mcpgawk

mcpgawk is an open-source security gateway that sits between AI agents and their Model Context Protocol servers to block altered tools.

mcpgawk sits between your AI agents and their MCP servers to protect against tool poisoning and unauthorized modifications. It scans agent configurations on your machine, sandboxes servers to verify behavior, and holds tool calls if a server updates after approval. Designed for developers and teams using AI agents, it provides local monitoring, session logs, and a gateway for centralized team management. It works locally with no data uploaded, supporting popular tools like Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, and Gemini CLI.

mcpgawk at a glance

Best for: Software engineer
Runs on: CLI, self-hosted, open source
Pricing: Free plan; mcpgawk Platform 7-day free trial, up to 3 machines per person
Released: October 2026
Category: AI coding tool
Website: mcp.gawk.dev

Key features

Scan agent configs and indexed MCP servers
Sandbox and verify server behavior
Hold calls to tools that change after approval
Local panel and session logs
Continuous fleet monitoring
Tamper-evident audit logs for teams
Gateway endpoint for multiple agents

Use it for

Detecting tool poisoning in public MCP servers
Blocking unauthorized tool updates during agent sessions
Auditing agent configurations and inherited credentials
Monitoring MCP server changes across developer teams

Alternatives to mcpgawk

Planlock — Stops unauthorized agent calls through code enforcement instead of prompts.
Mcpspan — Track MCP tool usage, token costs, and errors privately on your own machine.
Coding Tools MCP — Turns any chat app into a coding agent with strict workspace safety boundaries.
pstack — Improves AI coding agent outcomes with rigorous workflows.
AG-UI — Standardizes agent-user interactions and generative UI for applications.
AgentGate — Blocks attacks in under 35ms with a local neural classification head.
MCP Bouncer — Stops agents from exfiltrating data to destinations found in untrusted tool output.
MCP Context Forge — Federates MCP and REST services into a single clean endpoint.
Agent Toolkit for AWS — Provides official MCP servers and agent skills tailored for AWS services.
MCP Inspector — Test and debug MCP servers via web, CLI, and terminal interfaces.
Coucou — It provides open-source, real-time agent monitoring and approvals directly from the screen notch.
Stroq — Scans recorded sessions and guards future actions with local hooks.

All mcpgawk alternatives