AI Gateway
Gateway
Secure LLM access, control agent connectivity, and govern tool use: without changing your application code. MCP-native, Kafka-backed, and observable by default.
Turn a REST API into agent tools without writing an MCP server.
Capabilities
First-class MCP support with server, proxy, and client bindings. MCP is a native stream type alongside http and kafka.
Aggregate multiple MCP servers behind one endpoint. Route tool calls by toolkit name with a configurable listing cache.
JWT bearer authentication at the gateway. Auth enforced before tool calls reach upstream servers.
Cache and aggregate tool, prompt, and resource listings at the gateway. Upstream servers are hit only on TTL expiry.
Derive MCP tools and resources directly from an OpenAPI document. No manual schema authoring required.
Per-method counters and histograms for all MCP calls, dimensioned by tool and outcome. Exported via Prometheus or OTLP.
Use Cases
HTTP APIs as Tools
Expose a plain REST API as MCP tools with no MCP server standing between it and the gateway. Each tool is named and schema-validated in configuration.
OpenAPI Specs as Tools
Derive MCP tools and resources automatically from an existing OpenAPI document, instead of hand-authoring each one.
Streaming Data as Tools
Turn a Kafka topic into MCP tools by chaining AI Gateway in front of a Kafka-backed REST API, with no custom MCP server and no application code.
Comparison
Most MCP gateways ship as a dedicated MCP/AI gateway service, or a plugin added to an existing API gateway, either way a new component with its own config surface. The rows below reflect patterns common across that landscape, not any single product.
| What You Need | Other MCP Gateways | Zilla MCP Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Tool aggregation | Separate aggregator, or custom merge logic | Unified tool list, add an upstream, done |
| Streaming data as tools | Custom wrapper service, or a bespoke MCP server | Native Kafka toolkit, produce/consume as MCP tools directly |
| REST-to-MCP | Translation plugin, or a proxy component | One route, schema-validated, no new service |
| OpenAPI-to-MCP | Hand-config, or external codegen, every read modeled as a tool | Point at the spec, tools and native resources auto-generated |
| Tool discovery at scale | Full schema load, or custom search | Eager + cold tools, keyword search, load only what's needed |
| Schema-governed messages | Custom validation middleware, or none at all | Schema registry-backed, enterprise data contracts enforced |
| Binary wire formats | Agent-side codec handling, or a translation service | JSON ↔ Avro/Protobuf, mediated at the gateway |
| RBAC and auth | Auth plugin, plus custom scoping code | One guard, role-based visibility |
| Human-in-the-loop | Build it into the agent, or run a callback service | Elicitation relay, built into the gateway |
| Stateless scaling | Sticky sessions, or a custom shared cache | Shared store, no sticky sessions |
| Operational footprint | Separate service, database, and cache per protocol | MCP, HTTP, and Kafka, one config file, one runtime |