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Allow tool discovery without authentication in remote authorization mode #325

@slumbi

Description

@slumbi

In remote_authorization mode, the MCP server currently requires authentication headers on all requests, including the initial tools/list request that clients use to discover available capabilities.

This creates practical problems in several scenarios:

  1. MCP Gateways and Admin Interfaces - When deploying an MCP server behind a gateway or management interface that needs to:

    • Filter the tool list based on user permissions
    • Modify tool metadata before presenting to clients
    • Apply custom routing or transformation rules
    • Present a curated subset of tools to different users

    The gateway cannot inspect the tools list without first establishing authentication, making it impossible to implement these features.

  2. Client User Experience - Clients cannot enumerate available tools before authenticating, preventing UI implementations from displaying tool capabilities upfront.

  3. Discovery and Debugging - Developers and administrators cannot inspect what actions are available without first providing credentials, complicating debugging and exploration.

Suggested behavior:

The tools/list request (MCP method: "tools/list") should be served without authentication, allowing:

  • Gateways to inspect and transform tool lists before presenting to clients
  • Clients to discover server capabilities before authenticating
  • Administrators to verify server configuration without auth

All other requests should continue to require authentication as before.

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