Trusted MCP Registry

A lightweight, Azure-hosted Trusted MCP Registry for VS Code on Windows 11 and GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Built as a teaching example by Tim Warner.

Phase 1 MVP — a policy plane for MCP, not a runtime. JSON over HTTPS, an allowlist file in Git, a PowerShell sync script that materializes .vscode/mcp.json. Cost target: ~$0/month on SWA Free tier.

This is a metadata + governance control plane, not a runtime. The registry publishes JSON manifests over HTTPS; an allowlist file (PR-reviewed, Git-tracked) declares which servers are trusted; a PowerShell sync script materializes .vscode/mcp.json from the registry, filtered by policy.

Honest disclosure. VS Code MCP clients read mcp.json (workspace or user scope), not a remote registry URL. The bridge is scripts/Sync-McpClient.ps1. Running that script is the governance demo on camera.

Repository layout

trusted-mcp-registry/
├── registry/
│   ├── index.json              # manifest of manifests
│   ├── allowlist.json          # allowed + blocked server IDs
│   └── servers/                # one manifest per MCP server
├── schemas/                    # JSON Schema (Draft 2020-12)
├── scripts/
│   ├── validate-registry.ps1   # CI gate
│   └── Sync-McpClient.ps1      # registry → .vscode/mcp.json bridge
├── staticwebapp.config.json    # SWA routes, CORS, MIME
├── infra/main.bicep            # SWA resource as IaC
├── .github/workflows/          # validate.yml, deploy.yml
└── docs/                       # PRD, architecture, teaching guide

Quick start

1. Validate locally

pwsh ./scripts/validate-registry.ps1 -Strict

2. Serve locally with the SWA CLI

npx @azure/static-web-apps-cli start ./
# then in another terminal
Invoke-RestMethod http://localhost:4280/registry/index.json

3. Sync into VS Code

./scripts/Sync-McpClient.ps1 -RegistryUrl http://localhost:4280

Open the workspace in VS Code on Windows 11. The MCP client picks up .vscode/mcp.json. Servers in blockedServers are excluded; servers not in allowedServers are excluded.

Deploy

# 1. Provision the SWA (Free tier, ~$0/month)
az group create -n rg-trusted-mcp-registry -l eastus2
az deployment group create -g rg-trusted-mcp-registry -f infra/main.bicep

# 2. Capture the deployment token and store it as a repo Action secret
$swa   = (az deployment group show -g rg-trusted-mcp-registry -n main --query properties.outputs.staticWebAppName.value -o tsv)
$token = az staticwebapp secrets list -n $swa -g rg-trusted-mcp-registry --query properties.apiKey -o tsv
gh secret set AZURE_STATIC_WEB_APPS_API_TOKEN -R timothywarner-org/trusted-mcp-registry --body $token

# 3. Push to main — validate.yml + deploy.yml take it from here
git push

After the deploy job goes green, point the camera at:

$host = (az staticwebapp show -n $swa -g rg-trusted-mcp-registry --query defaultHostname -o tsv)
Invoke-RestMethod "https://$host/registry/index.json"

Phase 1 scope

See docs/trusted_mcp_registry_prd_tim_warner.md for the PRD, docs/architecture.md for the design, and docs/teaching-guide.md for the demo runbook.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.