Gateway, Cloudflare One - MCP protocol detection and AI Security dashboard

<p>Cloudflare Gateway now automatically detects <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ai/what-is-model-context-protocol-mcp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Model Context Protocol (MCP)<span class="external-link"> ↗︎</span></a> traffic flowing through your network. MCP is the standard protocol used by AI agents to connect to external tools and data sources. Gateway identifies MCP requests by inspecting protocol-specific headers and payload characteristics.</p> <div tabindex="-1" class="heading-wrapper level-h4"><h4 id="mcp-policy-selector">MCP policy selector</h4><a class="anchor-link" href="#mcp-policy-selector"><span aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-icon"><svg width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentcolor" d="m12.11 15.39-3.88 3.88a2.52 2.52 0 0 1-3.5 0 2.47 2.47 0 0 1 0-3.5l3.88-3.88a1 1 0 0 0-1.42-1.42l-3.88 3.89a4.48 4.48 0 0 0 6.33 6.33l3.89-3.88a1 1 0 1 0-1.42-1.42Zm8.58-12.08a4.49 4.49 0 0 0-6.33 0l-3.89 3.88a1 1 0 0 0 1.42 1.42l3.88-3.88a2.52 2.52 0 0 1 3.5 0 2.47 2.47 0 0 1 0 3.5l-3.88 3.88a1 1 0 1 0 1.42 1.42l3.88-3.89a4.49 4.49 0 0 0 0-6.33ZM8.83 15.17a1 1 0 0 0 1.1.22 1 1 0 0 0 .32-.22l4.92-4.92a1 1 0 0 0-1.42-1.42l-4.92 4.92a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.42Z"></path></svg></span></a></div> <p>A new <strong>Is MCP</strong> selector (<code>experimental.is_mcp</code>) is available in <a href="https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/traffic-controls/http-policies/#is-mcp">HTTP policies</a>. Use this selector to build Gateway rules that allow, block, or isolate MCP traffic.</p> <p>This selector is currently in beta and may change before general availability.</p> <p>For example, the following policy blocks MCP traffic that does not arrive through an approved <a href="https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/access-controls/ai-controls/mcp-portals/">MCP portal</a>:</p> <div class="table-scroll" tabindex="0" role="region" aria-label="Table"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Selector</th> <th>Operator</th> <th>Value</th> <th>Logic</th> <th>Action</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Is MCP</td> <td>is</td> <td><em>True</em></td> <td>And</td> <td>Block</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Traffic Source</td> <td>is not</td> <td><em>MCP portal</em></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <img src="https://developers.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=1104,height=664,format=webp/_astro/gateway-block-unknown-mcp.B2Ainj8x.png" alt="Example Gateway policy that blocks MCP traffic not arriving through an MCP portal" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1104" height="664"> <div tabindex="-1" class="heading-wrapper level-h4"><h4 id="ai-security-report">AI security report</h4><a class="anchor-link" href="#ai-security-report"><span aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-icon"><svg width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentcolor" d="m12.11 15.39-3.88 3.88a2.52 2.52 0 0 1-3.5 0 2.47 2.47 0 0 1 0-3.5l3.88-3.88a1 1 0 0 0-1.42-1.42l-3.88 3.89a4.48 4.48 0 0 0 6.33 6.33l3.89-3.88a1 1 0 1 0-1.42-1.42Zm8.58-12.08a4.49 4.49 0 0 0-6.33 0l-3.89 3.88a1 1 0 0 0 1.42 1.42l3.88-3.88a2.52 2.52 0 0 1 3.5 0 2.47 2.47 0 0 1 0 3.5l-3.88 3.88a1 1 0 1 0 1.42 1.42l3.88-3.89a4.49 4.49 0 0 0 0-6.33ZM8.83 15.17a1 1 0 0 0 1.1.22 1 1 0 0 0 .32-.22l4.92-4.92a1 1 0 0 0-1.42-1.42l-4.92 4.92a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.42Z"></path></svg></span></a></div> <p>A new <strong>AI security report</strong> dashboard under <strong>Insights &amp; Logs &gt; Dashboards</strong> provides visibility into MCP usage across your organization. The dashboard includes:</p> <ul> <li>Total MCP request volume, unique users, and unique MCP servers</li> <li>A timeseries chart of unique MCP servers observed over time</li> <li>A summary of Gateway policies that target MCP traffic</li> </ul> <img src="https://developers.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=2406,height=928,format=webp/_astro/gateway-mcp-dashboard.C9jPahkp.png" alt="AI security report dashboard showing MCP detection data including total MCP requests, users, servers, and Gateway policies for MCP" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2406" height="928"> <p>For more information, refer to <a href="https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/traffic-controls/http-policies/">HTTP policies</a>.</p>