MCP Gateway URL

Overview

DeepIntShield can act as an MCP server, exposing the connected MCP tools allowed for an authenticated Virtual Key to external clients such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any other MCP-compatible application.

This enables a powerful pattern:

Connect DeepIntShield to multiple MCP servers (filesystem, web search, databases, etc.)
Expose the key’s allowed tools through a single MCP endpoint
External clients connect to DeepIntShield and receive that key’s filtered catalogue

Diagram

Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Purpose
`/mcp`	POST	JSON-RPC 2.0 messages for tool discovery and execution
`/mcp`	GET	Server-Sent Events (SSE) for persistent connections

POST /mcp (JSON-RPC)

Handle JSON-RPC 2.0 messages for tool listing and execution:

# List available tools
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "tools/list"
  }'

# Call a tool
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 2,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "filesystem-read_file",
      "arguments": {
        "path": "/tmp/test.txt"
      }
    }
  }'

GET /mcp (SSE)

Establish a persistent SSE connection for real-time communication:

curl -N https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Accept: text/event-stream"

The SSE endpoint sends:

connection/opened message on connect
Keeps connection alive until client disconnects

External MCP Client Integration

The /mcp endpoint supports any MCP-compatible client that can communicate via HTTP or SSE:

Claude Desktop - macOS and Windows desktop application
Cursor - IDE with MCP support
Custom Applications - Any app implementing the MCP protocol
Browser Extensions - Tools with MCP client capability

To connect an external MCP client, configure it to connect to:

https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp

Include a valid Virtual Key authentication header (Authorization: Bearer sk-ds-your-virtual-key) so the gateway can resolve the tools available to that key. Anonymous access is not supported.

Virtual Key Authentication

Every /mcp request requires a valid, active Virtual Key persisted in DeepIntShield. Each key receives its own filtered MCP server. A key with no MCP client binding receives an empty catalogue; use an explicit * tool rule on a bound client when that key should receive every tool from that client.

Supported Virtual Key carriers

Authenticate with Virtual Key (Virtual Keys start with the sk-ds- prefix):

# Via Authorization header
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

# Via x-api-key header
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "x-api-key: sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

# Via x-deepintshield-vk header
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "x-deepintshield-vk: sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

# Via x-goog-api-key header
curl -X POST https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: sk-ds-your-virtual-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

When Agentic-New GAF is enabled, the key must also resolve one enabled governed agent in the active workspace. Send X-Agent-Subject when the key is associated with multiple agents. If the selected agent uses an identity provider, send its verified child workload credential in X-Agent-Token. Tool execution then requires the same canonical GAF Allow as POST /v1/mcp/tool/execute; a Deny, pending approval, or unavailable authorization dependency is returned as an MCP tool error result.

Claude Desktop with Virtual Key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deepintshield-production": {
      "url": "https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk-ds-your-production-key"
      }
    },
    "deepintshield-development": {
      "url": "https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk-ds-your-development-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tool Filtering for MCP Clients

Control which tools are exposed to MCP clients using Virtual Keys:

Per-Virtual Key Tool Access

Configure which tools each Virtual Key can access from the Virtual Keys section of the Web UI: create or edit a key and, under MCP Client Configurations, add the clients and the tools that key may use. For example, a production key might be limited to read_file and list_directory on a filesystem client while allowing all tools (*) on a web_search client.

Learn more about Virtual Key tool filtering in MCP Tool Filtering.

Advanced Gateway Features

Health Monitoring

DeepIntShield monitors connected MCP clients for you. If a client stops responding it is marked disconnected, its tools drop out of the aggregated registry, and DeepIntShield reconnects it in the background - external clients see the tools return automatically once it recovers. You can choose the check method per client with the is_ping_available toggle (see Connecting to MCP Servers).

To force a reconnection yourself, open the client under Agentic → MCP Registry and click Reconnect.

Request ID Tracking

For Agent Mode operations, DeepIntShield tags each intermediate tool-execution step with its own request ID, so autonomous tool runs produce detailed, per-step audit trails. See Agent Mode for details.

Dynamic Tool Discovery

The tools exposed through the gateway stay in sync automatically. When you connect a new client, a connected server’s tool list changes, or you edit a client’s tools_to_execute, the change is reflected for external MCP clients without them needing to reconnect - they always see the current, filtered set of tools.

Security Considerations

1. Use a least-privilege Virtual Key

The server requires a valid Virtual Key on every /mcp request. Bind only the MCP clients and tools that external client needs, keep the key active only for its intended lifetime, and rotate it through the Virtual Key controls.

2. Use HTTPS

All traffic to https://app.deepintshield.com/mcp is served over TLS - always use the https:// endpoint so credentials and tool traffic stay encrypted in transit.

3. Limit Tool Access

Use Virtual Keys to limit which tools each client can access. Follow the principle of least privilege.

4. Network Restrictions

Use per-Virtual Key access controls to limit which clients can reach the MCP endpoint and which tools they can call.

Troubleshooting

Claude Desktop not connecting

Verify the URL is correct and DeepIntShield is running
Check if DeepIntShield is accessible from Claude Desktop’s network
Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes
Check DeepIntShield logs for connection attempts

No tools showing up

Verify MCP clients are connected in DeepIntShield
Check that tools_to_execute includes the expected tools
If using Virtual Keys, verify the VK has MCP tool access configured

Virtual Key authentication failing

Ensure the Virtual Key exists and is active
Check the header format (Bearer prefix for Authorization)
Verify the key has an explicit MCP client/tool binding; no binding exposes no tools
When GAF is enabled, verify the governed-agent association, selector, and workload proof

Next Steps

Tool Filtering

Control which tools are available per request

Open →

Virtual Key MCP Tools

Configure per-VK tool access

Open →