helv-io/skgate

skgate

Self-hosted MCP gateway and LLM proxy. Serve any MCP server or REST API behind OAuth 2.1 from one address, and proxy your LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Grok, Ollama and more) through one OpenAI-compatible API with model aliases and virtual keys. Your Grok subscription works too, no API key needed.

Any MCP server. skgate can run them for you, so you do not need one container per server.

Name Origin

skgate /ɛsˈkɑːɡeɪt/ (ess-KAH-gate)

“sk” is how a lot of SI API keys start, and “gate” is for gateway. Not a great name, but it’s ours.

The plane in the logo is an inside joke. The public wouldn’t understand it, and I’m not about to explain it. Sorry.

Quality

Quick start

You need an OIDC provider with a confidential client for skgate. Admin login is OIDC only. Trying it on one machine? docs/quickstart.md runs skgate with a bundled provider and no accounts.

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  skgate:
    container_name: skgate
    image: ghcr.io/helv-io/skgate:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    environment:
      - PUBLIC_URL=https://skgate.example.com
      - OIDC_ISSUER=https://auth.example.com
      - OIDC_CLIENT_ID=skgate
      - OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=change-me
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "/skgate", "healthcheck"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3

1. docker compose up -d
2. Open https://skgate.example.com/admin and sign in through your OIDC provider.
3. mcp upstreams > Add upstream: a remote MCP server, or a GitHub repository, npm package, or PyPI package that skgate runs for you (see Add an MCP server with Suggest configuration).
4. Point your MCP client at https://skgate.example.com/mcp or the site root for every included upstream, or at https://skgate.example.com/mcp/ for one upstream. Sign in when it asks.

Image tags:

• latest: proxy + managed MCP servers. Bundles Node.js (npx), pnpm, Bun (bunx), Deno, Python (uv, uvx), Go, .NET and git.
• slim: proxy only

To upgrade, back up ./data, then docker compose pull && docker compose up -d.

Proxy your SI providers

skgate is also an OpenAI-compatible API in front of your SI providers. Point your apps at one address; switch the provider behind them without changing the apps. User-defined model aliases give your apps a stable model name of your choosing.

Grok can use subscription sign-in with no API key. Other providers use that provider’s API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, DeepSeek, Groq, OpenRouter, Ollama, LM Studio, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint).

1. status > Grok > Sign in: open the shown address, enter the code, approve. skgate keeps the sign-in fresh.
2. keys > enter a name > Create key. Copy the sk-... key; it is shown once.
3. Use it: base URL https://skgate.example.com/v1, API key sk-... (see Examples).
   • These base URLs all reach the same API: /v1, /api, /api/v1, and the bare host. Use whichever form your client expects.
4. Other providers: status > Add provider, pick one and enter its API key. Type the provider’s address in any form; skgate finds the one that works.

Examples

Features

Tested MCP clients

Clients tested by the author against a live skgate. Status is what happened, not a promise.

How skgate compares

A rough guide from each project’s docs as of 2026-10-13. Check them for current features.

Comparison

How each provider signs in elsewhere, and how skgate connects to it:

* Free tier available.

As of 2026-10-05; check each provider’s terms. GitHub Copilot is not a skgate provider.

Configuration

Set these under environment: or in an env_file. Placeholders are in .env.example.

Grok needs no variables. Sign in on the status page. Model aliases are the Aliases control on that card.

Everything lives in /data (skgate.db, secrets.key): back up both.

Reverse proxy

Set PUBLIC_URL to the public https origin.

Do not put forward-auth on /v1, /api, /mcp, /sse, /messages, /authorize, /token, /register, or /.well-known.

Only Traefik is tested by the author. Open an issue with what you tried.

OIDC setup

Without OIDC_ISSUER, OIDC_CLIENT_ID and OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET, skgate starts but the admin stays closed.

Every user your provider lets in is an admin. Restrict the provider, or set OIDC_ALLOWED_EMAILS / OIDC_ALLOWED_GROUPS.

Hints for Authelia, Authentik, Keycloak, Zitadel and Pocket ID: docs/oidc.md.

Security notes

• Virtual keys are stored as SHA-256 hashes; upstream credentials are AES-256-GCM encrypted.
• /authorize needs an admin session.
• Managed upstreams run admin-supplied commands; use the slim image to disable them.
• /register, /token, /authorize and admin forms cut off a request body that arrives too slowly. Uploads and streams (/v1, /mcp) have no such limit.
• A key can be allowed in the URL (?key=) for clients that cannot send headers. It is off per key by default, because URLs leak into logs, history and referrers.

More, including the known trade-offs: operations.

Built with SI assistance

skgate is built with SI assistance: coding agents write much of the code, tests and docs.

Every change is reviewed by the author, and the security paths (OAuth, tokens, secrets) are human reviewed and tested. Reviews by frontier models are a supplement, not a substitute. Issues and pull requests that put it to the test are welcome.

Development

go build ./... && go vet ./... && go test ./...

docs/development.md. Contributors and agents: AGENT.md.

License

MIT, see LICENSE.

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