ContextForge Gateway

Model Context Protocol gateway & proxy - unify REST, MCP, and A2A with federation, virtual servers, retries, security, and an optional admin UI.

Apollos AI 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

• Overview & Goals
• Quick Start - PyPI
• Quick Start - Containers
• VS Code Dev Container
• Installation
• Upgrading
• Configuration
• Running
• Cloud Deployment
• API Reference
• Testing
• Project Structure
• Development
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing

📌 Quick Links

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

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 \
[email protected] \
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

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 [email protected]
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 [email protected] --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key)

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" \
     http://127.0.0.1:4444/version | jq

# 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"
# Note: Basic auth for API is disabled by default (API_ALLOW_BASIC_AUTH=false)
$Env:JWT_SECRET_KEY               = "my-test-key"
$Env:PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL         = "[email protected]"
$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 [email protected] --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $Env:MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN" `
     http://127.0.0.1:4444/version | jq

# 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...

# 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/jrmatherly/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

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

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

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>"`

{
  "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/jrmatherly/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 (login with PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL/PASSWORD)
# Generate API token
docker compose exec gateway python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
  --username [email protected] --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)

Enable HTTPS (optional):

# Start with TLS enabled (auto-generates self-signed certs)
make compose-tls

# Access via HTTPS: https://localhost:8443/admin

# Or bring your own certificates:
# Unencrypted key:
mkdir -p certs
cp your-cert.pem certs/cert.pem && cp your-key.pem certs/key.pem
make compose-tls

# Passphrase-protected key:
mkdir -p certs
cp your-cert.pem certs/cert.pem && cp your-encrypted-key.pem certs/key-encrypted.pem
echo "KEY_FILE_PASSWORD=your-passphrase" >> .env
make compose-tls

☸️ Quick Start - Helm (Kubernetes)

Deploy to Kubernetes with enterprise-grade features:

# Add Helm repository (when available)
# helm repo add mcp-context-forge https://github.com/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge/docs/docs
# helm repo update

# For now, use local chart
git clone https://github.com/jrmatherly/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 [email protected] --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)

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 AUTH_REQUIRED=true \
  -e [email protected] \
  -e PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
  -e PLATFORM_ADMIN_FULL_NAME="Platform Administrator" \
  -e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./mcp.db \
  -e SECURE_COOKIES=false \
  ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

# Tail logs and generate API key
docker logs -f mcpgateway
docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1 \
  python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username [email protected] --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key

Browse to http://localhost:4444/admin and login with PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL / PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD.

mkdir -p $(pwd)/data && touch $(pwd)/data/mcp.db && chmod 777 $(pwd)/data
docker run -d --name mcpgateway --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 4444:4444 -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
  -e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
  -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 [email protected] -e PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme \
  ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

docker run -d --name mcpgateway --network=host \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/data -e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
  -e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true -e HOST=0.0.0.0 -e PORT=4444 \
  ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

docker build -f Containerfile.lite -t mcpgateway:airgapped .
docker run -d --name mcpgateway -p 4444:4444 \
  -e MCPGATEWAY_UI_AIRGAPPED=true -e MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 -e JWT_SECRET_KEY=my-test-key \
  mcpgateway:airgapped

🦭 Podman (rootless-friendly)

podman run -d --name mcpgateway \
  -p 4444:4444 -e HOST=0.0.0.0 -e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./mcp.db \
  ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

mkdir -p $(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/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

podman run -d --name mcpgateway --network=host \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/data -e DATABASE_URL=sqlite:////data/mcp.db \
  ghcr.io/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1

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

# Set environment variables
export MCPGATEWAY_BEARER_TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token --username [email protected] --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/jrmatherly/mcp-context-forge:1.0.0rc1 \
  python3 -m mcpgateway.wrapper

Quick Start: VS Code Dev Container

Clone the repo and open in VS Code—it will detect .devcontainer and prompt to "Reopen in Container". The container includes Python 3.11, Docker CLI, and all project dependencies.

For detailed setup, workflows, and GitHub Codespaces instructions, see Developer Onboarding.

Installation

make venv install-dev      # create .venv + install deps
make serve                 # gunicorn on :4444

# UV (faster)
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv sync --group dev --extra postgres --extra redis --extra llmchat --extra observability

# Install system dependencies first
# Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install libpq-dev
# macOS: brew install libpq

uv pip install 'psycopg[binary]'   # dev (pre-built wheels)
# or: uv pip install 'psycopg[c]'  # production (requires compiler)

DATABASE_URL=postgresql+psycopg://user:password@localhost:5432/mcp

docker run --name mcp-postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=mcp -p 5432:5432 -d postgres

Upgrading

For upgrade instructions, migration guides, and rollback procedures, see:

• Upgrade Guide — General upgrade procedures
• CHANGELOG.md — Version history and breaking changes
• MIGRATION-0.7.0.md — Multi-tenancy migration (v0.6.x → v0.7.x)

Configuration

⚠️ If any required .env variable is missing or invalid, the gateway will fail fast at startup with a validation error via Pydantic.

Copy the provided .env.example to .env and update the security-sensitive values below.

🔐 Required: Change Before Use

These variables have insecure defaults and must be changed before production deployment:

🔒 Security Defaults (Secure by Default)

These settings are enabled by default for security—only disable for backward compatibility:

⚙️ Project Defaults (Dev Setup)

These values differ from code defaults to provide a working local/dev setup:

📚 Full Configuration Reference

For the complete list of 300+ environment variables organized by category (authentication, caching, SSO, observability, etc.), see the Configuration Reference.

Running

Quick Reference

Development Server (Uvicorn)

make dev                 # Uvicorn on :8000 with auto-reload and SQLite
# or
./run.sh --reload --log debug --workers 2

run.sh is a wrapper around uvicorn that loads .env, supports reload, and passes arguments to the server.

Key flags:

Production Server (Gunicorn)

make serve               # Gunicorn on :4444 with multiple workers
make serve-ssl           # Gunicorn behind HTTPS on :4444 (uses ./certs)

Docker Compose (Full Stack)

make compose-up          # Start full stack: PostgreSQL, Redis, 3 gateway replicas, Nginx on :8080
make compose-sso         # Start SSO stack with Keycloak on :8180
make sso-test-login      # Run SSO smoke checks (providers + login URL + test users)
make compose-logs        # Tail logs from all services
make compose-down        # Stop the stack

Manual (Uvicorn)

uvicorn mcpgateway.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444 --workers 4

Cloud Deployment

MCP Gateway can be deployed to any major cloud platform:

For comprehensive deployment guides, see Deployment Documentation.

API Reference

Interactive API documentation is available when the server is running:

• Swagger UI — Try API calls directly in your browser
• ReDoc — Browse the complete endpoint reference

Quick Authentication:

# Generate a JWT token
export TOKEN=$(python3 -m mcpgateway.utils.create_jwt_token \
  --username [email protected] --exp 10080 --secret my-test-key)

# Test API access
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" http://localhost:4444/health

For comprehensive curl examples covering all endpoints, see the API Usage Guide.

Testing

make test            # Run unit tests
make lint            # Run all linters
make doctest         # Run doctests
make coverage        # Generate coverage report

See Doctest Coverage Guide for documentation testing details.

Project Structure

mcpgateway/          # Core FastAPI application
├── main.py          # Entry point
├── config.py        # Pydantic Settings configuration
├── db.py            # SQLAlchemy ORM models
├── schemas.py       # Pydantic validation schemas
├── services/        # Business logic layer (50+ services)
├── routers/         # HTTP endpoint definitions
├── middleware/      # Cross-cutting concerns
└── transports/      # SSE, WebSocket, stdio, streamable HTTP

tests/               # Test suite (800+ tests)
docs/docs/           # Full documentation (MkDocs)
charts/              # Kubernetes/Helm charts
plugins/             # Plugin framework and implementations

For complete structure, see CONTRIBUTING.md or run tree -L 2.

Development

make dev             # Dev server with auto-reload (:8000)
make test            # Run test suite
make lint            # Run all linters
make coverage        # Generate coverage report

Run make to see all 500+ available targets.

For development workflows, see:

• Developer Workstation Setup
• Building & Packaging

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

For detailed troubleshooting guides, see Troubleshooting Documentation.

Contributing

1. Fork the repo, create a feature branch.
2. Run make lint and fix any issues.
3. Keep make test green.
4. Open a PR with signed commits (git commit -s).

See CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines and Issue Guide #2502 for how to file bugs, request features, and find issues to work on.

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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