The MCPifex gateway

How does the gateway work?

The gateway speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP at one URL. It is the same for every server and every client:

https://mcp.mcpifex.com/mcp

Each API key belongs to one instance, and that decides which server a call reaches. The gateway checks the key, shows the client only the tools you enabled and passes each call to the right hosted server. Each client session runs in its own isolated server process.

For the general idea, read what an MCP gateway is. To see how MCPifex stacks up against other options, see the best MCP gateways comparison.

How do I authenticate?

• Bearer header: Authorization: Bearer mcpx_…. Use it wherever the client can send headers (Claude Code, Cursor, curl, and claude.ai custom connectors if your organization has Request headers, which is in beta; otherwise put the key in the URL).
• Key in the URL path: https://mcp.mcpifex.com/mcp/mcpx_…. This is for connectors with nowhere to put a header (ChatGPT), and claude.ai accepts it too. Treat that URL like a password.

Both forms give the same access. API keys and authentication has a curl script that runs the handshake and lists your tools.

Which tools can the AI call?

You allow or deny each tool on the instance. Write tools start off, and you switch on the ones you want.

• tools/list returns only the tools enabled on the instance.
• A tools/call to a tool that is switched off is refused.
• A tool that is not in the MCPifex catalog for that server is always refused.

The check happens in the gateway itself, not in the client or the server package. Security and data covers what is stored and how credentials are handled.

What gets logged?

Each instance keeps a call log, so you can see what your AI client ran. Credentials and config values are never written to logs. See Security and data for the details.

How fast can I revoke a key?

About a minute. After you revoke a key, new calls stop, and an open session is cut off on its next tool call. The errors a client can see, such as 401 and instance_disabled, are listed in troubleshooting.

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