Organizations are increasingly adopting the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to integrate AI services, but face challenges like server security and observability. Many wonder if existing API gateways can support MCP. While they might handle basic traffic, API gateways aren’t designed for the stateful nature of MCP. Unlike stateless APIs, which treat each request independently, MCP sessions maintain context and facilitate bidirectional communication.
API gateways struggle with MCP’s requirements, such as session management and protocol understanding. This leads to limitations in policy enforcement and observability, prompting the need for a dedicated MCP gateway. Agentgateway, designed specifically for MCP, addresses these needs by managing JSON-RPC structures, session states, and enabling fine-grained authorization. Coupled with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation’s kgateway, it offers seamless integration within Kubernetes environments. Choosing a purpose-built solution like Agentgateway ensures performance, security, and operational efficiency for enterprise MCP deployments.
