Cortex Gateway MCP Server

A federated MCP gateway: one spec-compliant, OAuth-protected MCP server in front of N plain-HTTP backends.

People who work with federation, gateway and oauth2 and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in HTML.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-22 · ★ 12 · #157 OF 204 MAINTAINED SECURITY · VERIFIED 2026-09-18

MIT · HTML · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Cortex Gateway

before you install - you'll need

Set OAUTH_ISSUER, CORTEX_BACKENDS, CORTEX_BACKEND_DEMO_URL, CORTEX_TECHNICAL_TOKEN, CORTEX_DEV_BYPASS_TOKEN, CORTEX_DEV_BYPASS_SCOPES, CORTEX_BACKEND_DOCS_URL before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add wellknownmcp-cortex-gateway --transport http https://mcp.cortex-gateway.dev/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wellknownmcp-cortex-gateway": {
      "url": "https://mcp.cortex-gateway.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

https://mcp.cortex-gateway.dev/mcp

transport: streamable-http

endpoint alive - authentication required · probed 2026-09-18

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as container (OCI image) - can be sandboxed away from your filesystem · remote - your agent's requests go to mcp.cortex-gateway.dev

endpoint auth requires authentication - rejected our unauthenticated MCP initialize

license MIT - declared in the repository

registry namespace io.github.wellknownmcp is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Cortex Gateway can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Latest releases

v0.2.0 · 2026-07-20

A gateway that federates N backends sees things a single MCP server does not: every backend's tool definitions, the transport to each of them, and the full call path from agent to application. This release adds the…

v0.1.0 · 2026-07-04

First public release. · Cortex Gateway is a self-hosted, federated MCP gateway: one spec-compliant, OAuth 2.1-protected MCP server (Streamable HTTP, MCP 2025-06-18) in front of N plain-HTTP backends. Permissions are…

04 · Who maintains Cortex Gateway

cortex-gateway is maintained by wellknownmcp. We track 5 MCP servers from wellknownmcp - 3 actively maintained, 12 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Jul 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway
category: security - ranked #157 of 204 actively-maintained security servers as of 2026-09-18.
release cadence: 2 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-07-20)
registry: io.github.wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway (active, first published 2026-07-04 · 2 versions)
packages: oci:ghcr.io/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway:v0.2.0

06 · Cortex Gateway FAQ

What is Cortex Gateway?

A federated MCP gateway: one spec-compliant, OAuth-protected MCP server in front of N plain-HTTP backends.

Is Cortex Gateway still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-18, its last commit was 2026-08-22 and it shipped 2 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Cortex Gateway?

Run `claude mcp add wellknownmcp-cortex-gateway --transport http https://mcp.cortex-gateway.dev/mcp`. The README documents 7 environment variables (OAUTH_ISSUER, CORTEX_BACKENDS, CORTEX_BACKEND_DEMO_URL…) to set first. Set OAUTH_ISSUER, CORTEX_BACKENDS, CORTEX_BACKEND_DEMO_URL, CORTEX_TECHNICAL_TOKEN, CORTEX_DEV_BYPASS_TOKEN, CORTEX_DEV_BYPASS_SCOPES, CORTEX_BACKEND_DOCS_URL before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Cortex Gateway require authentication?

Yes - when we probed the endpoint on 2026-09-18, it rejected an unauthenticated MCP initialize; you'll need credentials to connect.

07 · Alternatives to Cortex Gateway

Alternatives to Cortex Gateway

Maintained security servers if Cortex Gateway isn't the fit.

Pairs well with

Servers that cover what Cortex Gateway doesn't - only shown when the pairing reason fits the companion.

More security MCP servers · Gateway Scan · Wundervault MCP · CIPP · HackTricks MCP Server · Kdbx