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Toolport: a desktop MCP gateway with keys in your OS keychain

A desktop app that runs a local MCP gateway: set servers up once for every AI client, discover tools on demand, keep keys in the keychain and gate risky calls.

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Project and installation docs

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https://github.com/btsouth/toolport

Use Claude, Cursor, Codex and VS Code side by side and each one wants its own MCP setup, with API keys scattered in plain text across several JSON files. Toolport is a desktop app that runs an MCP gateway on your machine. You add and authenticate each server once in Toolport, every client connects to it, and the keys go to your operating system’s keychain.

What it does

  • Set up once, use everywhere: add servers from a catalog, import an existing setup or paste a config, then connect AI clients from the Clients page. Profiles decide which servers each client can see.
  • Tools on demand: agents search for tools when they need them instead of loading every definition up front; the repo includes benchmarks of the context saved.
  • Call controls: disable individual tools, require approval for destructive calls and review activity in one place. Tool definitions get integrity checks, and unexpected changes are quarantined.
  • Shared agent rules: write instructions once and apply them to supported clients after a preview.

Who it’s for

  • Developers running three or four AI clients who are tired of configuring MCP in each.
  • Anyone who cares where their keys live and wants a confirmation prompt before an agent deletes something.

Setup

Download the Windows, macOS or Linux installer from the website or GitHub Releases; Arch users can use the pacman repo. Then:

  1. Add a server from the catalog, or import your existing setup.
  2. Authenticate the server and connect your AI apps on the Clients page.
  3. Restart or reload each client so it picks up Toolport.

A headless gateway and Docker setup are documented in docs/headless.md.

Our take

A small project worth watching: about 220 stars as of 2026-10-06, created in June 2026 and updated often. Where MCPJungle in this category is a server for teams, Toolport is for one person’s computer, with a GUI that’s quick to pick up. Keychain storage, approval for destructive calls and tool integrity checks are security features rarely found together in local gateways. Know what you’re installing: it’s a Tauri desktop app distributed as binaries, and building from source needs Node.js and Rust. Team sharing (Toolport Teams) is a separate hosted or self-hosted offering. The desktop app and gateway are MIT-licensed.