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dvdksn merged 1 commit into from
Aug 14, 2026
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docs: clarify sandbox MCP policy scope #25805

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10 changes: 9 additions & 1 deletion content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/mcp.md
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Expand Up @@ -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
---

Expand All @@ -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
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7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions content/manuals/ai/sandboxes/governance/access-controls/network.md
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Expand Up @@ -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.