Cortex Gateway MCP Server

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

People who need security tools inside Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in HTML.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-22 · ★ 12 · #133 OF 182 MAINTAINED SECURITY · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

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 2026-08-25

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

repo age created 2026-07-04 - young repo, little track record yet

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 #133 of 182 actively-maintained security servers as of 2026-08-25.
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 2026-08-25, 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 2026-08-25, 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.

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