How to Govern MCP Without Breaking Your Stack
Blog post from Prefect
The text explores the complexities of managing Model Context Protocol (MCP) governance within an organization, highlighting challenges such as shadow SaaS, unidentified MCP endpoints, and inadequate governance frameworks that fail to address new vulnerabilities introduced by MCP. It emphasizes the need for a control plane to integrate MCP traffic into existing governance structures, covering aspects like identity, authorization, audit, lifecycle, and discovery. The discussion introduces Horizon as a solution that consolidates MCP oversight by integrating with existing identity and compliance systems, thereby transforming MCP governance into a manageable workflow without expanding toolsets or complicating team processes. The text also outlines common pitfalls like DIY solutions, inventory scanning, point-tool mishaps, and ignoring shadow MCP, emphasizing the importance of having a platform that respects and extends existing governance frameworks while providing a singular, queryable record of MCP activities for audit and compliance purposes.