No Authentication

Overview

auth_type: "none" is the default. Use it for MCP servers that don’t require any upstream authentication — public MCP services, local STDIO tools, internal services already protected at the network layer, etc. This is also the only valid auth_type for STDIO connections; STDIO subprocesses inherit their environment from the spawning process and there is no per-call header to attach.

When to use

Public MCP servers with no auth
Local STDIO tools (@anthropic/mcp-filesystem, etc.)
Internal services already gated at the network or VPN layer
Anything you’d hit with curl and no extra headers

If the upstream eventually adds a key, switch to Headers and refill the headers map. Note: connection_type and auth_type are immutable after creation — to change either, delete the MCP client and re-create it.

Configuration

Web UI
API
config.json

Navigate to MCP Gateway in the sidebar
Click New MCP Server
Pick a Connection Type (STDIO, HTTP, or SSE) and fill in the connection target
Leave Auth Type on None (the default)
Optionally configure tools_to_execute / tools_to_auto_execute
Click Create

MCP client form with Auth Type set to None

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/mcp/client \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "public-service",
    "connection_type": "http",
    "connection_string": "https://public-mcp.example.com/mcp",
    "auth_type": "none",
    "tools_to_execute": ["*"]
  }'

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "MCP client created"
}

{
  "mcp": {
    "client_configs": [
      {
        "name": "public-service",
        "connection_type": "http",
        "connection_string": "https://public-mcp.example.com/mcp",
        "auth_type": "none",
        "tools_to_execute": ["*"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

STDIO example

STDIO connections must use auth_type: "none":

Web UI
API
config.json

New MCP Server → Connection Type: STDIO
Fill in Command, Args (comma-separated), and Envs (env-var names to pass through)
Auth Type stays on None
Click Create

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/mcp/client \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "filesystem",
    "connection_type": "stdio",
    "stdio_config": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-filesystem"],
      "envs": ["HOME", "PATH"]
    },
    "auth_type": "none",
    "tools_to_execute": ["*"]
  }'

{
  "mcp": {
    "client_configs": [
      {
        "name": "filesystem",
        "connection_type": "stdio",
        "stdio_config": {
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-filesystem"],
          "envs": ["HOME", "PATH"]
        },
        "auth_type": "none",
        "tools_to_execute": ["*"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Docker users: STDIO connections won’t work if the spawned command (e.g., npx, python) isn’t installed in the container. For STDIO-based MCP servers, build a custom Docker image that includes the dependencies, or host the server separately and connect via HTTP/SSE.

Next Steps

Headers — when the upstream needs an API key
OAuth 2.0 — for shared OAuth services
Connecting to MCP Servers — connection-type details (STDIO, HTTP, SSE)

Documentation Index

​Overview

​When to use

​Configuration

​STDIO example

​Next Steps

Overview

When to use

Configuration

STDIO example

Next Steps