Why Open MCP Gateway?

As AI applications increasingly rely on MCP servers for tool access and data integration, the need for robust infrastructure becomes critical. Open MCP Gateway addresses real-world challenges that teams face when scaling MCP deployments.

The Challenges You Face

1. Connection Management Complexity

Without a Gateway: Every AI client must:

• Know how to connect to each MCP server
• Handle different connection protocols
• Manage connection pooling and retries
• Deal with server discovery

With Open MCP Gateway:

• Single endpoint for all MCP servers
• Gateway handles connection management
• Automatic retries and health checks
• Centralized server discovery via catalog

2. Resource Inefficiency

Without a Gateway:

• MCP servers run continuously, consuming resources
• No automatic cleanup of idle servers
• Manual process management required
• Each developer manages their own server instances

With Open MCP Gateway:

• Servers start on-demand when first request arrives
• Automatic shutdown after configurable idle period (default: 5 minutes)
• Centralized lifecycle management
• Shared server instances across clients

3. Configuration Fragmentation

Without a Gateway:

• Each client has its own server configuration
• Changes require updating multiple places
• No single source of truth
• Version drift between environments

With Open MCP Gateway:

• Single YAML catalog defines all servers
• Hot reload without restarts
• Git-friendly configuration
• Consistent across all clients

4. Platform Lock-in

Existing Solutions:

• Docker-only gateways (Docker MCP Gateway)
• Vendor-specific orchestration (IBM ContextForge)
• No unified multi-runtime solution

Open MCP Gateway:

• Vendor-neutral runtime abstraction
• Local processes for development
• Remote HTTP for cloud services
• Docker and Kubernetes for production
• Same configuration works everywhere

Unique Selling Points

🦀 Rust-Native Performance

Built entirely in Rust, Open MCP Gateway delivers:

Metric	Benefit
Memory Safety	No garbage collection pauses, no null pointer crashes
Low Overhead	~5MB base memory footprint
High Concurrency	Tokio async runtime handles thousands of connections
Fast Startup	Cold start in milliseconds
Small Image	Docker image under 50MB

🔄 True Hot Reload

Unlike solutions that require restart for config changes:

# Edit your catalog
vim catalog.yaml

# Gateway detects changes automatically
# New servers available immediately
# Existing connections unaffected

The file watcher uses debounced reloads (500ms) to handle rapid saves, and atomic registry swaps ensure zero-downtime updates.

🎯 Auto-Managed Lifecycle

The gateway manages the complete server lifecycle:

Request arrives → Server not running?
                        ↓
              Start server automatically
                        ↓
              Process request
                        ↓
              Track last activity
                        ↓
              Idle timeout reached?
                        ↓
              Graceful shutdown

This means:

• Zero manual intervention for routine operations
• Automatic resource recovery from idle servers
• Self-healing when servers crash
• Metrics and status for every server

🌐 Dual Transport Architecture

Serve both web and desktop clients from the same gateway:

HTTP/SSE Transport (gateway-http):

# Modern REST API
POST /mcp {"server_id": "postgres", "method": "tools/call", ...}

# Server management
GET /servers
POST /servers/postgres/start

Stdio Transport (gateway-stdio):

// Claude Desktop config
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gateway": {
      "command": "gateway-stdio",
      "args": ["--server", "postgres"]
    }
  }
}

🔌 Universal Runtime Support

One gateway, any deployment model:

Runtime	Use Case	Status
Local Process	Development, testing	✅ Available
Remote SSE	Cloud MCP services	✅ Available
Docker	Containerized deployment	🚧 v0.2
Kubernetes Job	Ephemeral workloads	🚧 v0.3
Kubernetes Service	Long-running servers	🚧 v0.3

Comparison with Alternatives

vs. Direct MCP Connections

Aspect	Direct	With Gateway
Setup complexity	Each client configured separately	Single catalog, multiple clients
Resource usage	All servers always running	On-demand lifecycle
Configuration changes	Update every client	Update one file, hot reload
Monitoring	DIY per server	Centralized stats endpoint

vs. Docker MCP Gateway

Aspect	Docker Gateway	Open MCP Gateway
Runtime support	Docker only	Process, HTTP, Docker, K8s
Language	Varies	Rust (memory safe, fast)
Stdio support	Limited	First-class
Hot reload	No	Yes

vs. IBM ContextForge

Aspect	ContextForge	Open MCP Gateway
Target	Enterprise IBM ecosystem	Any environment
Complexity	Full platform	Minimal core
Open source	No	Apache-2.0
Self-hosted	Limited	Full control

When to Use Open MCP Gateway

Ideal For:

✅ Development teams managing multiple MCP servers ✅ Production deployments requiring lifecycle automation ✅ Mixed environments (local + cloud + containers) ✅ Claude Desktop/Cline users wanting centralized config ✅ Kubernetes deployments (with v0.3 runtimes) ✅ Resource-conscious environments needing idle cleanup

May Not Need If:

• Single MCP server with one client
• Already using a platform with built-in MCP orchestration
• Need multi-tenant isolation immediately (coming in v0.3)

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Development Team

"We have 5 developers, each running 3 MCP servers locally. Configuration was scattered across everyone's machines."

Solution: Central gateway with shared catalog in Git. Each developer points Claude Desktop to the gateway. Configuration changes go through PR review.

Scenario 2: Production API

"Our AI service needs to access 10 different MCP tools, but we can't afford to run all servers 24/7."

Solution: Gateway with 5-minute idle timeout. Servers spin up on first request, shut down when idle. 80% reduction in compute costs.

Scenario 3: Multi-Cloud Deployment

"Some MCP servers run locally, some in our cloud, some are SaaS endpoints."

Solution: Mixed runtime catalog:

servers:
  - id: local-db
    runtime:
      type: local-process
      command: db-mcp
  - id: cloud-api
    runtime:
      type: remote-sse
      url: https://mcp.internal.company.com/api
  - id: saas-tool
    runtime:
      type: remote-sse
      url: https://mcp.vendor.com/tool

Getting Started

Ready to simplify your MCP infrastructure?

1. Install the Gateway
2. Create your catalog
3. Connect your clients

Join the community on GitHub and help shape the future of MCP orchestration.