Authorization

The gateway operates on a default-deny model. Without explicit policies, no user can access any target, tool, resource, or prompt.

Policy Structure

{
  "name": "Allow admins everything",
  "description": "Full access for admin role",
  "target_id": null,
  "resource_type": "all",
  "resource_pattern": null,
  "effect": "allow",
  "priority": 100,
  "enabled": true,
  "subjects": [
    {"subject_type": "role", "subject_value": "admin"}
  ]
}

Fields

Field	Values	Description
target_id	UUID or null	Specific target, or all targets if null
resource_type	all, tool, resource, prompt	Type of MCP resource
resource_pattern	regex or null	Pattern match on resource name
effect	allow, deny	Grant or deny access
priority	integer	Higher = evaluated first
enabled	boolean	Toggle without deleting

Subject Types

Type	Description
everyone	All authenticated users
role	Users with a specific role
group	Users in a specific group
user	A specific user by ID

Evaluation Order

1. Policies are sorted by priority (descending)
2. First matching policy wins
3. If no policy matches, access is denied

This means deny rules with higher priority override allow rules with lower priority.

Common Patterns

Allow all users to access all targets

POST /api/policies
{
  "name": "Global allow",
  "resource_type": "all",
  "effect": "allow",
  "priority": 1,
  "subjects": [{"subject_type": "everyone"}]
}

Allow a role to use specific tools

POST /api/policies
{
  "name": "Developers can use GitHub tools",
  "target_id": "<github-target-id>",
  "resource_type": "tool",
  "resource_pattern": ".*",
  "effect": "allow",
  "priority": 10,
  "subjects": [{"subject_type": "role", "subject_value": "developer"}]
}

Block dangerous tools (with admin override)

# 1. Block delete tools for everyone (high priority)
POST /api/policies
{
  "name": "Block destructive tools",
  "resource_type": "tool",
  "resource_pattern": "delete_.*|remove_.*",
  "effect": "deny",
  "priority": 100,
  "subjects": [{"subject_type": "everyone"}]
}

# 2. Allow admins to use delete tools (highest priority)
POST /api/policies
{
  "name": "Admins can delete",
  "resource_type": "tool",
  "resource_pattern": "delete_.*|remove_.*",
  "effect": "allow",
  "priority": 200,
  "subjects": [{"subject_type": "role", "subject_value": "admin"}]
}

Policy Management API

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/policies	List all policies
POST	/api/policies	Create policy
GET	/api/policies/{id}	Get policy details
PUT	/api/policies/{id}	Update policy
DELETE	/api/policies/{id}	Delete policy
POST	/api/policies/{id}/subjects	Add subject
DELETE	/api/policies/{id}/subjects/{subjectId}	Remove subject

Audit

All authorization decisions are logged in the request audit log (GET /api/logs), including the matched policy name and whether access was allowed or denied.