gh-aw-mcp-gateway

name	gh-aw-mcp-gateway
description	Expert knowledge in GitHub Agentic Workflows MCP Gateway - Model Context Protocol routing, configuration, Docker integration, security, and production deployment patterns
license	MIT
version	2.0.0
last_updated	"2026-04-02T00:00:00.000Z"
tags	["github-agentic-workflows","mcp","model-context-protocol","mcp-gateway","docker","json-rpc","security"]

🌐 GitHub Agentic Workflows - MCP Gateway Skill

🔴 AI FIRST Quality Principle

Apply the AI FIRST principle: never accept first-pass quality. Minimum 2 iterations. Read all output, improve every section. No shortcuts.

📋 Purpose

Master the MCP Gateway for GitHub Agentic Workflows - the foundational infrastructure component that enables AI agents to access Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers safely and efficiently. This skill provides comprehensive expertise in configuring, deploying, and operating the MCP Gateway for production AI automation.

🎯 Core Concept

What Is the MCP Gateway?

The MCP Gateway is a proxy server that routes Model Context Protocol (MCP) requests from AI agents to backend MCP servers. It provides centralized configuration, Docker container management, and secure access to multiple MCP servers through a unified HTTP API.

Key Principles:

• 🔒 Secure Routing: Proxies MCP requests with authentication and validation
• 🐳 Docker Integration: Launches MCP servers as isolated Docker containers
• 📡 Protocol Translation: Handles stdio ↔ HTTP transport for MCP servers
• 🔌 Multi-Server: Routes to multiple backend MCP servers (GitHub, Serena, custom)
• 📊 Observable: Comprehensive logging and per-server log files
• 🛡️ Containerized: Runs in GitHub Actions with security enforcement

Architecture:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    GitHub Actions Workflow                │
│                                                            │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                    AI Agent                        │  │
│  │  - Reads: MCP tools (GitHub, Serena, etc.)       │  │
│  │  - Calls: tools/list, tools/call                  │  │
│  │  - HTTP requests to MCP Gateway                   │  │
│  └──────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                 │                                         │
│                 ▼ HTTP (JSON-RPC)                        │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │              MCP Gateway (awmg)                   │  │
│  │  - Routes: /mcp/{serverID} (routed mode)        │  │
│  │  - Auth: API key validation (MCP 7.1)           │  │
│  │  - Spawns: Docker containers                     │  │
│  │  - Logs: Per-server + unified logs               │  │
│  └──┬───────────┬────────────────┬──────────────────┘  │
│     │ stdio     │ stdio          │ stdio                │
│     ▼           ▼                ▼                       │
│  ┌─────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌──────────────┐             │
│  │GitHub│   │ Serena  │   │  Custom MCP  │             │
│  │ MCP │   │   MCP   │   │    Server    │             │
│  └─────┘   └─────────┘   └──────────────┘             │
│  (Container)  (Container)    (Container)                │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🏗️ MCP Gateway Core

A gateway for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

This gateway is used with GitHub Agentic Workflows via the sandbox.mcp configuration to provide MCP server access to AI agents running in sandboxed environments.

📖 Full Configuration Specification - Complete reference for all configuration options and validation rules.

Session timeout (gh-aw v0.71.3+)

⚠️ DO NOT SET engine.mcp.session-timeout — MCP Gateway v0.3.1 rejects this field with additionalProperties 'sessionTimeout' not allowed (#29353). The field was added in gh-aw v0.71.3 but is incompatible with the current gateway version. The sandbox.mcp.keepalive-interval setting is also no longer needed — the gateway default keepalive is sufficient for 60-min jobs.

The gateway manages session lifetimes internally. The PR deadline for news workflows is governed by Timer A (job timeout-minutes: 60) and Timer B (Copilot API session ~60 min).

Features

• Configuration Modes: Supports both TOML files and JSON stdin configuration
  • Spec-Compliant Validation: Fail-fast validation with detailed error messages
  • Variable Expansion: Environment variable substitution with ${VAR_NAME} syntax
  • Type Normalization: Automatic conversion of legacy "local" type to "stdio"
• Schema Normalization: Automatic fixing of malformed JSON schemas from backend MCP servers
  • Adds missing properties field to object schemas
  • Prevents downstream validation errors
  • Transparent to both backends and clients
• Routing Modes:
  • Routed: Each backend server accessible at /mcp/{serverID}
  • Unified: Single endpoint /mcp that routes to configured servers
• Docker Support: Launch backend MCP servers as Docker containers
• Stdio Transport: JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdin/stdout for MCP communication
• Container Detection: Automatic detection of containerized environments with security warnings
• Enhanced Debugging: Detailed error context and troubleshooting suggestions for command failures
• Per-ServerID Logs: Separate log files for each backend MCP server ({serverID}.log) for easier troubleshooting

Getting Started

For detailed setup instructions, building from source, and local development, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Quick Start with Docker

1. Pull the Docker image (when available):

   docker pull ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest
   

2. Create a configuration file (config.json):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "github": {
         "type": "stdio",
         "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest",
         "env": {
           "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": ""
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Run the container:

   docker run --rm -i \
     -e MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=8000 \
     -e MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN=localhost \
     -e MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY=your-secret-key \
     -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
     -v /path/to/logs:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs \
     -p 8000:8000 \
     ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json
   

Required flags:

• -i: Enables stdin for passing JSON configuration
• -e MCP_GATEWAY_*: Required environment variables
• -v /var/run/docker.sock: Required for spawning backend MCP servers
• -v /path/to/logs:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs: Mount for persistent gateway logs (or use -e MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR=/custom/path with matching volume mount)
  • mcp-gateway.log: Unified log with all messages
  • {serverID}.log: Per-server logs for easier troubleshooting
  • gateway.md: Markdown-formatted logs for GitHub workflow previews
  • rpc-messages.jsonl: Machine-readable RPC message logs
  • tools.json: Available tools from all backend MCP servers
• -p 8000:8000: Port mapping must match MCP_GATEWAY_PORT

MCPG will start in routed mode on http://0.0.0.0:8000 (using MCP_GATEWAY_PORT), proxying MCP requests to your configured backend servers.

Configuration

MCP Gateway supports two configuration formats:

1. TOML format - Use with --config flag for file-based configuration
2. JSON stdin format - Use with --config-stdin flag for dynamic configuration

TOML Format (config.toml)

TOML configuration uses command and args fields directly for maximum flexibility:

[servers]

[servers.github]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-e", "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"]

[servers.filesystem]
command = "node"
args = ["/path/to/filesystem-server.js"]

Note: In TOML format, you specify the command and args directly. This allows you to use any command (docker, node, python, etc.).

JSON Stdin Format

For the complete JSON configuration specification with all validation rules, see the MCP Gateway Configuration Reference.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest",
      "entrypoint": "/custom/entrypoint.sh",
      "entrypointArgs": ["--verbose"],
      "mounts": [
        "/host/config:/app/config:ro",
        "/host/data:/app/data:rw"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "",
        "EXPANDED_VAR": "${MY_HOME}/config"
      }
    }
  },
  "gateway": {
    "port": 8080,
    "apiKey": 
     
     
     
     
  

Server Configuration Fields

• type (optional): Server transport type

  • "stdio" - Standard input/output transport (default)
  • "http" - HTTP transport (fully supported)
  • "local" - Alias for "stdio" (backward compatibility)

• container (required for stdio in JSON format): Docker container image (e.g., "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest")

  • Automatically wraps as docker run --rm -i <container>
  • Note: The command field is NOT supported in JSON stdin format (stdio servers must use container instead)
  • TOML format uses command and args fields directly

• entrypoint (optional): Custom entrypoint for the container

  • Overrides the default container entrypoint
  • Applied as --entrypoint flag to Docker

• entrypointArgs (optional): Arguments passed to container entrypoint

  • Array of strings passed after the container image

• mounts (optional): Volume mounts for the container

  • Array of strings in format "source:dest:mode"
  • source - Host path to mount (can use environment variables with ${VAR} syntax)
  • dest - Container path where the volume is mounted
  • mode - Either "ro" (read-only) or "rw" (read-write)
  • Example: ["/host/config:/app/config:ro", "/host/data:/app/data:rw"]

• env (optional): Environment variables

  • Set to "" (empty string) for passthrough from host environment
  • Set to "value" for explicit value
  • Use "${VAR_NAME}" for environment variable expansion (fails if undefined)

Validation Rules:

• JSON stdin format:
  • Stdio servers must specify container (required)
  • HTTP servers must specify url (required)
  • The command field is not supported - stdio servers must use container
• TOML format:
  • Uses command and args fields directly (e.g., command = "docker")
• Common rules (both formats):
  • Empty/"local" type automatically normalized to "stdio"
  • Variable expansion with ${VAR_NAME} fails fast on undefined variables
  • All validation errors include JSONPath and helpful suggestions
  • Mount specifications must follow "source:dest:mode" format
    • mode must be either "ro" or "rw"
    • Both source and destination paths are required (cannot be empty)

See Configuration Specification for complete validation rules.

Gateway Configuration Fields (Reserved)

• port (optional): Gateway HTTP port (default: from --listen flag)
  • Valid range: 1-65535
• apiKey (optional): API key for authentication
• domain (optional): Domain name for the gateway
  • Allowed values: "localhost", "host.docker.internal"
• startupTimeout (optional): Seconds to wait for backend startup (default: 60)
  • Must be positive integer
• toolTimeout (optional): Seconds to wait for tool execution (default: 120)
  • Must be positive integer
• payloadDir (optional): Directory for storing large payload files (default: /tmp/jq-payloads)
  • Payloads are organized by session: {payloadDir}/{sessionID}/{queryID}/payload.json

Note: Gateway configuration fields are validated and parsed but not yet fully implemented.

Configuration Alternatives:

• payloadSizeThreshold is not supported in JSON stdin format. Use:
  • CLI flag: --payload-size-threshold <bytes> (default: 10240)
  • Environment variable: MCP_GATEWAY_PAYLOAD_SIZE_THRESHOLD=<bytes>
  • Payloads larger than this threshold are stored to disk and return metadata
  • Payloads smaller than or equal to this threshold are returned inline

Environment Variable Features:

• Passthrough: Set value to empty string ("") to pass through from host
• Expansion: Use ${VAR_NAME} syntax for dynamic substitution (fails if undefined)

Configuration Validation and Error Handling

MCP Gateway provides detailed error messages and validation to help catch configuration issues early:

Parse Errors with Precise Location

When there's a syntax error in your TOML configuration, the gateway reports the exact line and column:

$ awmg --config config.toml
Error: failed to parse TOML at line 2, column 6: expected '.' or '=', but got '3' instead

This helps you quickly identify and fix syntax issues.

Unknown Key Detection (Typo Detection)

The gateway detects and warns about unknown configuration keys, helping catch typos and deprecated options:

[gateway]
prot = 3000              # Typo: should be 'port'
startup_timout = 30      # Typo: should be 'startup_timeout'

When you run the gateway with these typos, you'll see warnings in the log file:

[2026-02-07T17:46:51Z] [WARN] [config] Unknown configuration key 'gateway.prot' - check for typos or deprecated options
[2026-02-07T17:46:51Z] [WARN] [config] Unknown configuration key 'gateway.startup_timout' - check for typos or deprecated options

The gateway will use default values for unrecognized keys, so it will still start, but the warnings help you identify and fix configuration issues.

Memory-Efficient Parsing

The gateway uses streaming parsing for configuration files, making it efficient even with large configuration files containing many servers.

Best Practices

1. Check logs for warnings: After starting the gateway, check the log file for any warnings about unknown keys
2. Use precise error messages: When you see a parse error, the line and column numbers point exactly to the problem
3. Validate configuration: Test your configuration changes by running the gateway and checking for warnings
4. Keep configuration clean: Remove any deprecated or unused configuration options

Usage

MCPG is a proxy server for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
It provides routing, aggregation, and management of multiple MCP backend servers.

Usage:
  awmg [flags]
  awmg [command]

Available Commands:
  completion  Generate completion script
  help        Help about any command

Flags:
  -c, --config string                Path to config file
      --config-stdin                 Read MCP server configuration from stdin (JSON format). When enabled, overrides --config
      --env string                   Path to .env file to load environment variables
  -h, --help                         help for awmg
  -l, --listen string                HTTP server listen address (default "127.0.0.1:3000")
      --log-dir string               Directory for log files (falls back to stdout if directory cannot be created) (default "/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs")
      --payload-dir string           Directory for storing large payload files (segmented by session ID) (default "/tmp/jq-payloads")
      --payload-size-threshold int   Size threshold (in bytes) for storing payloads to disk. Payloads larger than this are stored, smaller ones returned inline (default 10240)
      --routed                       Run in routed mode (each backend at /mcp/<server>)
      --sequential-launch   Launch MCP servers sequentially during startup (parallel launch is default)
      --unified             Run in unified mode (all backends at /mcp)
      --validate-env        Validate execution environment (Docker, env vars) before starting
  -v, --verbose count       Increase verbosity level (use -v for info, -vv for debug, -vvv for trace)
      --version             version for awmg

Use "awmg [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Environment Variables

The following environment variables are used by the MCP Gateway:

Required for Production (Containerized Mode)

When running in a container (run_containerized.sh), these variables must be set:

Variable	Description	Example
MCP_GATEWAY_PORT	The port the gateway listens on (used for --listen address)	8080
MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN	The domain name for the gateway	localhost
MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY	API key for authentication	your-secret-key

Optional (Non-Containerized Mode)

When running locally (run.sh), these variables are optional (warnings shown if missing):

Variable	Description	Default
MCP_GATEWAY_PORT	Gateway listening port	8000
MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN	Gateway domain	localhost
MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY	API authentication key	(disabled)
MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR	Log file directory (sets default for --log-dir flag)	/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs
MCP_GATEWAY_PAYLOAD_DIR	Large payload storage directory (sets default for --payload-dir flag)	/tmp/jq-payloads
MCP_GATEWAY_PAYLOAD_SIZE_THRESHOLD	Size threshold in bytes for payload storage (sets default for --payload-size-threshold flag)	10240
DEBUG	Enable debug logging with pattern matching (e.g., *, server:*,launcher:*)	(disabled)
DEBUG_COLORS	Control colored debug output (0 to disable, auto-disabled when piping)	Auto-detect

Note: The HOST and MODE environment variables are not used by the gateway application. Use the --listen flag to set the bind address (default: 127.0.0.1:3000) and the --routed or --unified flags to set the gateway mode.

Docker Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
DOCKER_HOST	Docker daemon socket path	/var/run/docker.sock
DOCKER_API_VERSION	Docker API version (set by helper scripts, Docker client auto-negotiates)	Set by run.sh based on architecture

Containerized Mode

Running in Docker

For production deployments in Docker containers, use run_containerized.sh which:

1. Validates the container environment before starting
2. Requires all essential environment variables
3. Requires stdin input (-i flag) for JSON configuration
4. Validates Docker socket accessibility
5. Validates port mapping configuration

# Correct way to run the gateway in a container:
docker run -i \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=8080 \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN=localhost \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY=your-key \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /path/to/logs:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Important flags:

• -i: Required for passing configuration via stdin
• -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock: Required for spawning backend MCP servers
• -v /path/to/logs:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs: Optional but recommended for persistent logs (path matches default or MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR)
• -p <host>:<container>: Port mapping must match MCP_GATEWAY_PORT

Validation Checks

The containerized startup script performs these validations:

Check	Description	Action on Failure
Docker Socket	Verifies Docker daemon is accessible	Exit with error
Environment Variables	Checks required env vars are set	Exit with error
Port Mapping	Verifies container port is mapped to host	Exit with error
Stdin Interactive	Ensures -i flag was used	Exit with error
Log Directory Mount	Verifies log directory is mounted to host	Warning (logs won't persist)

Non-Containerized Mode

For local development, use run.sh which:

1. Warns about missing environment variables (but continues)
2. Provides default configuration if no config file specified
3. Auto-detects containerized environments and redirects to run_containerized.sh

# Run locally with defaults:
./run.sh

# Run with custom config:
CONFIG=my-config.toml ./run.sh

# Run with environment variables:
MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=3000 ./run.sh

Logging

MCPG provides comprehensive logging of all gateway operations to help diagnose issues and monitor activity.

Log Files

The gateway creates multiple log files for different purposes:

1. mcp-gateway.log - Unified log with all gateway messages
2. {serverID}.log - Per-server logs (e.g., github.log, slack.log) for easier troubleshooting of specific backend servers
3. gateway.md - Markdown-formatted logs for GitHub workflow previews
4. rpc-messages.jsonl - Machine-readable JSONL format for RPC message analysis
5. tools.json - Available tools from all backend MCP servers (mapping server IDs to their tool names and descriptions)

Log File Location

By default, logs are written to /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/. This location can be configured using either:

1. MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR environment variable - Sets the default log directory
2. --log-dir flag - Overrides the environment variable and default

The precedence order is: --log-dir flag → MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR env var → default (/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs)

Per-ServerID Logs

Each backend MCP server gets its own log file (e.g., github.log, slack.log) in addition to the unified mcp-gateway.log. This makes it much easier to:

• Debug issues with a specific backend server
• View all activity for one server without filtering
• Identify which server is causing problems
• Troubleshoot server-specific configuration issues

Example log directory structure:

/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/
├── mcp-gateway.log    # All messages
├── github.log         # Only GitHub server logs
├── slack.log          # Only Slack server logs
├── notion.log         # Only Notion server logs
├── gateway.md         # Markdown format
├── rpc-messages.jsonl # RPC messages
└── tools.json         # Available tools

Using the environment variable:

export MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR=/var/log/mcp-gateway
./awmg --config config.toml

Using the command-line flag:

./awmg --config config.toml --log-dir /var/log/mcp-gateway

Important for containerized mode: Mount the log directory to persist logs outside the container:

docker run -v /path/on/host:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs ...

If the log directory cannot be created or accessed, MCPG automatically falls back to logging to stdout.

What Gets Logged

MCPG logs all important gateway events including:

• Startup and Shutdown: Gateway initialization, configuration loading, and graceful shutdown
• MCP Client Interactions: Client connection events, request/response details, session management
• Backend Server Interactions: Backend server launches, connection establishment, communication events
• Authentication Events: Successful authentications and authentication failures (missing/invalid tokens)
• Connectivity Errors: Connection failures, timeouts, protocol errors, and command execution issues
• Debug Information: Optional detailed debugging via the DEBUG environment variable

Log Format

Each log entry includes:

• Timestamp (RFC3339 format)
• Log Level (INFO, WARN, ERROR, DEBUG)
• Category (startup, client, backend, auth, shutdown)
• Message with contextual details

Example log entries:

[2026-01-08T23:00:00Z] [INFO] [startup] Starting MCPG with config: config.toml, listen: 127.0.0.1:3000, log-dir: /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs
[2026-01-08T23:00:01Z] [INFO] [backend] Launching MCP backend server: github, command=docker, args=[run --rm -i ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest]
[2026-01-08T23:00:02Z] [INFO] [client] New MCP client connection, remote=127.0.0.1:54321, method=POST, path=/mcp/github, backend=github, session=abc123
[2026-01-08T23:00:03Z] [ERROR] [auth] Authentication failed: invalid API key, remote=127.0.0.1:54322, path=/mcp/github

Debug Logging

For development and troubleshooting, enable debug logging using the DEBUG environment variable:

# Enable all debug logs
DEBUG=* ./awmg --config config.toml

# Enable specific categories
DEBUG=server:*,launcher:* ./awmg --config config.toml

Debug logs are written to stderr and follow the same pattern-matching syntax as the file logger.

API Endpoints

Routed Mode (default)

• POST /mcp/{serverID} - Send JSON-RPC request to specific server
  • Example: POST /mcp/github with body {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/list", "id": 1}

Unified Mode

• POST /mcp - Send JSON-RPC request (routed to first configured server)

Health Check

• GET /health - Returns OK

MCP Methods

Supported JSON-RPC 2.0 methods:

• tools/list - List available tools
• tools/call - Call a tool with parameters
• Any other MCP method (forwarded as-is)

Security Features

Authentication

MCPG implements MCP specification 7.1 for API key authentication.

Authentication Header Format:

• Per MCP spec 7.1: Authorization header MUST contain the API key directly
• Format: Authorization: <api-key> (plain API key, NOT Bearer scheme)
• Example: Authorization: my-secret-api-key-123

Configuration:

• Set via MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY environment variable
• When configured, all endpoints except /health require authentication
• When not configured, authentication is disabled

Implementation:

• The internal/auth package provides centralized authentication logic
• auth.ParseAuthHeader() - Parses Authorization headers per MCP spec 7.1
• auth.ValidateAPIKey() - Validates provided API keys
• Backward compatibility for Bearer tokens is maintained

Example Request:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Authorization: my-api-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/list", "id": 1}'

Enhanced Error Debugging

Command failures now include extensive debugging information:

• Full command, arguments, and environment variables
• Context-specific troubleshooting suggestions:
  • Docker daemon connectivity checks
  • Container image availability
  • Network connectivity issues
  • MCP protocol compatibility checks

Architecture

This Go port focuses on core MCP proxy functionality with optional security features:

Core Features (Enabled)

• ✅ TOML and JSON stdin configuration with spec-compliant validation
• ✅ Environment variable expansion (${VAR_NAME}) with fail-fast behavior
• ✅ Stdio transport for backend servers (containerized execution only)
• ✅ Docker container launching
• ✅ Routed and unified modes
• ✅ Basic request/response proxying
• ✅ Enhanced error debugging and troubleshooting

MCP Server Compatibility

The gateway supports MCP servers via stdio transport using Docker containers. All properly configured MCP servers work through direct stdio connections.

Test Results

Both GitHub MCP and Serena MCP servers pass comprehensive test suites including gateway tests:

Server	Transport	Direct Tests	Gateway Tests	Status
GitHub MCP	Stdio (Docker)	✅ All passed	✅ All passed	Production ready
Serena MCP	Stdio (Docker)	✅ 68/68 passed (100%)	✅ All passed	Production ready

Configuration:

# Both servers use stdio transport via Docker containers
docker run -i ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server          # GitHub MCP
docker run -i ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server     # Serena MCP

Using MCP Servers with the Gateway

Direct Connection (Recommended): Configure MCP servers to connect directly via stdio transport for optimal performance and full feature support:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server:latest"
    },
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"
    }
  }
}

Architecture Considerations:

• The gateway manages backend MCP servers using stdio transport via Docker containers
• Session connection pooling ensures efficient resource usage
• Backend processes are reused across multiple requests per session
• All MCP protocol features are fully supported

Test Coverage

Serena MCP Server Testing:

• ✅ Direct Connection Tests: 68/68 tests passed (100%)
• ✅ Gateway Tests: All tests passed via make test-serena-gateway
• ✅ Multi-language support (Go, Java, JavaScript, Python)
• ✅ File operations, symbol operations, memory management
• ✅ Error handling and protocol compliance
• ✅ See SERENA_TEST_RESULTS.md for detailed results

GitHub MCP Server Testing:

• ✅ Full test suite validation (direct and gateway)
• ✅ Repository operations, issue management, search functionality
• ✅ Production deployment validated

Contributing

For development setup, build instructions, testing guidelines, and project architecture details, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT License

---

📖 References

Official Documentation

• MCP Gateway Configuration Reference - Complete configuration specification
• GitHub Agentic Workflows - Main repository
• Model Context Protocol Specification - MCP protocol spec
• MCP Gateway Repository - Gateway source code

Related Skills

• gh-aw-safe-outputs - Safe outputs pattern for controlled AI writes
• gh-aw-firewall - Network firewall for Agentic Workflows
• github-agentic-workflows - Complete GitHub Agentic Workflows guide

Docker Resources

• Docker Run Reference - Docker command reference
• Docker Socket Security - Docker security best practices

Security

• Agentic Workflows Security Model - Security architecture
• MCP Authentication - MCP 7.1 auth spec

---

🎓 Learning Path

Beginner (Weeks 1-2)

1. Understand MCP protocol basics
2. Configure single backend (GitHub MCP)
3. Test with TOML configuration locally
4. Learn routed vs unified modes
5. Enable basic authentication

Intermediate (Weeks 3-4)

1. Multi-server configuration
2. Docker volume mounts and environment variables
3. Production deployment with JSON stdin
4. Log analysis and troubleshooting
5. GitHub Actions integration

Advanced (Weeks 5-8)

1. Custom MCP server development
2. HTTP backend integration
3. Advanced debugging techniques
4. Performance optimization
5. Security hardening
6. Production monitoring

---

Last Updated: 2026-02-16
Version: 1.0.0
Maintained by: Hack23 AB
License: MIT

---

🔐 Advanced Security Topics

Security Model (GitHub Agentic Workflows)

The MCP Gateway operates as a Layer 1 trusted component in the GitHub Agentic Workflows security model.

Threat Model

GitHub Agentic Workflows considers an adversary that may compromise untrusted user-level components (containers) and cause them to behave arbitrarily within granted privileges. The adversary may attempt to:

• Access or corrupt memory or state of other components
• Communicate over unintended channels
• Abuse legitimate channels to perform unintended actions
• Confuse higher-level control logic by deviating from expected workflows

Assumptions:

• Adversary does NOT compromise hardware or cryptographic primitives
• Side-channel and covert-channel attacks are out of scope

Layer 1: Substrate-Level Trust

Trusted components:

• GitHub Actions runner VM
• Hardware (CPU, MMU)
• Kernel and container runtime
• Network firewall (configures connectivity via iptables)
• MCP Gateway (configures and spawns isolated containers)

Security guarantees:

• Memory isolation between components
• CPU and resource isolation
• Mediation of privileged operations and system calls
• Explicit, kernel-enforced communication boundaries

These guarantees hold even if untrusted user-level components are fully compromised.

Trust violations require:

• Vulnerabilities in firewall or MCP Gateway
• Container runtime exploits
• Kernel, hypervisor, or hardware compromises

If Layer 1 fails, higher-level security guarantees may not hold.

Layer 2: Configuration-Level Trust

Trusted artifacts:

• Action steps
• Network firewall policies
• MCP server configurations
• Toolchains that interpret configurations

Configuration controls:

• Which components are loaded
• How components are connected
• Which communication channels are permitted
• What component privileges are assigned

Authentication tokens:

• Agent API keys
• GitHub access tokens
• Treated as imported capabilities that bound components' external effects
• Distribution controlled declaratively

Security violations arise from:

• Misconfigurations
• Overly permissive specifications
• Limitations of declarative model

This layer defines what components exist and how they communicate, but NOT how they use those channels over time.

Layer 3: Plan-Level Trust

Trusted compiler decomposes workflow into stages.

For each stage, the plan specifies:

1. Which components are active and their permissions
2. Data produced by the stage
3. How that data may be consumed by subsequent stages

Key instantiation: SafeOutputs subsystem

• Agent can interact with read-only MCP servers (e.g., GitHub MCP server)
• Externalized writes (creating PRs) are buffered as artifacts by SafeOutputs
• When agent finishes, buffered artifacts processed by deterministic filters
• Checks include: structural constraints, policy enforcement, automated sanitization
• Filtered artifacts passed to subsequent stage for externalization

Security violations at planning layer:

• Incorrect plan construction
• Incomplete or overly permissive stage definitions
• Errors in enforcement of plan transitions

This layer limits blast radius of compromised component to:

• The stage in which it is active
• Its influence on artifacts passed to next stage

---

🧪 MCP Server Compatibility

Verified MCP Servers

The MCP Gateway supports MCP servers via stdio transport using Docker containers. All properly configured MCP servers work with the gateway.

GitHub MCP Server

Transport: Stdio (Docker)
Status: ✅ Production ready
Direct Tests: ✅ All passed
Gateway Tests: ✅ All passed

Configuration (JSON):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest",
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": ""
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration (TOML):

[servers.github]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"]

Serena MCP Server

Transport: Stdio (Docker)
Status: ✅ Production ready
Direct Tests: ✅ 68/68 passed (100%)
Gateway Tests: ✅ All passed

Configuration (JSON):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server:latest",
      "env": {
        "SERENA_CONFIG": "/path/to/config"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration (TOML):

[servers.serena]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server:latest"]

Backend Connection Management

Architecture:

• Gateway launches MCP servers as Docker containers
• Each session maintains a persistent connection pool
• Backend processes are reused across multiple requests
• Stdio pipes remain open for the lifetime of the session

Example Flow:

Client Request 1 (session abc):
  → Gateway launches: docker run -i github-mcp-server
  → Stores connection in pool["github"]["abc"]
  → Sends initialize via stdio
  → Returns response

Client Request 2 (session abc):
  → Gateway retrieves existing connection from pool
  → SAME Docker process, SAME stdio connection
  → Sends tools/list via same connection
  → Returns response

Test Results

GitHub MCP Server:

• ✅ Full test suite validation (direct and gateway)
• ✅ Repository operations tested
• ✅ Issue management validated
• ✅ Production deployment confirmed

Serena MCP Server:

• ✅ Direct Connection: 68 comprehensive tests (100% pass rate)
• ✅ Gateway Connection: All integration tests passed
• ✅ Multi-language support (Go, Java, JavaScript, Python)
• ✅ All 29 tools tested and validated
• ✅ File operations, symbol operations, memory management

Key capabilities tested:

• File operations (list, read, write)
• Symbol operations (find, analyze)
• Memory management
• Error handling
• Protocol compliance

---

📡 HTTP Backend Support

HTTP Transport

The MCP Gateway supports HTTP backend servers in addition to stdio backends.

Transport types:

• stdio - Standard input/output via Docker containers (default)
• http - HTTP endpoints (external MCP servers)

Session ID Handling for HTTP Backends

Overview

HTTP MCP servers may require the Mcp-Session-Id header to be present in all requests, including initialization requests like tools/list.

Problem: When the gateway initializes, it calls tools/list on each backend to discover tools. For HTTP backends, these initialization calls were made without a session ID, causing servers that require the header to reject the request.

Solution: The gateway now creates a context with a session ID for all HTTP backend calls:

• During initialization: gateway-init-{serverID}
• During client requests: Session ID from client's Authorization header

Session ID Flow

Initialization Flow:

1. Gateway starts up
2. NewUnified creates the unified server
3. registerAllTools is called
4. For each backend, registerToolsFromBackend is called
5. Context is created with session ID: gateway-init-{serverID}
6. SendRequestWithServerID(ctx, "tools/list", ...) is called
7. For HTTP backends, sendHTTPRequest adds Mcp-Session-Id header
8. HTTP backend receives request with header and responds successfully

Client Request Flow (Routed Mode):

1. Client sends request to /mcp/{serverID} with Authorization header
2. Gateway extracts session ID from Authorization header
3. Session ID is stored in request context
4. Tool handler is called with context containing session ID
5. SendRequestWithServerID(ctx, "tools/call", ...) is called
6. For HTTP backends, sendHTTPRequest adds Mcp-Session-Id header with client's session ID
7. HTTP backend receives request with client's session ID

Configuration

No configuration changes required. The fix works automatically for all HTTP backends:

TOML:

[servers.my-http-backend]
type = "http"
url = "https://example.com/mcp"

JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-http-backend": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://example.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Backward Compatibility

This change is fully backward compatible:

• For HTTP backends that don't require the header: They will simply ignore it
• For HTTP backends that require the header: They now work correctly
• For stdio backends: No change in behavior (they don't use HTTP headers)

Debugging

Enable debug logging to see session ID handling:

DEBUG=mcp:* ./awmg --config config.toml

Log messages:

[mcp:connection] Added Mcp-Session-Id header: gateway-init-safeinputs

---

📚 Comprehensive Examples

Example 1: Single Backend (GitHub MCP)

Scenario: Local development with GitHub MCP server

TOML Configuration:

[servers.github]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"]

[gateway]
port = 8000
domain = "localhost"
startupTimeout = 30
toolTimeout = 60

Run locally:

export GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=ghp_your_token
awmg --config config.toml --listen 127.0.0.1:8000

Test tools/list:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/list", "id": 1}'

Expected response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "tools": [
      {
        "name": "search_code",
        "description": "Search for code across GitHub repositories",
        "inputSchema": { ... }
      },
      {
        "name": "get_file_contents",
        "description": "Get contents of a file from a GitHub repository",
        "inputSchema": { ... }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Example 2: Production Deployment (Multi-Server)

Scenario: Production deployment with GitHub and Serena MCP servers in Docker

JSON Configuration (config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest",
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": ""
      }
    },
    "serena": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server:latest",
      "mounts": [
        "${HOME}/workspace:/workspace:rw",
        "${HOME}/.serena:/root/.serena:ro"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SERENA_CONFIG": "${HOME}/.serena/config.json",
        "DEBUG": "false"
      }
    }
  
   
     
     
     
     
     
     
  

Docker Run:

docker run --rm -i \
  --name mcp-gateway \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=8000 \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN=localhost \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY=your-production-api-key \
  -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=$GITHUB_TOKEN \
  -e HOME=/root \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /var/log/mcp-gateway:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs \
  -v /var/lib/mcp-payloads:/var/lib/mcp-payloads \
  -v $HOME/workspace:/root/workspace \
  -v $HOME/.serena:/root/.serena:ro \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Test multiple backends:

# GitHub backend
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Authorization: your-production-api-key" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}'

# Serena backend
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/serena \
  -H "Authorization: your-production-api-key" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"list_files","arguments":{"path":"/workspace"}},"id":2}'

Example 3: GitHub Actions Workflow

Scenario: AI agent with MCP Gateway in GitHub Actions

Workflow (.github/workflows/ai-agent.yml):

name: AI Agent with MCP Gateway

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      task:
        description: 'Task for AI agent'
        required: true
        default: 'Analyze codebase and suggest improvements'

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  issues: write

jobs:
  run-agent:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Create MCP Gateway configuration
        run: |
          cat > mcp-config.json <<EOF
          {
            "mcpServers": {
              "github": {
                "type": "stdio",
                "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest",
                "env": {
                  "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": ""
                }
              },
              "serena": {
                "type": "stdio",
                "container": "ghcr.io/github/serena-mcp-server:latest",
                "mounts": [
                  "${{ github.workspace }}:/workspace:rw"
                ],
                "env": {
                  "WORKSPACE": "/workspace"
                }
              }
            },
            "gateway": {
              "port": 8000,
              "apiKey": "${{ secrets.MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY }}",
              "domain": "localhost",
              "startupTimeout": 60,
              "toolTimeout": 120
            }
          }
          EOF
      
          
               
             
               
          
                   
           
              
              
              
                
      
          
        
           
             
             
               
          
         
               
           
         
         
        
           
           
           
      
          
         
         

Example 4: Custom MCP Server

Scenario: Custom MCP server with custom entrypoint and environment

JSON Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "custom": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "container": "myorg/custom-mcp-server:v1.2.3",
      "entrypoint": "/app/custom-entrypoint.sh",
      "entrypointArgs": ["--verbose", "--log-level=debug"],
      "mounts": [
        "${HOME}/custom-config:/app/config:ro",
        "${HOME}/custom-data:/app/data:rw",
        "/tmp/custom-cache:/app/cache:rw"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "",
        "API_URL": "https://api.example.com",
        "CONFIG_PATH": "/app/config/settings.yaml",
        "DATA_DIR": 
         
         
         
      
    
  
   
     
     
  

Docker command (auto-generated by gateway):

docker run --rm -i \
  --entrypoint /app/custom-entrypoint.sh \
  -v /home/user/custom-config:/app/config:ro \
  -v /home/user/custom-data:/app/data:rw \
  -v /tmp/custom-cache:/app/cache:rw \
  -e API_KEY \
  -e API_URL=https://api.example.com \
  -e CONFIG_PATH=/app/config/settings.yaml \
  -e DATA_DIR=/app/data \
  -e CACHE_DIR=/app/cache \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=debug \
  -e FEATURE_FLAG_X=true \
  myorg/custom-mcp-server:v1.2.3 \
  --verbose --log-level=debug

Example 5: HTTP Backend

Scenario: Remote MCP server over HTTP

JSON Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.example.com/api/v1"
    }
  },
  "gateway": {
    "port": 8000,
    "apiKey": "gateway-api-key"
  }
}

Session ID behavior:

• Gateway adds Mcp-Session-Id header automatically
• Initialization: gateway-init-remote-mcp
• Client requests: Session ID from Authorization header

Test:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/remote-mcp \
  -H "Authorization: gateway-api-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}'

Example 6: Unified Mode (Simple)

Scenario: Single backend in unified mode for testing

TOML Configuration:

[servers.github]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"]

Run in unified mode:

export GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=ghp_token
awmg --config config.toml --unified --listen 127.0.0.1:8000

Test (single endpoint):

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}'

---

🛠️ Troubleshooting Guide

Issue: Gateway Fails to Start

Symptom:

Error: failed to parse configuration

Possible causes:

1. Invalid TOML syntax
2. Invalid JSON in stdin
3. Missing required fields
4. Invalid field values

Solutions:

Check TOML syntax:

# Look for line/column in error message
Error: failed to parse TOML at line 5, column 10

Validate JSON:

cat config.json | jq .
# Should output formatted JSON or show syntax error

Enable validation:

awmg --config config.toml --validate-env

Check unknown keys:

# Look for warnings in logs
grep "Unknown configuration key" /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

Issue: Backend Container Won't Start

Symptom:

Error: Backend server 'github' failed to start
timeout: startup took longer than 60s

Possible causes:

1. Docker image doesn't exist
2. Docker socket not accessible
3. Missing environment variables
4. Network issues pulling image
5. Container crashes on startup

Solutions:

Pull image manually:

docker pull ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest

Check Docker socket:

docker ps
# Should list running containers

Check backend log:

cat /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/github.log
# Look for error messages

Test container directly:

docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest
# Try sending: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}

Check environment variables:

# Ensure all required vars are set
echo $GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN

Increase startup timeout:

{
  "gateway": {
    "startupTimeout": 120
  }
}

Issue: Authentication Failures

Symptom:

401 Unauthorized: Invalid API key

Possible causes:

1. API key not configured
2. Wrong Authorization header format
3. Typo in API key
4. API key not matching

Solutions:

Check API key is set:

echo $MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY
# Should output your API key

Verify Authorization header format (NOT Bearer):

# Correct:
curl -H "Authorization: my-api-key" ...

# Wrong:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer my-api-key" ...

Check gateway logs:

grep "auth" /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

Test with correct format:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Authorization: $(echo $MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}'

Issue: Tools Not Discovered

Symptom:

Error: No tools available from backend 'github'

Possible causes:

1. Backend didn't start successfully
2. Backend doesn't respond to tools/list
3. Invalid tools/list response
4. Network/connection issues

Solutions:

Check tools registry:

cat /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/tools.json
# Should show tools from all backends

Check backend logs:

cat /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/github.log | grep "tools/list"

Test tools/list directly:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}' | jq .

Enable debug logging:

DEBUG=* awmg --config config.toml

Check for schema errors:

# Gateway auto-fixes malformed schemas
grep "Normalized schema" /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

Issue: Volume Mount Errors

Symptom:

Error: Invalid mount specification
Expected format: "source:dest:mode"

Possible causes:

1. Missing mode (ro/rw)
2. Empty source or dest
3. Typo in mount specification
4. Path doesn't exist

Solutions:

Check mount format:

{
  "mounts": [
    "/host/config:/app/config:ro",
    "/host/data:/app/data:rw"
  ]
}

Verify paths exist:

ls -la /host/config
ls -la /host/data

Use environment variable expansion:

{
  "mounts": [
    "${HOME}/.config:/app/config:ro"
  ]
}

Check error message for JSONPath:

Location: mcpServers.github.mounts[0]

Issue: Environment Variable Expansion Fails

Symptom:

Error: Environment variable expansion failed
Variable: HOME
Reason: Environment variable is not defined

Possible causes:

1. Variable not set before running
2. Typo in variable name
3. Variable not exported

Solutions:

Set variable:

export HOME=/root

Check variable is set:

echo $HOME
# Should output value

Use explicit values instead:

{
  "env": {
    "CONFIG_PATH": "/app/config"
  }
}

Check all referenced variables:

grep '\${' config.json
# Shows all variables that need to be defined

Issue: Port Mapping Problems

Symptom:

Error: Port mapping does not match MCP_GATEWAY_PORT
Expected: 8000, Actual: 3000

Possible causes:

1. -p flag doesn't match MCP_GATEWAY_PORT
2. Wrong port in configuration
3. Port already in use

Solutions:

Match -p to MCP_GATEWAY_PORT:

docker run -i \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=8000 \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Check port availability:

netstat -tuln | grep 8000
# Should show no output if port is free

Use different port:

docker run -i \
  -e MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=9000 \
  -p 9000:9000 \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Issue: Logs Not Persisting

Symptom: Logs disappear when container stops

Possible causes:

1. Log directory not mounted to host
2. Wrong mount path
3. Permission issues

Solutions:

Mount log directory:

docker run -i \
  -v /var/log/mcp-gateway:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Check mount is correct:

docker inspect mcp-gateway | jq '.[0].Mounts'

Verify logs after container stops:

ls -la /var/log/mcp-gateway/
# Should show log files

Check permissions:

# Ensure user can write to log directory
chmod 777 /var/log/mcp-gateway

Issue: Docker Socket Permission Denied

Symptom:

Error: Cannot connect to Docker daemon
Permission denied while trying to connect to Docker socket

Possible causes:

1. Docker socket not mounted
2. Gateway user doesn't have Docker permissions
3. Docker daemon not running

Solutions:

Mount Docker socket:

docker run -i \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

Check Docker is running:

docker ps

Test Docker access:

docker run hello-world

Issue: Slow Tool Execution

Symptom:

Error: Tool execution timeout (exceeded 120s)

Possible causes:

1. Tool is computationally expensive
2. Network latency (HTTP backends)
3. Backend server overloaded
4. Default timeout too low

Solutions:

Increase tool timeout:

{
  "gateway": {
    "toolTimeout": 300
  }
}

Check backend performance:

# Look for slow tool calls in logs
jq 'select(.duration > 5000)' /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/rpc-messages.jsonl

Monitor backend resources:

docker stats mcp-gateway

Enable debug logging:

DEBUG=mcp:* awmg --config config.toml

---

🎯 Best Practices & Patterns

Configuration Management

✅ DO:

1. Use environment-specific configs

# Development
awmg --config config.dev.toml

# Production
docker run -i ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.prod.json

2. Validate before deploying

# Check configuration syntax
awmg --config config.toml --validate-env

# Test in dry-run mode
DEBUG=* awmg --config config.toml

3. Use environment variables for secrets

{
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "",
    "SECRET_TOKEN": ""
  }
}

4. Document your configuration

# GitHub MCP server for repository access
[servers.github]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:latest"]

# Startup timeout increased for slow networks
[gateway]
startupTimeout = 90

5. Version control non-sensitive configs

git add config.toml.template
git add .env.example
# Never commit actual secrets!

❌ DON'T:

1. Hardcode secrets

{
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "ghp_actual_secret_key"  // ❌ DON'T DO THIS
  }
}

2. Use overly permissive mounts

{
  "mounts": [
    "/:/host:rw"  // ❌ Mounts entire filesystem read-write
  ]
}

3. Ignore configuration warnings

[WARN] Unknown configuration key 'gateway.prot'
// ❌ Fix typos immediately

4. Skip validation

# ❌ Don't skip this step
awmg --config config.toml  # without --validate-env

Security Hardening

✅ DO:

1. Always use API keys in production

export MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)

2. Rotate API keys regularly

# Monthly rotation
./rotate-api-keys.sh

3. Use read-only mounts for configs

{
  "mounts": [
    "/host/config:/app/config:ro"
  ]
}

4. Limit backend permissions

{
  "env": {
    "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": ""
  }
  // Use token with minimal required scopes
}

5. Monitor authentication failures

# Alert on failed auth attempts
grep "Authentication failed" /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log | \
  tail -n 10 | \
  mail -s "MCP Gateway Auth Failures" [e-mail]

6. Use specific image tags

{
  "container": "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:v1.2.3"
}

❌ DON'T:

1. Disable authentication

# ❌ Don't run without API key in production
unset MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY

2. Share API keys across environments

# ❌ Use different keys
export DEV_API_KEY=dev-key
export PROD_API_KEY=prod-key

3. Use :latest tags

{
  "container": "myserver:latest"  // ❌ Not reproducible
}

4. Grant unnecessary permissions

# ❌ Don't run privileged
docker run --privileged ...

Logging & Monitoring

✅ DO:

1. Mount logs to persistent storage

docker run -i \
  -v /var/log/mcp-gateway:/tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

2. Use per-server logs for debugging

# Debug specific backend
tail -f /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/github.log

3. Monitor log file sizes

# Rotate logs when > 100MB
find /var/log/mcp-gateway -name "*.log" -size +100M

4. Enable debug logging for troubleshooting

DEBUG=mcp:*,server:* awmg --config config.toml

5. Analyze RPC messages

# Find slow tools
jq 'select(.duration > 5000)' /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/rpc-messages.jsonl

# Count by method
jq -r .method /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/rpc-messages.jsonl | sort | uniq -c

6. Monitor health endpoint

# Kubernetes liveness probe
livenessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /health
    port: 8000
  periodSeconds: 10

❌ DON'T:

1. Ignore log warnings

# ❌ Always investigate warnings
grep WARN /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

2. Let logs grow unbounded

# ❌ Implement log rotation
logrotate /etc/logrotate.d/mcp-gateway

3. Store logs in container

# ❌ Logs lost when container stops
docker run ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest

Performance Optimization

✅ DO:

1. Use parallel backend launch (default)

# Backends start simultaneously
awmg --config config.toml

2. Tune timeouts for your workload

{
  "gateway": {
    "startupTimeout": 30,  // Fast backends
    "toolTimeout": 300      // Slow AI tools
  }
}

3. Monitor backend startup times

grep "Launching MCP backend" /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

4. Use payload threshold wisely

# Store large payloads to disk
export MCP_GATEWAY_PAYLOAD_SIZE_THRESHOLD=10240

5. Reuse session connections

# Connection pooling happens automatically
# Same session = same backend process

❌ DON'T:

1. Use sequential launch unnecessarily

# ❌ Slower startup
awmg --config config.toml --sequential-launch

2. Set timeouts too low

{
  "gateway": {
    "toolTimeout": 5  // ❌ Too aggressive
  }
}

Docker Best Practices

✅ DO:

1. Clean up containers automatically

docker run --rm -i ...  // Always use --rm

2. Limit container resources

docker run -i \
  --memory=2g \
  --cpus=2.0 \
  ghcr.io/github/gh-aw-mcpg:latest < config.json

3. Use health checks

HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1

4. Monitor Docker socket usage

# Check Docker API calls
docker events --filter type=container

5. Use multi-stage builds

# Build stage
FROM golang:1.21 AS builder
...

# Runtime stage
FROM gcr.io/distroless/base-debian12
COPY --from=builder /app/awmg /awmg

❌ DON'T:

1. Leave containers running indefinitely

# ❌ Stop containers when done
docker stop mcp-gateway

2. Ignore container logs

# ❌ Check for errors
docker logs mcp-gateway

3. Run as root unnecessarily

# ✅ Use non-root user
USER nobody

---

💡 Tips & Tricks

Quick Commands

Start gateway with defaults:

awmg --config config.toml

Test configuration:

awmg --config config.toml --validate-env

Debug mode:

DEBUG=* awmg --config config.toml -vvv

Health check:

curl http://localhost:8000/health

View available tools:

cat /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/tools.json | jq .

Watch logs in real-time:

tail -f /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log

Useful Aliases

alias awmg-dev='awmg --config config.dev.toml --listen 127.0.0.1:8000'
alias awmg-logs='tail -f /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/mcp-gateway.log'
alias awmg-health='curl http://localhost:8000/health'
alias awmg-tools='cat /tmp/gh-aw/mcp-logs/tools.json | jq .'

Environment Setup

.env file:

MCP_GATEWAY_PORT=8000
MCP_GATEWAY_DOMAIN=localhost
MCP_GATEWAY_API_KEY=your-dev-api-key
MCP_GATEWAY_LOG_DIR=/var/log/mcp-gateway
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=ghp_your_token
DEBUG=mcp:*,server:*

Load environment:

source .env
awmg --config config.toml

Quick Testing

Test tools/list:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}' | jq .

Test tools/call:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "method":"tools/call",
    "params":{
      "name":"search_code",
      "arguments":{"query":"repo:github/gh-aw MCP"}
    },
    "id":2
  }' | jq .

Production Checklist

• API key configured and rotated
• Log directory mounted to host
• Docker socket accessible
• Health endpoint responding
• All backends starting successfully
• Tools discovered from all backends
• Authentication working
• Per-server logs available
• Resource limits set
• Monitoring configured

---

🔗 Integration with Riksdagsmonitor agentic workflows

This gh-aw skill is applied by the 11 agentic news workflows in .github/workflows/news-*.md. Their domain contract (analysis-artifact product, gate, article contract) lives in:

• .github/prompts/README.md — module catalogue, import rules, AI-FIRST 2-pass rule.
• analysis/methodologies/ai-driven-analysis-guide.md + analysis/templates/ — 9 core / 14 Tier-C artifacts.
• 05-analysis-gate.md — the single blocking gate before any article content is written.

Upstream gh-aw docs (v0.69.3): abridged · complete · agentic-workflows blog series · source repo · GitHub CLI manual.