diff --git a/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/mcp.md b/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/mcp.md
index c25455790e23..07475cb8984d 100644
--- a/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/mcp.md
+++ b/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/mcp.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 title: MCP access policies
 linkTitle: MCP access
 weight: 50
-description: Use Cedar-based MCP policies to control sandbox MCP server registration, tool calls, prompts, resources, and approval gates.
+description: Use Cedar-based policies to control MCP server registration and activity routed through the Docker Sandboxes MCP gateway.
 keywords: docker sandboxes, MCP policy, MCP access, Cedar policy, requireApproval, AI Governance
 ---
 
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@ withdraw access to a server, require approval for tool calls, and restrict
 host-run servers. To register MCP servers and connect them to sandboxes, see
 [MCP gateway](../../mcp-gateway.md).
 
+MCP access policies apply only to server registration and requests handled by
+Docker's MCP gateway. They don't govern an MCP server that an agent or MCP
+client configures and connects to directly from inside the sandbox. A direct
+connection to a remote MCP server is outbound sandbox traffic, so
+[network access policy](network.md) determines whether the sandbox can reach
+the server. To prevent access through both paths, block the server in MCP
+access policy and block its network destination in network access policy.
+
 Unlike [network access policies](network.md) and
 [filesystem access policies](filesystem.md), MCP policies are organization
 policies written in Cedar. Docker defines the `MCP` namespace, including the
diff --git a/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/network.md b/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/network.md
index b30d1dbb5a0d..530060d23316 100644
--- a/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/network.md
+++ b/content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/network.md
@@ -59,3 +59,10 @@ organization or to selected teams. For setup steps and team scoping, see
 
 Use [Monitoring policies](../monitor-and-enforce/monitoring.md) to inspect
 which network rules are active on a developer machine.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> To manage Model Context Protocol (MCP) server registration and requests
+> through Docker's MCP gateway, use [MCP access policies](mcp.md). These
+> policies apply only to the gateway. Direct MCP connections from a sandbox
+> don't use the gateway, but you can control access to remote MCP servers with
+> network policy.