ContextForge MCP Gateway
IBM's open source gateway that puts one governed endpoint in front of every Model Context Protocol server, so an IBM i shop can register its Db2 for i tools once and let any AI client reach them with shared login checks, rate limits and logging. IBM's own IBM i MCP Server project ships a container stack that runs the gateway on port 4444 beside an IBM i SQL tools server on port 3010.
What ContextForge MCP Gateway does
Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is the agreed way an AI client asks an outside tool to do something. A shop that starts using it soon has several MCP servers: one for Db2 for i queries, one for system operations, maybe one from a software vendor. ContextForge sits in front of all of them. Think of it as the front desk in an office building. The AI client knocks on one door. The front desk knows which room holds which tool, who is allowed in, and how often they may ask.
What it adds in front of your MCP servers
- One endpoint that lists the tools, prompts and resources from every server you register
- Login checks and rate limits, so one AI client cannot flood your system
- Traces, metrics and logs, so you can see which tool was called and when
- Virtual servers, which group tools from several places into one server the AI client sees
- Protocol translation, so a plain REST or gRPC service can be offered as an MCP tool
- An optional Admin UI for registering servers and watching logs
IBM's repository description counts more than 40 plugins for extra transports, protocols and integrations, and IBM's December 2025 announcement counts more than 35 security plugins, including personal data detection and content filtering. Both counts are IBM's own.
How does an IBM i shop use it?
It does not run inside IBM i. IBM's IBM i MCP Server project ships a container stack that starts the gateway next to the IBM i server, and that server reaches Db2 for i over the network through Mapepire. Mapepire is the WebSocket database server you install on IBM i. It listens on port 8076 by default, so the firewall has to allow that port in.
Services in IBM's IBM i MCP Server container stack
| Service | Port | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| gateway | 4444 | ContextForge main API and Admin UI |
| ibmi-mcp-server | 3010 | IBM i SQL tools MCP server |
| postgres | internal | Gateway storage |
| redis | 6379 | Session and cache service |
| pgadmin | 5050 | Database admin UI |
| redis_insight | 5540 | Cache admin UI |
These are the defaults in the IBM i MCP Server deployment guide, which also carries Podman and OpenShift configurations. The guide builds the gateway image from the mcp-context-forge repository and names it localhost/mcpgateway/mcpgateway.
How do you install it?
Three ways IBM publishes it
- From PyPIInstall the package mcp-contextforge-gateway. Release 1.1.0 asks for Python 3.12 or 3.13.
- From a container imagePull ghcr.io/ibm/mcp-context-forge and run it under Docker, Podman or Kubernetes.
- Built from sourceClone github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge and build the image yourself. That is what the IBM i MCP Server deployment guide tells you to do.
IBM's documented setup keeps gateway data in PostgreSQL and uses Redis for sessions, caching and federation.
ContextForge release timeline
- May 8, 2025IBM creates the mcp-context-forge repository on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license.
- Jun 5, 2025First tagged release, v0.1.0.
- Dec 15, 2025IBM Developer announces ContextForge MCP Gateway 1.0.0-BETA-1. The matching tag lands on GitHub the next day.
- May 1, 2026v1.0.0 ships.
- Oct 20, 2026v1.1.0 ships with a redesigned web interface, newer MCP protocol support and federated completions.
Related Terms
Model Context Protocol
An open standard, released by Anthropic on November 25, 2024, that defines a client-server architecture for connecting AI applications to external data sources, tools, and prompts over JSON-RPC 2.0. IBM's IBM i MCP Server is an implementation of it for Db2 for i and other IBM i resources.
IBM i MCP Server
An open-source, IBM-published server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting AI agents and LLMs query Db2 for i data and take defined actions on IBM i using natural language. In beta since October 2025.
Mapepire
An open-source database access layer for Db2 for i, created by IBM and introduced in an August 2024 IBM blog post as a lighter, cloud-friendly alternative to ODBC and JDBC. A server daemon runs on IBM i and Node.js, Python, Java, and .NET Core clients connect to it over Secure WebSockets.
mcp-server-db2i
mcp-server-db2i is an open-source, MIT-licensed Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor and IBM Bob run read-only queries against Db2 for i and inspect its schemas, tables and views. It is a separate, community-built project from IBM's own IBM i MCP Server, connecting through the IBM i Access ODBC driver, the JT400 JDBC driver, or Mapepire over SSH.
ARCAD MCP Server
A vendor-built Model Context Protocol server from ARCAD Software, launched in spring 2026, that exposes IBM i application metadata from ARCAD's own repository to AI coding tools including IBM Bob, Claude, and GitHub Copilot in VS Code. It is a separate product from IBM's own IBM i MCP Server.
Db2 for i
The relational database management system built into every IBM i operating system, tightly integrated with IBM i rather than a separately installed database product.
IBM i
IBM's operating system for Power servers running traditional AS/400-lineage business applications, with Db2 for i built directly into the OS.
watsonx Orchestrate
IBM's AI agent and automation platform for orchestrating multi-step business workflows across enterprise applications. Since August 2026 it can launch IBM Bob from its Create an agent dialog through a Build with Bob preview, but it still ships no IBM i or Db2 for i connector.