.1 Local Installation with pip

📦 Pip Installation Steps

4.1.1 Download and Install the Package

• Activate a virtual environment

```bash python -m venv .secure-mcp-gateway-venv

# Activate the virtual environment # On Windows .secure-mcp-gateway-venv\Scripts\activate

# On Linux/macOS source .secure-mcp-gateway-venv/bin/activate

# Run the below to exit the virtual environment later if needed deactivate ```

• Install the package. For more info see https://pypi.org/project/secure-mcp-gateway/

``bash pip install secure-mcp-gateway ``

4.1.2 Run the Generate Command

• This generates the config file at ~/.enkrypt/enkrypt_mcp_config.json on macOS and %USERPROFILE%\.enkrypt\enkrypt_mcp_config.json on Windows

``bash secure-mcp-gateway generate-config ``

🖨️ Example output

Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway
Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway Common Utilities Module
Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway Module
--------------------------------
SYSTEM INFO:
Using Python interpreter: C:\Users\PC\Documents\GitHub\EnkryptAI\secure-mcp-gateway\.secure-mcp-gateway-venv\Scripts\python.exe
Python version: 3.13.3 (tags/v3.13.3:6280bb5, Apr  8 2025, 14:47:33) [MSC v.1943 64 bit (AMD64)]
Current working directory: C:\Users\PC\Documents\GitHub\EnkryptAI\secure-mcp-gateway
PYTHONPATH: Not set
--------------------------------
Installing dependencies...
All dependencies installed successfully.
Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway Client Module
Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway Guardrail Module
Error: Gateway key is required. Please update your mcp client config and try again.
Getting Enkrypt Common Configuration
config_path: C:\Users\PC\.enkrypt\enkrypt_mcp_config.json
example_config_path: C:\Users\PC\Documents\GitHub\EnkryptAI\secure-mcp-gateway\.secure-mcp-gateway-venv\Lib\site-packages\secure_mcp_gateway\example_enkrypt_mcp_config.json
No enkrypt_mcp_config.json file found. Defaulting to example_enkrypt_mcp_config.json
--------------------------------
ENKRYPT_GATEWAY_KEY: ****NULL
enkrypt_log_level: info
is_debug_log_level: False
enkrypt_base_url: https://api.enkryptai.com
enkrypt_use_remote_mcp_config: False
enkrypt_api_key: ****_KEY
enkrypt_tool_cache_expiration: 4
enkrypt_gateway_cache_expiration: 24
enkrypt_mcp_use_external_cache: False
enkrypt_async_input_guardrails_enabled: False
--------------------------------
External Cache is not enabled. Using local cache only.
Initializing Enkrypt Secure MCP Gateway CLI Module
Generated default config at C:\Users\PC\.enkrypt\enkrypt_mcp_config.json

4.1.3 Example of the generated config file

🍎 Example file in macOS

• This is an example of the default configuration file generated by the CLI on macOS:

{
  "common_mcp_gateway_config": {
    "enkrypt_log_level": "INFO",
    "enkrypt_base_url": "https://api.enkryptai.com",
    "enkrypt_api_key": "YOUR_ENKRYPT_API_KEY",
    "enkrypt_use_remote_mcp_config": false,
    "enkrypt_remote_mcp_gateway_name": "enkrypt-secure-mcp-gateway-1",
    "enkrypt_remote_mcp_gateway_version": "v1",
    "enkrypt_mcp_use_external_cache": false,
    "enkrypt_cache_host": "localhost",
    "enkrypt_cache_port": 6379,
    "enkrypt_cache_db": 0,
    "enkrypt_cache_password": null,
    "enkrypt_tool_cache_expiration": 4,
    "enkrypt_gateway_cache_expiration": 24,
    "enkrypt_async_input_guardrails_enabled": false,
    "enkrypt_async_output_guardrails_enabled": false,
    "enkrypt_telemetry": {
      "enabled": true,
      "insecure": true,
      "endpoint": "http://localhost:4317"
    }
  },
  "mcp_configs": {
    "fcbd4508-1432-4f13-abb9-c495c946f638": {
      "mcp_config_name": "default_config",
      "mcp_config": [
        {
          "server_name": "echo_server",
          "description": "Simple Echo Server",
          "config": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
              "/Users/user/enkryptai/secure-mcp-gateway/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/secure_mcp_gateway/bad_mcps/echo_mcp.py"
            ]
          },
          "tools": {},
          "input_guardrails_config": {
            "enabled": false,
            "guardrail_name": "Sample Airline Guardrail",
            "additional_config": {
              "pii_redaction": false
            },
            "block": [
              "policy_violation"
            ]
          },
          "output_guardrails_config": {
            "enabled": false,
            "guardrail_name": "Sample Airline Guardrail",
            "additional_config": {
              "relevancy": false,
              "hallucination": false,
              "adherence": false
            },
            "block": [

…

## Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [enkryptai](https://github.com/enkryptai)
- **Source:** [enkryptai/secure-mcp-gateway](https://github.com/enkryptai/secure-mcp-gateway)
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Homepage:** https://www.enkryptai.com/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.