{"token_count": 2905}

# MCP Access Getting Started Guide

Teleport can provide secure connections to your MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers while improving both access control and visibility.

This guide shows you how to:

- Enroll the Teleport demo MCP server in your Teleport cluster.
- Connect to the MCP server via Teleport.

## How it works

![How it works](/docs/assets/images/architecture-demo-f22808729eaff4ee8611a5301d3d8304.svg)

The Teleport Application Service includes a built-in demo MCP server designed to showcase how MCP access works.

Users can configure their MCP clients such as Claude Desktop to start an MCP server using `tsh`. Once successfully authorized, `tsh` establishes a session with the Application Service.

Once the session is established, the Application Service starts the in-memory demo MCP server. Teleport then proxies the connection between the client and the remote MCP server, applying additional role-based access controls such as filtering which tools are available to the user. While proxying, Teleport also logs MCP protocol requests as audit events, providing visibility into user activity.

## Prerequisites

- A running Teleport (v18.1.0 or higher) cluster. If you want to get started with Teleport, [sign up](https://goteleport.com/signup) for a free trial or [set up a demo environment](https://goteleport.com/docs/get-started/deploy-community.md).

- The `tctl` and `tsh` clients.

  Installing `tctl` and `tsh` clients

  1. Determine the version of your Teleport cluster. The `tctl` and `tsh` clients must be at most one major version behind your Teleport cluster version. Send a GET request to the Proxy Service at `/v1/webapi/find` and use a JSON query tool to obtain your cluster version. Replace teleport.example.com:443 with the web address of your Teleport Proxy Service:

     **Mac/Linux**

     ```
     $ TELEPORT_DOMAIN=teleport.example.com:443
     $ TELEPORT_VERSION="$(curl -s https://$TELEPORT_DOMAIN/v1/webapi/find | jq -r '.server_version')"
     ```

     **Windows - Powershell**

     ```
     $ $TELEPORT_DOMAIN = "teleport.example.com:443"
     $ $TELEPORT_VERSION = (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://${TELEPORT_DOMAIN}/v1/webapi/find").server_version
     ```

  2. Follow the instructions for your platform to install `tctl` and `tsh` clients:

     **Mac**

     Download the signed macOS .pkg installer for Teleport, which includes the `tctl` and `tsh` clients:

     ```
     $ curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-${TELEPORT_VERSION?}.pkg
     ```

     In Finder double-click the `pkg` file to begin installation.

     ---

     DANGER

     Using Homebrew to install Teleport is not supported. The Teleport package in Homebrew is not maintained by Teleport and we can't guarantee its reliability or security.

     ---

     **Windows - Powershell**

     ```
     $ curl.exe -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v$TELEPORT_VERSION-windows-amd64-bin.zip
     Unzip the archive and move the `tctl` and `tsh` clients to your %PATH%
     NOTE: Do not place the `tctl` and `tsh` clients in the System32 directory, as this can cause issues when using WinSCP.
     Use %SystemRoot% (C:\Windows) or %USERPROFILE% (C:\Users\<username>) instead.
     ```

     **Linux**

     All of the Teleport binaries in Linux installations include the `tctl` and `tsh` clients. For more options (including RPM/DEB packages and downloads for i386/ARM/ARM64) see our [installation page](https://goteleport.com/docs/installation/single-machine.md).

     ```
     $ curl -O https://cdn.teleport.dev/teleport-v${TELEPORT_VERSION?}-linux-amd64-bin.tar.gz
     $ tar -xzf teleport-v${TELEPORT_VERSION?}-linux-amd64-bin.tar.gz
     $ cd teleport
     $ sudo ./install
     Teleport binaries have been copied to /usr/local/bin
     ```

* A host, e.g., an EC2 instance, where you will run the Teleport Applications Service.

## Step 1/3. Configure the Teleport Application Service

You can update an existing Application Service or create a new one to enable the demo MCP server.

**Update an existing service**

If you already have an existing Application Service running, you can enable the demo MCP server by adding the following in your YAML configuration:

```
app_service:
  enabled: true
+  mcp_demo_server: true
...

```

Now restart the Application Service.

**Create a new service**

#### Get a join token

The Application Service requires a valid join token to join your Teleport cluster. Run the following `tctl` command and save the token output in `/tmp/token` on the server that will run the Application Service:

```
$ tctl tokens add --type=app --format=text
abcd123-insecure-do-not-use-this
```

Alternative methods

For users with a lot of infrastructure in AWS, or who might create or recreate many instances, consider alternative methods for joining new EC2 instances running Teleport:

- [Configure Teleport to Automatically Enroll EC2 instances](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/auto-discovery/servers/ec2-discovery.md)
- [Joining Teleport Services via AWS IAM Role](https://goteleport.com/docs/installation/agents/aws-iam.md)
- [Joining Teleport Services via AWS EC2 Identity Document](https://goteleport.com/docs/installation/agents/aws-ec2.md)

#### Install the Teleport Application Service

Install Teleport on the host where you will run the Teleport Application Service:

To install Teleport binaries on your Linux server, the recommended installation method is the cluster install script. It will select the correct version, edition, and installation mode for your cluster.

1. Remove any existing Teleport binaries on your system:

   ```
   $ sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/{tsh,teleport,tctl,tbot,fdpass-teleport,teleport-update}
   ```

2. Assign teleport.example.com:443 to your Teleport cluster hostname and port, but not the scheme (https\://).

3. Run your cluster's install script:

   ```
   $ curl "https://teleport.example.com:443/scripts/install.sh" | sudo bash
   ```

#### Configure the Teleport Application service

On the host where you will run the Teleport Application Service, create a configuration file:

```
$ sudo teleport configure \
   -o file \
   --roles=app \
   --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 \
   --token=/tmp/token \
   --mcp-demo-server
```

The command will generate an Application Service configuration to proxy the demo MCP server and save the configuration to `/etc/teleport.yaml`.

#### Start the Teleport Application Service

Start the Application Service. The instructions depend on how you installed the Application Service and whether your system supports systemd:

**Package Manager**

Configure the Application Service to start automatically when the host boots up by creating a systemd service for it. On the host where you will run the Application Service, enable and start Teleport:

```
$ sudo systemctl enable teleport
$ sudo systemctl start teleport
```

You can check the status of the Application Service with `systemctl status teleport` and view its logs with `journalctl -fu teleport`.

**TAR Archive**

Configure the Application Service to start automatically when the host boots up by creating a systemd service for it. On the host where you will run the Application Service, create a systemd service configuration for Teleport, enable the Teleport service, and start Teleport:

```
$ sudo teleport install systemd -o /etc/systemd/system/teleport.service
$ sudo systemctl enable teleport
$ sudo systemctl start teleport
```

You can check the status of the Application Service with `systemctl status teleport` and view its logs with `journalctl -fu teleport`.

**No systemd**

On the host where you will run the Application Service, start Teleport:

```
$ sudo teleport start --config=/etc/teleport.yaml
```

Teleport runs in the foreground and outputs logs for the services it is running.

## Step 2/3. Configure your Teleport user

In this step, you will grant your Teleport user access to all MCP servers and their MCP tools.

**Configure an existing user**

If you have an existing Teleport user, assign the preset role `mcp-user` to that user. The `mcp-user` role allows access to all MCP servers and their tools:

```
kind: role
version: v8
metadata:
  description: Access to MCP servers
  labels:
    teleport.internal/resource-type: preset
  name: mcp-user
spec:
  allow:
    app_labels:
      'teleport.internal/app-sub-kind': 'mcp'
    mcp:
      tools:
      - '*'

```

Alternatively, add the above allow permissions to an existing Teleport role.

**Create a new user**

Create a new local user called my\_user with MCP access:

```
$ tctl users add my_user --roles=mcp-user
```

---

TIP

You can also create and edit roles using the Web UI. Go to **Access -> Roles** and click **Create New Role** or pick an existing role to edit.

---

## Step 3/3. Connect

Log in to Teleport with the user we've just created, my\_user:

```
$ tsh login --proxy=teleport.example.com:443 --user=my_user
```

Now we can inspect available MCP servers:

```
$ tsh mcp ls
Name              Description                                                       Type  Labels
----------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----- ------
teleport-mcp-demo A demo MCP server that shows current user and session information stdio
```

To show configurations for your MCP client to connect:

```
$ tsh mcp config teleport-mcp-demo
Found MCP servers:
everything

Here is a sample JSON configuration for launching Teleport MCP servers:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teleport-mcp-teleport-mcp-demo": {
      "command": "/path/to/tsh",
      "args": ["mcp", "connect", "teleport-mcp-demo"]
    }
  }
}

Tip: You can use this command to update your MCP servers configuration file automatically.
- For Claude Desktop, use --client-config=claude to update the default configuration.
- For Cursor, use --client-config=cursor to update the global MCP servers configuration.
In addition, you can use --client-config=<path> to specify a config file location that is compatible with the "mcpServers" mapping.
For example, you can update a Cursor project using --client-config=<path-to-project>/.cursor/mcp.json
```

Once your MCP client configuration is updated, you will see `teleport-mcp-teleport-mcp-demo` MCP server with allowed tools appear in your MCP client.

The demo MCP server consists of several tools:

- `teleport_user_info`: Shows basic information about your Teleport user.
- `teleport_session_info`: Shows information about this MCP session.
- `teleport_demo_info`: Shows information about this Teleport Demo MCP server.

You can interact with it using sample questions like "can you show some details on this Teleport demo?":

![Demo Server Claude Desktop](/docs/assets/images/demo-server-claude-desktop-23f0e3ce11ff74bfd99344a0ad025741.png)

## Next Steps

Learn more about protecting MCP servers with Teleport in the following topics:

- [MCP Access Control](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/mcp-access/rbac.md).
- Configuration and CLI [reference](https://goteleport.com/docs/enroll-resources/mcp-access/reference.md).
- Audit events [reference](https://goteleport.com/docs/reference/deployment/monitoring/audit.md#event-types).