- CollectionTool Access & Integration
- Classificationagent-native
- LicenseApache-2.0
- MCPAvailable
- Agent SkillUnavailable
- InterfacesMCP · REST · GRPC · websocket · CLI · A2A · json rpc · STDIO · http · API
- Verified2026-10-13
What it does
ContextForge (IBM mcp-context-forge) sits in front of MCP servers, A2A agents, and REST/gRPC APIs and exposes one governed endpoint. Official docs split the product into a Tools Gateway (MCP, REST, gRPC-to-MCP, TOON compression), an Agent Gateway (A2A plus OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic agent routing), an API Gateway (rate limits, auth, retries), a plugin layer, and OpenTelemetry observability.
It can wrap non-MCP services as virtual MCP servers, federate multiple backends, and route across gateways with UAID identifiers. Cross-gateway UAID routing is fail-closed: empty UAID_ALLOWED_DOMAINS blocks it; production needs a domain allowlist, shared JWT trust, AUTH_REQUIRED=true, and UAID_FORWARD_AUTH=true.
Closest catalog peers are ToolHive, the hosted MCP Gateway (mcpgateway.md), and Obot. ContextForge is distinct because it federates MCP + A2A + REST/gRPC on one registry/proxy with UAID cross-gateway routing.
Agent-facing interfaces
- Interaction pattern: CLI + MCP gateway
- Catalog protocols: MCP, REST, GRPC, websocket, CLI, A2A, json rpc, STDIO, http, API
- MCP: ✅ Available — the gateway is a compliant MCP server.
- Agent Skill: ⚠️ No official npx skills add package published yet.
- Onboarding type:
mcp
How agents onboard
Interaction pattern: CLI + MCP gateway
# Generate secrets, then start the gateway (official README TLDR)
python3 -m mcpgateway.scripts.init_secrets
export JWT_SECRET_KEY="$(grep '^JWT_SECRET_KEY=' .env.secrets | cut -d= -f2)"
export AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET="$(grep '^AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET=' .env.secrets | cut -d= -f2)"
JWT_SECRET_KEY="$JWT_SECRET_KEY" \
AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET="$AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET" \
MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED=true \
MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true \
PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
uvx --from mcp-contextforge-gateway mcpgateway --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444
See the full onboarding section in the dossier.
Protocol surface
| Interface | Detail |
|---|---|
| CLI | uvx --from mcp-contextforge-gateway mcpgateway --host 0.0.0.0 --port 4444 |
| Docker | docker pull ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge:latest |
| MCP | HTTP, JSON-RPC, WebSocket, SSE, stdio, streamable-HTTP |
| A2A | Agent Gateway routing |
| REST / gRPC | Native REST plus gRPC-to-MCP virtualization |
| Admin API / UI | Optional; MCPGATEWAY_ADMIN_API_ENABLED / MCPGATEWAY_UI_ENABLED |
Verification
Last verified 2026-10-13.
Sources:
- https://api.github.com/repos/IBM/mcp-context-forge