Self-hosted federated MCP gateway: one OAuth 2.1 MCP server in front of N apps, user-level scopes.
To add cortex-gateway to Claude, run the install command below. Restart Claude Code after adding it and its tools show up in your next conversation. It needs 4 environment variables, listed below.
Install
docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/wellknownmcp/cortex-gateway:v0.2.0Environment variables
CORTEX_CANONICAL_URISet in your MCP configOAUTH_ISSUERSet in your MCP configCORTEX_BACKENDSSet in your MCP configCORTEX_TECHNICAL_TOKENSet in your MCP configWhat this does
cortex-gateway exposes a set of tools to Claude over the Model Context Protocol. After you add it to claude_desktop_config.json (snippet above) and restart Claude Desktop, those tools become callable inside any conversation.
Requirements
This server needs the following environment variables to be set before it can run:
CORTEX_CANONICAL_URI OAUTH_ISSUER CORTEX_BACKENDS CORTEX_TECHNICAL_TOKEN
Set these via the env object in your MCP config (see claude_desktop_config.json snippet above).
Frequently asked questions
How do I install cortex-gateway?
The install section on this page carries the maker's install command for cortex-gateway, as submitted. Restart your client afterwards and the tools appear in your next conversation.
Which clients work with cortex-gateway?
This page carries setup and config for Claude Code. Any other MCP client that accepts a standard server config can connect to cortex-gateway as well.
Does cortex-gateway need an API key?
Yes. Before it can run, set these environment variables: CORTEX_CANONICAL_URI, OAUTH_ISSUER, CORTEX_BACKENDS, CORTEX_TECHNICAL_TOKEN. They go in the env block of your MCP config.
Imported from the Official MCP Registry. The details above come from the registry entry; the maker can claim this listing to correct them, add docs, and see its traffic.
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