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Version: 19.x (unreleased)

MCP Access with Stdio MCP Server

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Teleport can provide secure access to MCP servers with stdio transport.

This guides shows you how to:

  • Enroll a MCP server with stdio transport in your Teleport cluster.
  • Connect to the stdio MCP server via Teleport.

How it works​

Users can configure their MCP clients such as Claude Desktop to start an MCP server using tsh. Once successfully authorized, tsh establishes a session with the Application Service.

The Application Service starts the MCP server using the command and arguments defined by Teleport administrators in the app definition. Teleport then proxies the connection between the client and the remote MCP server, applying additional role-based access controls such as filtering which tools are available to the user. While proxying, Teleport also logs MCP protocol requests as audit events, providing visibility into user activity.

Prerequisites​

  • A running Teleport cluster. If you want to get started with Teleport, sign up for a free trial or set up a demo environment.

  • The tctl and tsh clients.

    Installing tctl and tsh clients

    1. Determine the version of your Teleport cluster. The tctl and tsh clients must be at most one major version behind your Teleport cluster version. Send a GET request to the Proxy Service at /v1/webapi/find and use a JSON query tool to obtain your cluster version:

      TELEPORT_DOMAIN=example.teleport.com:443
      TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl -s https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/find | jq -r '.server_version')"

    2. Follow the instructions for your platform to install tctl and tsh clients:

      Download the signed macOS .pkg installer for Teleport, which includes the tctl and tsh clients:

      curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-${TELEPORT_VERSION?}.pkg

      In Finder double-click the pkg file to begin installation.

      danger

      Using Homebrew to install Teleport is not supported. The Teleport package in Homebrew is not maintained by Teleport and we can't guarantee its reliability or security.

  • A host, e.g., an EC2 instance, where you will run the Teleport Applications Service.
  • Tools on the same host that can launch stdio-based MCP servers like npx or docker.

Step 1/3. Configure the Teleport Application Service​

You can update an existing Application Service or create a new one to enable the the MCP server.

If you already have an existing Application Service running, you can add a MCP server in your YAML configuration:

app_service:
  enabled: true
  apps:
  - name: "everything"
    labels:
      env: dev
    description:
    mcp:
      # Command to launch stdio-based MCP servers.
      command: "docker"
      # Args to execute with the command.
      args: ["run", "-i", "--rm", "mcp/everything"]
      # Name of the host user account under which the command will be
      # executed. Required for stdio-based MCP servers.
      run_as_host_user: "docker"

Replace the MCP details with the MCP server you desire to run then restart the Application Service.

Step 2/3. Configure your Teleport user​

In this step, you will grant your Teleport user access to all MCP servers and their MCP tools.

If you have an existing Teleport user, you can create a role for MCP access assign it to your Teleport user.

tctl create <<EOFkind: roleversion: v8metadata:  name: access-mcpspec:  allow:    app_labels:      '*': '*'    mcp:      tools:      - '*'EOF

Alternatively, add the above allow permissions to an existing Teleport role.

tip

You can also create and edit roles using the Web UI. Go to Access -> Roles and click Create New Role or pick an existing role to edit.

Step 3/3. Connect​

Log in to Teleport with the user we've just created.

tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 --user=my_user

Now we can inspect available MCP servers:

tsh mcp ls
Name       Description           Type  Labels---------- --------------------- ----- ----------everything everything MCP server stdio env=dev

To show configurations for your MCP client to connect:

tsh mcp config
Found MCP servers:everything
Here is a sample JSON configuration for launching Teleport MCP servers:{  "mcpServers": {    "teleport-mcp-everything": {      "command": "/path/to/tsh",      "args": ["mcp", "connect", "everything"]    }  }}
Tip: You can use this command to update your MCP servers configuration file automatically.- For Claude Desktop, use --client-config=claude to update the default configuration.- For Cursor, use --client-config=cursor to update the global MCP servers configuration.In addition, you can use --client-config=<path> to specify a config file location that is compatible with the "mcpServers" mapping.For example, you can update a Cursor project using --client-config=<path-to-project>/.cursor/mcp.json

Once your MCP client configuration is updated, you will see teleport-mcp-everything MCP server with allowed tools appear in your MCP client.

Next Steps​

Learn more about protecting MCP servers with Teleport in the following topics: