MCP Runtime Platform

MCP Runtime is a self-hosted Kubernetes control plane for internal Model Context Protocol servers. It provides declarative MCP server deployment, registry workflows, operator reconciliation, request-path governance, access/session resources, audit, analytics, dashboards, and a platform control surface for browsing and operating MCP servers.

The public platform at platform.mcpruntime.org is a live preview of the deployable platform experience. It is not a public or private marketplace for MCP servers. Companies can deploy the same model in their own Kubernetes clusters, then host, manage, govern, and audit MCP servers through both the CLI and the platform control surface for agents, IDEs, and direct human workflows.

• Website
• Platform preview for the platform control surface; companies can deploy the same model in their own clusters
• Docs and docs/
• API reference and docs/api.md
• Early adopters: MCP Runtime is looking for teams running or evaluating internal MCP platforms. Open a GitHub issue with your use case, cluster shape, or integration feedback.

Caution

MCP Runtime is alpha software. APIs, commands, and behavior are still evolving. Use the docs, CRDs, and api/v1alpha1 types as the source of truth before production use.

What ships

• mcp-runtime CLI for setup, status, registry, server, pipeline, cluster, access, and sentinel
• Platform UI for browsing MCP servers, viewing platform state, and operating the stack through a web interface
• MCPServer, MCPAccessGrant, and MCPAgentSession CRDs
• Kubernetes operator for Deployment, Service, Ingress, and policy materialization
• Internal or provisioned registry workflows
• Optional gateway enforcement for identity, tool policy, trust, and audit emission
• Bundled Sentinel stack for ingest, processing, API, UI, and observability

How it differs from MCP directories

The Official MCP Registry and public MCP directories such as Glama, Smithery, Docker MCP Catalog on Docker Hub, PulseMCP, mcp.so, and client-specific catalogs are useful discovery and installation surfaces. MCP Runtime is different: it is a deployable operating layer for running MCP servers inside a company's own environment. It can provide an internal catalog-like view, but the main product is deployment, governance, brokered access, audit, compliance evidence, and day-two operations.

Public MCP directory or catalog	MCP Runtime
Helps users find or install public MCP servers	Helps companies host, deploy, govern, observe, and audit their own MCP servers
Optimizes for discovery metadata, popularity, and install snippets	Optimizes for deployment, runtime governance, Kubernetes reconciliation, policy, sessions, audit, and compliance
Usually runs as a third-party hosted directory or client feature	Runs in the company's Kubernetes environment or in a hosted preview shape
Stops at configuration or connection	Owns the governed request path through the broker/gateway

As of April 2026, we have not found another open-source MCP product that combines a deployable Kubernetes control plane, registry workflow, brokered request path, access/session model, audit pipeline, and operational control surface in one package.

Requirements

Host tools:

• Go 1.25+
• Make
• Docker or a Docker-compatible client, with the daemon running
• kubectl on PATH, configured for the target cluster
• curl, jq, and python3 for documented dev and traffic-generation flows
• kind for local Kind-based clusters

Cluster prerequisites:

• A running Kubernetes cluster: kind, k3s, minikube, Docker Desktop Kubernetes, EKS, or equivalent
• Working DNS, default storage class, ingress, and load-balancing path for your distribution
• See docs/cluster-readiness.md before running production-like installs

mcp-runtime setup installs the platform stack, including Sentinel services such as ClickHouse and Kafka. You do not install those separately for the default flow.

Quick start

make deps-install              # best-effort host install where supported
STRICT_DEPS_CHECK=1 make deps-check
make deps
make build

./bin/mcp-runtime bootstrap
./bin/mcp-runtime setup
./bin/mcp-runtime status

Notes:

• make deps-install is best-effort. It cannot start Docker Desktop, create cloud credentials, or configure kubeconfig for you.
• make deps checks host tools and downloads Go modules. It does not create a Kubernetes cluster.
• make build produces ./bin/mcp-runtime.
• Contributors who want a disposable local Kind install should use the test-mode flow in docs/getting-started.md.

Common commands

./bin/mcp-runtime bootstrap              # preflight cluster prerequisites
./bin/mcp-runtime setup                  # install platform stack
./bin/mcp-runtime status                 # show platform health
./bin/mcp-runtime registry status        # inspect registry
./bin/mcp-runtime server status          # inspect MCP servers
./bin/mcp-runtime access grant list      # inspect access grants
./bin/mcp-runtime sentinel status        # inspect Sentinel stack

Development checks

gofmt -s -l .
go build -o bin/mcp-runtime ./cmd/mcp-runtime
go test ./... -count=1 -race
go vet ./...

For targeted tests, e2e setup, and debugging runbooks, use AGENTS.md and the docs site.

Agent tool configuration

The repo keeps Claude-specific local configuration in .claude/. Its skills entry is expected to be a symlink to ../.codex/skills, so Claude Desktop and the Codex CLI discover the same repository skills during local development.

License

MIT