Security¶

MCP Mesh provides three layers of security for production agent deployments:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Layer 3: Authorization (WHO can do WHAT)        │
│  Header propagation + application-layer auth     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 2: Agent-to-Agent mTLS                    │
│  Every inter-agent call is mutually authenticated│
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 1: Registration Trust                     │
│  Identity verification before joining the mesh   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Security is opt-in — local development works with no TLS by default. You can incrementally adopt stricter modes as you move toward production.

TLS Modes¶

Mode	Description	Use Case
off	No TLS, plain HTTP	Local development
auto	Registry verifies certs if presented, allows without	Transitional rollout
strict	mTLS required — registry rejects connections without valid certificates	Production

Quick Start¶

Local DevelopmentVault (Production)SPIRE (Workload Identity)

# Zero-config TLS (auto-generates CA + certs)
meshctl start --registry-only --tls-auto -d
meshctl start my_agent.py --tls-auto

meshctl start --registry-only -d \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_MODE=strict \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_CERT=/etc/certs/registry.pem \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_KEY=/etc/certs/registry-key.pem

meshctl start my_agent.py \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_MODE=strict \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_PROVIDER=vault \
  --env MCP_MESH_VAULT_ADDR=https://vault:8200 \
  --env MCP_MESH_VAULT_PKI_PATH=pki_int/issue/mesh-agent \
  --env VAULT_TOKEN=s.xxxxx

meshctl start my_agent.py \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_MODE=strict \
  --env MCP_MESH_TLS_PROVIDER=spire \
  --env MCP_MESH_SPIRE_SOCKET=/run/spire/agent/sockets/agent.sock

Sections¶

Registration Trust

Registry validates agent identity before accepting registration. Supports file-based certs, Vault PKI, and SPIRE workload identity.

Registration Trust
Agent-to-Agent mTLS

Every inter-agent call is mutually authenticated with TLS certificates. Works across Python, TypeScript, Java, and Go.

Agent-to-Agent mTLS
Authorization

Control which agents and users can access capabilities using header propagation and application-layer auth frameworks.

Authorization