agentgateway is an Apache-2.0 proxy written in Rust that handles MCP, A2A and LLM traffic. For MCP it federates tools across servers over stdio, HTTP, SSE and Streamable HTTP, and adds JWT, API key and OAuth authentication, fine-grained RBAC through a CEL policy engine, rate limiting, TLS and OpenTelemetry. It runs standalone from YAML or on Kubernetes through its own controller and the Gateway API.
Who it suits
Platform engineers who want a fast, open-source data-plane proxy for MCP, A2A and LLM traffic, configured as code.
Strengths
- Policy as code: RBAC written in CEL, plus rate limiting and guardrail hooks.
- OpenTelemetry metrics, logs and tracing.
- Runs standalone or on Kubernetes with Gateway API support.
- One proxy for MCP, A2A and LLM traffic.
Limits
- A data plane: per-user credential storage, catalogs and shadow MCP discovery are yours to build.
- Audit is logs you collect and retain yourself.
Scores on each criterion
| Criterion | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | Strong | JWT, API keys and OAuth. |
| Credential handling | Partial | OAuth authentication; no per-user token vault described. |
| Policy depth | Strong | Fine-grained RBAC with a CEL policy engine. |
| Audit | Partial | Logs via OpenTelemetry; retention and export are yours. |
| Observability | Strong | OpenTelemetry metrics, logs and tracing. |
| Deployment model | Strong | Standalone YAML or Kubernetes controller. |
| Shadow usage discovery | Not documented | Not documented. |
| Total | 10/14 | Ranked #3 of 8 |
Strong Built in and documented (2 points)Partial Present with gaps, or limited scope (1 point)Not documented Not found in the public docs we reviewed (0 points)
What it costs
Free to self-host (Apache-2.0). You pay for the infrastructure it runs on.
Sources
Every score above comes from these public pages. Check them for changes since 11 November 2026.