$git clone https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge> An open source registry and proxy that federates MCP, A2A, and REST/gRPC APIs with centralized governance, discovery, and observability. Optimizes Agent & Tool calling, and supports plugins.
| 1 | # ContextForge |
| 2 | |
| 3 | > An open source registry and proxy that federates MCP, A2A, and REST/gRPC APIs with centralized governance, discovery, and observability. Optimizes Agent & Tool calling, and supports plugins. |
| 4 | |
| 5 |  |
| 6 | |
| 7 | <!-- === CI / Security / Build Badges === --> |
| 8 | [](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/actions/workflows/python-package.yml) |
| 9 | [](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/actions/workflows/dependency-review.yml) |
| 10 | [](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/actions/workflows/pytest.yml) |
| 11 | [](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/actions/workflows/lint.yml) |
| 12 | |
| 13 | <!-- === Package / Container === --> |
| 14 | [](https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio.html) |
| 15 | [](LICENSE) |
| 16 | [](https://pypi.org/project/mcp-contextforge-gateway/) |
| 17 | [](https://github.com/ibm/mcp-context-forge/pkgs/container/mcp-context-forge) |
| 18 | |
| 19 | |
| 20 | **ContextForge** is an open source registry and proxy that federates tools, agents, and APIs into one clean endpoint for your AI clients. It provides centralized governance, discovery, and observability across your AI infrastructure: |
| 21 | |
| 22 | - **Tools Gateway** — MCP, REST, gRPC-to-MCP translation, and TOON compression |
| 23 | - **Agent Gateway** — A2A protocol, OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic agent routing |
| 24 | - **API Gateway** — Rate limiting, auth, retries, and reverse proxy for REST services |
| 25 | - **Plugin Extensibility** — 40+ plugins for additional transports, protocols, and integrations |
| 26 | - **Observability** — OpenTelemetry tracing with Phoenix, Jaeger, Zipkin, and other OTLP backends |
| 27 | |
| 28 | It runs as a fully compliant MCP server, deployable via PyPI or Docker, and scales to multi-cluster environments on Kubernetes with Redis-backed federation and caching. |
| 29 | |
| 30 |  |
| 31 | --- |
| 32 | |
| 33 | <!-- vscode-markdown-toc --> |
| 34 | ## Table of Contents |
| 35 | |
| 36 | - [Overview & Goals](#overview--goals) |
| 37 | - [Quick Start - PyPI](#quick-start---pypi) |
| 38 | - [Quick Start - Containers](#quick-start---containers) |
| 39 | - [VS Code Dev Container](#quick-start-vs-code-dev-container) |
| 40 | - [Installation](#installation) |
| 41 | - [Upgrading](#upgrading) |
| 42 | - [Configuration](#configuration) |
| 43 | - [Running](#running) |
| 44 | - [Cloud Deployment](#cloud-deployment) |
| 45 | - [API Reference](#api-reference) |
| 46 | - [Testing](#testing) |
| 47 | - [Project Structure](#project-structure) |
| 48 | - [Development](#development) |
| 49 | - [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) |
| 50 | - [Contributing](#contributing) |
| 51 | |
| 52 | --- |
| 53 | |
| 54 | ### 📌 Quick Links |
| 55 | |
| 56 | | Resource | Description | |
| 57 | |----------|-------------| |
| 58 | | **[5-Minute Setup](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/issues/2503)** | Get started fast — uvx, Docker, Compose, or local dev | |
| 59 | | **[Getting Help](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/issues/2504)** | Support options, FAQ, community channels | |
| 60 | | **[Issue Guide](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/issues/2502)** | How to file bugs, request features, contribute | |
| 61 | | **[Full Documentation](https://ibm.github.io/mcp-context-forge/)** | Complete guides, tutorials, API reference | |
| 62 | | **[Deprecations](https://ibm.github.io/mcp-context-forge/deprecations/)** | Deprecated runtime paths and migration guidance | |
| 63 | |
| 64 | --- |
| 65 | |
| 66 | ## Overview & Goals |
| 67 | |
| 68 | **ContextForge** is an open source registry and proxy that federates any [Model Context Protocol]( |