Microsoft MCP Gateway — Install & Live Demo

Name: Microsoft MCP Gateway MCP Server
Author: microsoft

Why use it

Key features

Session-affinity routing for stateful MCP servers
Per-tenant isolation and quota
Centralized OAuth/OIDC at the gateway edge
Health probes + auto-restart of backend servers
Helm chart for Kubernetes deployment

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

microsoft-mcp-gateway.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "microsoft-mcp-gateway": {
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "microsoft-mcp-gateway": {
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "microsoft-mcp-gateway": {
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "microsoft-mcp-gateway": {
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "microsoft-mcp-gateway",
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "microsoft-mcp-gateway": {
      "command": {
        "path": "mcp-gateway",
        "args": [
          "serve"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add microsoft-mcp-gateway -- mcp-gateway serve

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use Microsoft MCP Gateway

Stand up an internal MCP catalog with one auth boundary

👤 Platform engineering teams ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

When to use: You have 10+ MCP servers and need centralized auth, quotas, and observability.

Prerequisites

Server/skill installed and authenticated — See repo README

Flow

Deploy the gateway

Generate Helm values for mcp-gateway with our Entra OIDC issuer and three backend MCPs: github, jira, snowflake.✓ Copied

→ values.yaml + helm command
Register

Register each backend and assign it to the 'engineering' tenant with a 1000 req/hr quota.✓ Copied

→ Three backend ids + quota set

Outcome: One URL, one OIDC, many MCPs — properly governed.

Pitfalls

Session affinity is critical for stateful servers. If you switch to a stateless backend, also disable affinity to avoid hotspots. — Session affinity is critical for stateful servers. If you switch to a stateless backend, also disable affinity to avoid hotspots.

Combine with: containers/kubernetes-mcp-server

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

microsoft-mcp-gateway + containers/kubernetes-mcp-server

Pair with containers/kubernetes-mcp-server for complementary capabilities

Use this server together with containers/kubernetes-mcp-server to complete a multi-step task.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
list_backends	(none)	See registered MCP servers	1 API call
register_backend	name, image, env	Add a new MCP server behind the gateway	K8s scheduling
tenant_quota	tenant_id	Inspect or adjust per-tenant limits	1 API call

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: See provider docs for rate limits
Tokens per call: Varies by tool
Monetary: See repo README for pricing details
Tip: Cache tool results and avoid repeated identical calls.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: Use environment variables; never commit secrets

Data egress: Tool calls go to the provider's API as documented

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

backend unhealthy

Gateway probes GET /healthz. Make sure your MCP server implements it or update healthCheck.path.

Verify: kubectl get pods -n mcp

OIDC validation fails

Issuer URL must match the token's iss claim exactly, including trailing slash. Recheck Entra app config.

Verify: Decode token at jwt.ms

Alternatives

Microsoft MCP Gateway vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
agentic-community/mcp-gateway-registry	You prefer the community OSS option	Less Azure-native

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills