Choose the right MCP connection

Separate downstream tool governance, account inspection, and onboarding.

Updated 2026-09-22 Read as Markdown
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Three different jobs

ConnectionPurposeAuthentication
Local gatewayGovern tools on a wrapped local stdio serverEdge device login
Account connectorRead Kastra policies, decisions, and governance stateOAuth account grant or local device login
Onboarding serverBegin and inspect a signup handoffPublic; the user completes signup in a browser

The public onboarding endpoint is https://api.kastra.ai/mcp. Account inspection uses https://api.kastra.ai/mcp/account. Neither endpoint is an anonymous policy-evaluation service.

Govern a third-party server

Use the local gateway when the host launches the MCP server as a local command. The gateway checks tool discovery and individual tool calls. Hiding a tool from discovery is paired with a call-time check; a remembered tool name still needs authorization.

Hosted remote MCP governs remote tools through a server-scoped OAuth connection; its security review is complete, while workspace enablement and actual client/server compatibility remain separate checks. A vendor logo or an implemented connector catalog is not proof that a hosted connection is ready for general use.

Read governance data

Use the account connector or Claude plugin to ask about policies and decisions. These tools are read-only and do not add action enforcement to an assistant by themselves.