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MCPermit – The Permissions Gateway for Agentic AI Tools (MCPs)

Permit.io’s MCPermit is a drop-in security gateway for AI agent platforms, giving organizations instant control and visibility over every MCP (Model Context Protocol) server interaction.

With a single configuration change, MCPermit wraps your AI agents’ tool access in enterprise-grade security: identity-based access checks, comprehensive audit trails, and human-in-the-loop approvals. No SDKs, no code changes—just route traffic through MCPermit to decide who (user or agent) can do what, log every request, and keep AI-driven workflows compliant and safe.

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This pages describes an upcoming product; details are subject to change. To get early access to MCPermit, contact us via email or via Slack.

The Challenge: Uncontrolled AI Agents and Invisible Risks​

Enterprise adoption of agentic AI is surging, but security controls haven’t kept pace. Teams now deploy and consume MCP servers—the “USB-C for AI” that lets LLM agents plug into apps and data—without consistent oversight. Traditional API gateways and IAM tools were never designed for autonomous, context-driven agents. The result is a web of AI “assistants” acting with real privileges yet operating outside normal monitoring.
Organizations and CISOs face critical questions:

  • Which AI agents are touching which systems?
  • What data are they accessing?
  • Who ultimately authorized those actions?

The Solution: MCPermit Gateway—Unified Control Over AI Tool Access​

MCPermit is purpose-built to answer those questions. Acting as a smart proxy between AI agents (MCP clients) and the tools or data they seek (MCP servers), MCPermit authenticates, authorizes, and audits every interaction. Think of it as a zero-trust checkpoint for AI actions:

  1. Authenticate the originator (human) and the agent acting on their behalf.
  2. Authorize the requested action against fine-grained policy.
  3. Audit the outcome for compliance and threat-hunting.

All this happens transparently—no modification to AI agents or MCP servers, just a URL switch.

Key Capabilities & Differentiators​

  • Fine-Grained, Identity-Based Access Control

    • Combine user identity, agent identity, and resource scope in one policy.
    • Enforce true least-privilege down to individual MCP functions.

  • Unified Policy Across Users, Agents, and Tools

    • One central policy layer instead of scattered configs.
    • Rules consistently apply to internal or third-party MCP servers.

  • Complete Visibility & Auditing

    • Real-time logs of every agent action with rich context.
    • Immediate traceability for incident response and compliance reporting.

  • Human-in-the-Loop Workflows

    • Configurable step-up approvals for sensitive operations.
    • Optional but critical when AI touches high-risk data or funds.

  • SSO & Directory Integration

    • Leverages your existing SSO (OIDC, SAML, LDAP).
    • Aligns agent permissions with HR groups and existing role structures.

  • Drop-In Deployment—No Code Changes

    • Works as a proxy; adopt by routing MCP traffic to the gateway.
    • Roll out governance in minutes, even across dozens of AI integrations.

  • Instant Governance & Compliance Assurance

    • Enforce data-privacy rules (GDPR, HIPAA) and strengthen SOC 2 controls.
    • Stop unauthorized PII access or data exfiltration before it happens.

Why MCPermit, Why Now?​

Boards and regulators are already asking how organizations will prevent AI-driven mishaps. MCP servers and agent frameworks multiply rapidly; unchecked, they create an identity explosion of machine agents and a blind spot in security. MCPermit closes that gap—delivering the visibility, control, and peace of mind security leaders need to let innovation flourish without compromising governance.

Problem Statement – Risks & Compliance Gaps in Uncontrolled AI Access​

  1. Lack of Visibility & Oversight

    • AI agents often act with powerful access yet leave no usable logs, making malicious or mistaken actions hard to detect.

  2. Unauthorized Actions & Privilege Abuse

    • Over-permissive agents can delete data, transfer funds, or leak secrets—whether by error, prompt injection, or insider threat.

  3. Shadow IT in AI Form

    • Teams spin up MCP integrations in minutes, bypassing standard review and creating unvetted connections into critical systems.

  4. Compliance & Data-Privacy Violations

    • Unchecked agent activities risk breaching GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 requirements when PII or regulated data is accessed or moved.

  5. Operational Chaos & Security Drift

    • Manual processes can’t keep pace with agent sprawl, leading to mismatched policies and difficulty in incident forensics.

MCPermit tackles each of these pain points head-on—providing the centralized gateway that enforces policy, logs every action, and ensures AI systems operate safely within your security and compliance framework.

Example Authorize Agent UI Flow​

Example UI Flow

Note: Clicking Authorize Agent will authorize the agent to access the MCP server, and will redirect to the external tools' OAuth flow, and then back to the agent's configured callback URL.

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