MCP Endpoint Shield

Overview

MCP Endpoint Shield provides runtime security and auto-discovery of local MCP servers configured on your machine. It acts as a protective layer between the MCP client (e.g., Cursor, VS Code, Claude) and the MCP servers, requiring no changes to your setup.

What is Agentic Endpoint Shield?

Endpoint Shield continuously monitors employee devices to identify and track:

• AI Agents: All deployed agents across web, desktop, and endpoint devices

• MCP Servers: Model Context Protocol server instances running locally or remotely

• Device Information: Complete device inventory with hardware IDs, usernames, and locations

• Agent Activity: Real-time heartbeat monitoring and deployment status

• MCP Connections: Server URLs, connection health, and last seen timestamps

Features

• Continuous safety checks on all requests and responses to the MCP servers

• Automatic blocking of unsafe interactions (via standard JSON-RPC errors)

• Works out-of-the-box with popular MCP clients (Cursor, VS Code, Claude)

• Zero changes required in your MCP server

Installation

• The application is provided as an installble package (.app, .deb, .exe)

• Please reach out to Akto Support to get your installer.

• Please refer to the Manaul Setup section if you wish to run the tool without an installer.

Auto-Detection

Akto MCP Endpoint Shield automatically detects MCP client configurations:

• Cursor → Reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json

• Visual Studio Code → Reads .vscode/mcp.json inside your workspace

• Claude Desktop → Reads Claude’s MCP config JSON

For each detected MCP server config:

1. The JSON file is parsed.

2. Each server entry is automatically wrapped with Akto MCP Endpoint Shield.

3. Your MCP clients transparently run through the shield without requiring manual reconfiguration.

You don’t need to manually edit your MCP config files — the wrapper handles this for you.

Example — Cursor mcp.json

Original file (before wrapping):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y"
        "chrome-devtools-mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Automatically wrapped file (after Akto MCP Endpoint Shield):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools-mcp": {
      "command": "mcp-endpoint-shield",
      "args": [
        "stdio",
        "--name",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp",
        "--exec",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Here how the wrap looks in the code:

What changed:

• mcp-endpoint-shield is now the entry command.

• Original server command (npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp@latest) is passed through --exec.

Manual Setup

Follow these steps to manually set up and run MCP Endpoint Shield to protect your MCP servers.

Prerequisites

• You have the mcp-endpoint-shield binary available

• You have an Akto API token

• uninstall MCP Endpoint Shield if installed previously using installers

1

Set Your API Token

Set the AKTO_API_TOKEN environment variable:

export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-actual-token-here"

Make it permanent (optional):

• For bash users, add to ~/.bashrc:

  echo 'export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-actual-token-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
  source ~/.bashrc

• For zsh users, add to ~/.zshrc:

  echo 'export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-actual-token-here"' >> ~/.zshrc
  source ~/.zshrc

Verify it's set:

echo $AKTO_API_TOKEN

2

Start the Agent

The agent automatically discovers and protects your MCP servers.

./mcp-endpoint-shield agent

Expected output:

Starting akto agent...
Starting RunAgent...
Agent mode started. Press Ctrl+C to stop...

Keep this terminal running. The agent will:

• Find your MCP configuration files (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop)

• Wrap your MCP servers with security

• Sync security policies from Akto backend

• Watch for changes and auto-update configs

Note:

If you want the agent to run in the background, use:

nohup ./mcp-endpoint-shield agent > agent.log 2>&1 &

3

Protecting Local MCP Servers (STDIO)

Option A: Let the Agent Wrap It (Recommended)

If the agent is running (Step 2), it will automatically detect and wrap your config. Your MCP configuration will be automatically modified to route through the security shield.

Example transformation

Before:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "chrome-devtools"]
    }
  }
}

After (automatic):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools-endpoint-shield": {
      "command": "mcp-endpoint-shield",
      "args": [
        "stdio",
        "--name",
        "chrome-devtools",
        "--akto-api-token",
        "your-actual-token-here",
        "--exec",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart your MCP client (Cursor/VS Code) to apply changes.

Option B: Manual Wrapping (If Not Using Agent)

If you're not running the agent, manually edit your MCP config file (e.g., ~/.cursor/mcp.json):

Key changes:

1. Change command to the full path of mcp-endpoint-shield

2. Add "stdio", "--name", "<server-name>", "--akto-api-token", "<your-token>", "--exec" to the start of args

3. Place the original command (npx) and arguments (-y, chrome-devtools) after --exec

Example transformation

Before:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "chrome-devtools"]
    }
  }
}

After:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "/path/to/mcp-endpoint-shield",
      "args": [
        "stdio",
        "--name",
        "chrome-devtools",
        "--akto-api-token",
        "your-actual-token-here",
        "--exec",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart your MCP client to apply changes.

4

Protecting Remote MCP Servers (HTTP)

For HTTP-based MCP servers, run the HTTP proxy in a new terminal:

export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-actual-token-here"
./mcp-endpoint-shield http

Expected output:

Starting MCP HTTP Proxy on 127.0.0.1:57294
Project: default, Skip Threat: false

Keep this terminal running.

Note: The proxy runs on port 57294 by default.

Configure Your Remote MCP Server

Original config (direct connection to remote server):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-mcp": {
      "url": "https://remote-mcp-server.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Basic <token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Protected config (route through proxy):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-mcp": {
      "url": "http://localhost:57294/mcp/streamable",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Basic <token>",
        "mcp-server-base-url": "https://remote-mcp-server.example.com/mcp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key changes:

1. Change url to http://localhost:57294/mcp/streamable

2. Keep your existing Authorization header (or any other headers)

3. Add new header mcp-server-base-url with the original remote server URL

The proxy will:

• Receive requests at http://localhost:57294/mcp/streamable

• Read the mcp-server-base-url header to know where to forward

• Apply security policies

• Forward to your actual remote MCP server

• Return the response back to your client

Restart your MCP client to apply changes.

5

Verify Everything is Working

• Check Agent Status

  Look at the agent terminal - you should see:

  Agent mode started. Press Ctrl+C to stop...

  No errors means it's working!

• Check HTTP Proxy Status

  Look at the proxy terminal:

  Starting MCP HTTP Proxy on 127.0.0.1:57294

• Test Your MCP Server

  Open your MCP client (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop) and try using your wrapped MCP server. It should work normally, but now with security protection.Step 4:

Quick Command Reference

Terminal 1 - Agent:

export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-token"
./mcp-endpoint-shield agent

Terminal 2 - HTTP Proxy:

export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-token"
./mcp-endpoint-shield http

Get Help:

./mcp-endpoint-shield help

This protects:

• STDIO servers (like npx -y chrome-devtools) via agent

• HTTP servers (remote MCP servers) via proxy

Common Flags

• --name <project_name> → Friendly label used in logs and insights

• --akto-api-token <token> → Your Akto API token

• --exec <command> [args...] → Command to start your MCP server

• --env KEY=VALUE (repeatable) → Pass additional environment variables to the MCP process

Logging

Based on Log File Locations, choose from the following:

Manual Run

When you manually run mcp-endpoint-shield, logs are written to:

~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/

Example:

# If you wrapped a server with --name chrome-devtools
tail -f ~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/chrome-devtools.log

# View all logs
ls -la ~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/
tail -f ~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/*.log

MacOS System Service (LaunchDaemon)

When installed and running as a system service on macOS:

• Agent logs

  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/agent.log
  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/agent-error.log

• HTTP Proxy logs

  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/proxy-server.log
  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/proxy-error.log

• View logs

  sudo tail -f /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/*.log

Linux System Service (systemd)

When installed and running as a systemd service on Linux:

• Agent logs

  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/agent.log

• HTTP Proxy logs

  /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/proxy-server.log

• View logs

  # Direct log files
  sudo tail -f /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/*.log
  
  # Via systemd journalctl
  sudo journalctl -u mcp-endpoint-shield-agent -f
  sudo journalctl -u mcp-endpoint-shield -f

Windows

When MCP Endpoint Shield runs on Windows, agent logs are stored in the user’s local application data directory:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\akto-mcp-endpoint-shield\logs\

You can use this command to verify agent startup, inspect runtime errors, and confirm connectivity from the Windows endpoint.

STDIO Wrapped MCP servers (Manual and Installer)

Each wrapped STDIO MCP server gets its own log file named after the --name attribute:

~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/<name>.log

Troubleshooting

Issue: AKTO_API_TOKEN is not set

• Cause: Environment variable not configured.

• Fix: Set the token with export AKTO_API_TOKEN="your-token" and verify with echo $AKTO_API_TOKEN.

Issue: Port already in use (HTTP Proxy)

• Cause: Port 57294 is already being used by another process.

• Fix 1: Find and kill the process with lsof -i :57294 and kill -9 PID.

• Fix 2: Use a different port with ./mcp-endpoint-shield http --port 8080 and update your config.

Issue: MCP server not working after wrapping

• Cause: Multiple possible causes.

• Fix:

  • Restart your MCP client,

  • Verify binary path with which mcp-endpoint-shield,

  • Check logs at ~/.akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/logs/ or /var/log/akto-mcp-endpoint-shield/ (if installed using installer)

  • Test original command works standalone.

Issue: permission denied: ./mcp-endpoint-shield ➡

• Cause: Binary doesn't have execute permissions. ➡

• Fix: Run chmod +x ./mcp-endpoint-shield.

Issue: command not found: mcp-endpoint-shield ➡

• Cause: Binary not in PATH or wrong path used. ➡

• Fix: Use full path (./mcp-endpoint-shield or /usr/local/bin/mcp-endpoint-shield) or add to PATH with export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/binary/directory.

Akto Security Scope

• Transparency: Safe traffic is never altered.

• Clarity: Unsafe traffic always results in a clear JSON-RPC error.

• Minimal footprint: Designed to stay invisible unless an issue occurs.

Get Support for your Akto setup

There are multiple ways to request support from Akto. We are 24X7 available on the following:

1. In-app intercom support. Message us with your query on intercom in Akto dashboard and someone will reply.

2. Join our discord channel for community support.

3. Contact [email protected] for email support.

4. Contact us here.