# Cortex Gateway

> Open-source (MIT), self-hosted federated MCP gateway: one OAuth 2.1-protected,
> spec-compliant MCP server (Streamable HTTP, MCP 2025-06-18) in front of N
> plain-HTTP backends. Permissions are never mirrored: the gateway propagates
> the real user identity (JWT to first-party backends, the user's own linked
> OAuth token to proxied third-party MCP servers), so each app's native
> permission model applies automatically at the user level.

Key facts
- Repository: https://github.com/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway (MIT)
- Docker image: ghcr.io/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway
- Live demo MCP endpoint: https://mcp.cortex-gateway.dev/mcp (self-service
  signup via magic link; read-only demo tools)
- Backend contract: a single POST endpoint (~120 lines to implement), no MCP
  library required in your apps
- Third-party native MCP servers federate via a built-in proxy adapter (beta)
  with a per-user AES-256-GCM token vault
- OAuth scopes double as plan entitlements: tools/list is filtered per caller
- Backends are self-describing: each exposes `<app>_get_help(topic?)`
  (business concepts, workflows, conventions) and agents are instructed to
  prefer it over guessing
- Built-in feedback loop: agents file `report_missing_capability` tickets
  (deduplicated, triaged, optionally backend-owned) when a capability is
  missing — unmet agent needs are logged where the domain lives
- Agent guidance for the repository itself: https://github.com/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway/blob/main/AGENTS.md

## Docs
- [Home](https://cortex-gateway.dev/): positioning and feature overview
- [Composio alternative](https://cortex-gateway.dev/alternatives/composio/): honest hosted-vs-self-hosted comparison
- [Pipedream MCP alternative](https://cortex-gateway.dev/alternatives/pipedream/): access layer vs workflow platform
- [Connect claude.ai](https://cortex-gateway.dev/connect/claude-ai/): Custom Connectors, 30-second setup
- [Connect Claude Desktop](https://cortex-gateway.dev/connect/claude-desktop/): Connectors UI + mcp-remote fallback
- [Connect Claude Code](https://cortex-gateway.dev/connect/claude-code/): claude mcp add + /mcp authenticate
- [Connect OpenClaw](https://cortex-gateway.dev/connect/openclaw/): openclaw mcp add --auth oauth
- [Connect Hermes Agent](https://cortex-gateway.dev/connect/hermes/): two-line mcp_servers YAML
- [Backend contract](https://github.com/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway/blob/main/docs/backend-contract.md)
- [Deployment runbook](https://github.com/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway/blob/main/docs/demo-deployment.md)