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MCP Gateway for Claude Desktop: Setup & Config

Claude Desktop: Lasso Security’s MCP Gateway proxies MCP servers and filters requests and responses through configurable plugins.

What you can do with MCP Gateway in Claude Desktop

Pick it to apply shared security plugins and visibility across otherwise separate MCP servers.

  • Mask supported credentials in proxied tool exchanges
  • Apply PII filtering to connected server responses

Before you start: MCP Gateway in Claude Desktop

  • Python and pip
  • The mcp-gateway package
  • Xetrack installed for this example
  • An MCP configuration containing nested server definitions

Install with pip install mcp-gateway and pip install xetrack. Replace the configuration path if needed. This example enables basic masking and tracing; Lasso API credentials and Presidio extras are needed only for those plugins.

MCP Gateway Claude Desktop configuration

  1. Choose Claude Desktop configuration scope

    For MCP Gateway, open macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. Merge under mcpServers via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

  2. Add MCP Gateway to Claude Desktop

    Use the mcp-gateway-lasso-security entry below in mcpServers. Keep MCP Gateway's documented stdio connection fields and your other Claude Desktop entries.

  3. Check MCP Gateway in Claude Desktop

    MCP Gateway: Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop; check developer diagnostics.

Config file · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-gateway-lasso-security": {
      "command": "mcp-gateway",
      "args": [
        "--mcp-json-path",
        "~/.cursor/mcp.json",
        "-p",
        "basic",
        "-p",
        "xetrack"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

MCP Gateway tools available to Claude Desktop

MCP Gateway's stored tool list documents 2 tools; compare it with Claude Desktop's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

get_metadata

When Claude Desktop requests get_metadata from MCP Gateway, review the action before approving it.

Inspect available proxied servers and their capabilities.

run_tool

When Claude Desktop requests run_tool from MCP Gateway, review the action before approving it.

MCP Gateway: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting MCP Gateway in Claude Desktop

  • Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop for MCP Gateway. If mcp-gateway is missing, check the desktop process's PATH, which may differ from your terminal.
  • MCP Gateway uses stdio here: Claude Desktop must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
  • Known limitation: Presidio and Xetrack require additional dependencies
  • Known limitation: Advanced Lasso guardrails need an API key and external API checks
  • Known limitation: Scanner results can be manually overridden
  • General Claude Desktop troubleshooting lives in the /clients/claude-desktop guide.

MCP Gateway — details. Claude Desktop guide

Frequently asked questions

Claude Desktop loads MCP Gateway from claude_desktop_config.json: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, or %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Open it via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

Claude Desktop's mcp-gateway-lasso-security example uses stdio.

MCP Gateway's Claude Desktop configuration invokes mcp-gateway.

MCP Gateway's stored list contains 2 tools, including get_metadata, run_tool. Compare those names with Claude Desktop's connected tool list; the stored list is not a live check.

The plugin table assigns token and secret masking to basic, not PII masking. Presidio or Lasso provides PII controls.

No. It is required for the Lasso plugin, not the documented basic masking setup.