The Kong MCP Registry acts as a central directory for AI agents and clients to access services that provide context or take action. For AI agents, think of it as a combination of a "Service Catalog" and a "Developer Portal." It offers the metadata, API endpoints, and capability definitions that specify how an LLM should communicate with your internal systems, be they databases, ticketing systems, or proprietary tools.

Designed to plug into the broader MCP ecosystem, the registry serves as a one-stop shop for agents requiring access to approved internal and external tools.

As we kick off 2026, the landscape for AI agent service discovery has evolved into three distinct tiers. Here is a summary of the three primary options an AI agent has for discovering services to fulfill its objectives:

1. Hardcoded / Manual Configuration

The most basic method, where developers manually provide the agent with a list of tools and their JSON-schema definitions during the initial prompt or as part of the system configuration. This method is best for small or experimental projects with a limited number of tools.

• How it works: Tools are defined in a local config.json or hardcoded in the agent’s code.
• Shortcomings: Impossible to scale across an organization. If a tool's API endpoint changes, every agent using it must be manually updated.

2. Standardized Protocol (MCP Client-Server)

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) provides a "handshake" mechanism. Instead of the agent knowing the tool, it knows the MCP Server. This method is best for integrating a specialized third-party tool (e.g., GitHub) directly into an AI client (e.g., Cursor)

• How it works: The agent connects to an MCP Server via stdio (local) or SSE/HTTP (remote). Upon connection, the server sends a "list tools" response, effectively telling the agent: "Here is everything I can do for you today."
• Shortcomings: The agent still needs to know the exact address/URL of every server it wants to talk to. There is no "global search" across multiple servers.

3. Centralized Service Registry

This is the "Enterprise" tier of discovery. A registry acts as a directory across (the "Yellow Pages") between many agents and many MCP servers. This method is best for scaling adoption of AI agents within a large organization.

• How it works: MCP servers register their capabilities with the MCP Registry, enabling agents to semantically discover relevant tools at runtime. The registry then resolves the request by returning only the authorized tools the agent can use to achieve its objective.
• Shortcomings: Requires an initial setup of the registry infrastructure, though Kong’s MCP Server Generator automates the population of the registry from existing APIs.

While the MCP ecosystem is growing, current implementations often struggle in enterprise environments. The Kong MCP Registry, when combined with the Kong AI Gateway, is built to solve these specific challenges

• Fragmented Discovery: Most MCP servers today are scattered across local configs or individual repositories. Kong provides a unified "source of truth" within the Kong Konnect Catalog, ending the need for disparate tools.
• Inconsistent Security and Governance: Standard registries often act as simple lists without enforcing security. Kong integrates enterprise-grade Auth, ensuring that sensitive MCP tools are only visible and accessible to authorized clients.
• The "Manual" Bottleneck: In most setups, someone has to manually write an MCP server for every API. Kong overcomes this with Automated Server Generation, turning your existing API catalog into an AI-ready toolset instantly.
• Lack of Visibility: Basic registries don't tell you who is using which tool or how much it costs. Kong adds Observability, tracking tool usage and "context bloat" to optimize performance and LLM spend.

The Kong MCP Registry extends Kong's proven API management capabilities to the agentic era. By treating MCP servers as managed entities within Konnect, teams can provide the same enterprise-grade governance, discoverability, and access control that organizations already depend on for their API infrastructure.

• Unified MCP Catalog: Register MCP servers as a first-class mcp_registry entity within the Konnect Catalog.
• AAIF Compatibility: Built for compatibility with the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) MCP standard, allowing seamless integration with the AAIF  ecosystem. 
• Developer Portal Integration (Coming Soon): Publish MCP servers to the Dev Portal, allowing developers to discover AI context alongside traditional APIs.
• Secure Access: Leverage Konnect’s authentication context (including PATs) to ensure only authorized clients access your internal registry.

Modern API management streamlines the build, run, discover, and govern lifecycle to ensure that digital services are secure, scalable, and easy to find. Kong leads this space by providing a unified, high-performance platform that automates these stages across any cloud or hybrid environment using its flexible gateway and robust plugin ecosystem. 

With the addition of Kong MCP Registry, you can extend this framework from API management to AI management. Organizations can apply the same security and governance standards to AI agents that they have used to scale API adoption, ensuring cost control, data privacy, and provider agility for their AI-driven applications.

• Build: Use Kong’s AI MCP Proxy to automatically turn any REST API into an MCP server. Build AI-ready capabilities in seconds without writing custom integration code.
• Run: Integration with the AI Gateway ensures your MCP servers are high-performing and reliable. Kong provides the connectivity layer to ensure seamless communication between local agents and cloud LLMs.
• Discover: The MCP Registry acts as the universal catalog. AI agents can find every available tool within the Konnect Catalog—creating a streamlined "storefront" for AI tools and context.
• Govern: By routing MCP traffic through the AI Gateway, you gain total visibility. Secure access, apply rate limits to control costs, and ensure PII never reaches agents that are not supposed to have it.

The Kong MCP Registry is your first step toward a governed, scalable AI strategy. By centralizing your MCP servers and securing them through the AI Gateway, you lay the groundwork for a more intelligent and safe future for your organization.

Are you a Kong customer interested in participating in the Kong MCP Registry Tech Preview? To try it, enable it in Konnect Labs and contact your account team with any questions.