MCPHARDEN

MCP server hardening linter — capability declarations, transport, tool descriptions

AI Security & Governance — securing LLMs, agents, and the MCP supply chain.

pip install cognis-mcpharden
mcpharden scan .            # → prioritized findings in seconds

Contents

• Why mcpharden? · Features · Quick start · Example · Architecture · AI stack · How it compares · Integrations · Install anywhere · Related · Contributing

Why mcpharden?

MCP server hardening linter — capability declarations, transport, tool descriptions — without standing up heavyweight infrastructure.

mcpharden is single-purpose, scriptable, and self-hostable: point it at a target, get prioritized results in the format your workflow already speaks (table · JSON · SARIF), gate CI on it, and let agents drive it over MCP.

Features

• ✅ Scan
• ✅ Runs on Linux/macOS/Windows · Docker · devcontainer
• ✅ Ports in Python, JavaScript, Go, and Rust (ports/)

Quick start

pip install cognis-mcpharden
mcpharden --version
mcpharden scan .                       # scan current project
mcpharden scan . --format json         # machine-readable
mcpharden scan . --fail-on high        # CI gate (non-zero exit)

Example

$ mcpharden scan .
  [HIGH    ] MCP-001  example finding             (./src/app.py)
  [MEDIUM  ] MCP-002  another signal              (./config.yaml)

  2 findings · risk score 5 · 38ms

Architecture

flowchart LR
  A[Input: file / dir / API] --> B[Collectors]
  B --> C[Rules / Analyzers]
  C --> D[Scorer]
  D --> E{Reporters}
  E --> F[Table]
  E --> G[JSON / SARIF]
  E --> H[MCP tool -. drives .-> AI agents]

Use it from any AI stack

mcpharden is interoperable with every popular way of using AI:

• MCP server — mcpharden mcp (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cognis.Studio, uncensored-fleet)
• OpenAI-compatible / JSON — pipe mcpharden scan . --format json into any agent or LLM
• LangChain · CrewAI · AutoGen · LlamaIndex — wrap the CLI/JSON as a tool in one line
• CI / scripts — exit codes + SARIF for non-AI pipelines

How it compares

| | Cognis mcpharden | ModelContextProtocol-Security | |---|:---:|:---:| | Self-hostable, no account | ✅ | varies | | Single command, zero config | ✅ | ⚠️ | | JSON + SARIF for CI | ✅ | varies | | MCP-native (AI agents) | ✅ | ❌ | | Polyglot ports (JS/Go/Rust) | ✅ | ❌ | | Open license | ✅ COCL | varies |

Built in the spirit of ModelContextProtocol-Security/mcpserver-audit, re-framed the Cognis way. Missing a credit? Open a PR.

Integrations

Pipes into your stack: SARIF for code-scanning, JSON for anything, an MCP server (mcpharden mcp) for AI agents, and a webhook forwarder for SIEM/Slack/Jira. See docs/INTEGRATIONS.md.

Install anywhere

| Linux | macOS | Windows | Docker | Cloud | |---|---|---|---|---| | scripts/setup-linux.sh | scripts/setup-macos.sh | scripts/setup-windows.ps1 | docker run ghcr.io/cognis-digital/mcpharden | DEPLOY.md (AWS/Azure/GCP/k8s) |

Related Cognis tools

• aegis — AI Agent Permission & Access Auditor — surfaces the lethal trifecta of credentials + injection + reach
• promptmirror — Prompt-injection & indirect-injection scanner for any LLM context input
• ledgermind — Local LLM cost & token forensics proxy with anomaly detection
• adversa — LLM red-team harness — OWASP LLM Top 10 + MITRE ATLAS attack packs
• guardpost — Runtime agent firewall — PII redaction, rate limits, policy enforcement
• hallumark — LLM hallucination & grounding auditor for RAG systems

Explore the suite → 🗂️ all 170+ tools · ⭐ awesome-cognis · 🔗 cognis-sources · 🤖 uncensored-fleet · 🧠 hermes

Contributing

PRs, new rules, and demo scenarios are welcome under the collaboration-pull model — see CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md.

⭐ If mcpharden saved you time, star it — it genuinely helps others find it.

License

Source-available under the Cognis Open Collaboration License (COCL) v1.0 — free for personal, internal-evaluation, research, and educational use; commercial / production use requires a license (licensing@cognis.digital). See LICENSE.