Forgemax

Code Mode MCP Gateway — collapses N servers x M tools into 2 tools (~1,000 tokens).

Instead of dumping every tool schema into the LLM's context window, Forgemax exposes exactly two MCP tools:

• search — query a capability manifest to discover tools (read-only, sandboxed)
• execute — run JavaScript against the tool API in a sandboxed V8 isolate

Additional sandbox APIs (the MCP surface stays at exactly 2 tools):

• forge.readResource(server, uri) — read MCP resources from downstream servers
• forge.stash — session-scoped key-value store for sharing data across executions
• forge.parallel(calls, opts) — bounded concurrent execution of tool/resource calls

The LLM writes JavaScript that calls through typed proxy objects. Credentials, file paths, and internal state never leave the host — the sandbox only sees opaque bindings. TypeScript definitions (forge.d.ts) are compiled into the binary and served in MCP server instructions, giving LLMs full type awareness.

Forgemax's Code Mode approach draws inspiration from Cloudflare's sandbox tool-calling pattern — their implementation of sandboxed code execution for MCP tool orchestration is excellent and well worth studying. We encourage supporting their work.

Why

LLMs are trained on billions of lines of code. They're better at writing narsil.symbols.find({pattern: "handle_*"}) than picking the right tool from a 76-item JSON schema list.

Performance

Forgemax schema size is constant (~1,100 tokens) regardless of how many tools are connected. Run the benchmark yourself: cargo run -p forge-manifest --example token_savings

Architecture

forgemax                 Binary entry point (stdio MCP transport)
  forge-config           TOML config loading, env var expansion, file watching
  forge-client           MCP client connections (stdio + HTTP/SSE), routing
  forge-server           MCP server handler (search + execute via rmcp)
    forge-sandbox        V8 sandbox (deno_core, AST validator, worker pool)
      forgemax-worker    Isolated child process for V8 execution
    forge-manifest       Capability manifest, LiveManifest, TypeScript defs
  forge-error            Typed DispatchError enum, structured errors, fuzzy matching
  forge-audit            Audit event types and structured logging
  forge-test-server      Mock MCP server for integration tests

forge-sandbox

The core innovation. Uses deno_core to run LLM-generated JavaScript in a locked-down V8 isolate:

• No filesystem, network, environment, or child process access
• Fresh runtime per execution (no state leakage)
• AST-based code validation via oxc — static analysis catches dangerous patterns before V8 runs (28 bypass tests)
• Multi-hop alias detection — tracks const e = eval; e("code") and destructured globalThis through multiple assignment hops
• Timeout + heap limit enforcement with typed errors (Timeout, HeapLimit, JsError) preserved across the IPC boundary
• Output size caps and tool call rate limiting
• Opaque bindings — credentials never exposed to sandbox code
• Dual-mode execution: in-process (tests) or isolated child process (production)
• Worker pool with warm process reuse, pre-warming, background reaping, and health checks (optional worker-pool feature)
• Resource reading with URI scheme blocklist, path traversal prevention, and rate limiting
• Session stash with TTL, group isolation, size limits, and per-execution rate limiting
• Bounded parallel execution (forge.parallel()) with concurrency caps
• Prometheus metrics for execution counters, duration histograms, and pool gauges (optional metrics feature)

forgemax-worker

Isolated child process binary for production execution. Communicates with the parent via length-delimited JSON IPC over stdin/stdout. Starts with a clean environment — no env vars, no inherited file descriptors. Even a V8 zero-day is contained at the OS process boundary.

forge-manifest

Queryable index of all tools across all connected MCP servers. Supports progressive discovery:

• Layer 0: Server names + descriptions (~50 tokens)
• Layer 1: Categories per server (~200 tokens)
• Layer 2: Tool list per category (~500 tokens)
• Layer 3: Full schema per tool (~200 tokens each)

Built dynamically from live tools/list responses when downstream servers connect. LiveManifest provides lock-free reads via arc-swap with atomic swap for background refresh — periodic re-discovery on a configurable interval, plus SIGHUP-triggered refresh on Unix. TypeScript definitions (forge.d.ts) are compiled into the binary at build time and served in MCP server instructions.

forge-client

MCP client connections to downstream servers. Supports stdio and HTTP/SSE transports. RouterDispatcher routes callTool(server, tool, args) to the correct downstream connection with pre-dispatch tool name validation — misspelled tools return TOOL_NOT_FOUND with Levenshtein-based suggestions before ever hitting the upstream server. ReconnectingClient decorator auto-reconnects on permanent transport failures (broken pipe, channel overflow) with exponential backoff — default enabled for stdio transports.

forge-server

Implements ServerHandler from rmcp. Exposes search and execute as MCP tools, wires them to the sandbox executor, and serves over stdio. Key operations are instrumented with tracing spans for structured observability.

forge-error

Typed DispatchError enum replacing anyhow::Error across all dispatchers. Variants: ServerNotFound, ToolNotFound, Timeout, CircuitOpen, GroupPolicyDenied, Upstream, TransportDead, RateLimit, Internal. TransportDead distinguishes permanent transport failures (broken pipe, channel closed) from transient upstream errors — triggers circuit breaker but is not retryable without reconnection. Includes fuzzy matching — find_symbls suggests find_symbols via Levenshtein distance. Errors serialize to structured JSON with {error, code, message, retryable, suggested_fix}.

forge-audit

Audit event types for structured logging. Every sandbox execution is logged with code hash, tool calls, duration, outcome, worker reuse status, and pool size at acquisition. Code previews are redacted before logging.

forge-config

TOML configuration with environment variable expansion (${GITHUB_TOKEN}). Configures downstream servers, transports, sandbox limits, and execution mode. Per-server reconnect and max_reconnect_backoff_secs fields control auto-reconnection on transport death (default: enabled for stdio). Optional config file watching via notify crate with debounced reload (requires config-watch feature). Startup concurrency is configurable (startup_concurrency, default 8) for parallel server connections.

Install

npm (recommended):

npm install -g forgemax

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew tap postrv/forgemax && brew install forgemax

Shell installer (macOS/Linux):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/postrv/forgemax/main/install.sh | bash

PowerShell (Windows):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/postrv/forgemax/main/install.ps1 | iex

Scoop (Windows):

scoop bucket add forgemax https://github.com/postrv/scoop-forgemax
scoop install forgemax

Cargo (from source):

cargo install forgemax

From source:

cargo build --release
# Binaries: target/release/forgemax + target/release/forgemax-worker

Quick Start

# 1. Generate a config file
forgemax init

# 2. Edit forge.toml to add your servers and tokens
# 3. Validate your setup
forgemax doctor

# 4. Run (serves MCP over stdio)
RUST_LOG=info forgemax

# Run tests (development)
cargo test --workspace

CLI Commands

Configuration

Copy the example config and add your tokens:

cp forge.toml.example forge.toml

The example includes pre-configured connections for 11 reputable MCP servers:

Uncomment only the servers you need. Environment variables are expanded (${GITHUB_TOKEN}).

[servers.narsil]
command = "narsil-mcp"
args = ["--repos", "."]
transport = "stdio"

[sandbox]
timeout_secs = 5
max_heap_mb = 64
execution_mode = "child_process"

# Per-server resilience
[servers.narsil]
command = "narsil-mcp"
args = ["--repos", "."]
transport = "stdio"
timeout_secs = 30
circuit_breaker = true
failure_threshold = 3
recovery_timeout_secs = 60
reconnect = true                   # Auto-reconnect on transport death (default: true for stdio)
max_reconnect_backoff_secs = 30    # Max backoff between retries

# Cross-server data flow isolation
[groups.internal]
servers = ["supabase"]
isolation = "strict"

[groups.external]
servers = ["notion", "linear", "atlassian"]
isolation = "strict"

[groups.tools]
servers = ["narsil", "playwright", "github"]
isolation = "open"

How It Works

1. Agent discovers tools via search():

async () => {
  return manifest.servers.map(s => ({
    name: s.name,
    categories: Object.keys(s.categories)
  }));
}

2. Agent calls tools via execute():

async () => {
  const symbols = await forge.callTool("narsil", "symbols.find", {
    pattern: "handle_*"
  });
  const refs = await forge.callTool("narsil", "symbols.references", {
    symbol: symbols[0].name
  });
  return { symbols, refs };
}

3. Or using the proxy API:

async () => {
  const result = await forge.server("narsil").ast.parse({ file: "main.rs" });
  return result;
}

4. Reading resources and using the stash:

async () => {
  // Read a resource from a downstream server
  const schema = await forge.readResource("db", "postgres://mydb/tables");

  // Store it in the session stash for later executions
  await forge.stash.put("db_schema", schema, { ttl: 3600 });

  // Make parallel calls
  const { results } = await forge.parallel([
    () => forge.callTool("narsil", "ast.parse", { file: "a.rs" }),
    () => forge.callTool("narsil", "ast.parse", { file: "b.rs" }),
  ]);
  return results;
}

5. Structured errors with fuzzy matching:

Typos in server or tool names return helpful suggestions instead of opaque errors:

{
  "error": true,
  "code": "TOOL_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "Tool 'find_symbls' not found on server 'narsil'",
  "retryable": true,
  "suggested_fix": "Did you mean 'find_symbols'?"
}

The sandbox executes JavaScript, routes forge.callTool() to real MCP servers via the ToolDispatcher trait, and returns JSON. The LLM never sees credentials, connection details, or raw API surfaces.

Security Model

  AST Validator         oxc-powered static analysis — import/require/eval/Deno/process
                        blocked before V8 runs, multi-hop alias tracking, 28 bypass tests
        |
  V8 Bootstrap          eval/Function constructor removal at runtime
        |
   V8 Isolate           No fs/net/env, fresh per call, memory-isolated
        |
  API Boundary          Opaque bindings, arg validation, rate limits
        |
Manifest Sanitization   Tool metadata sanitized to prevent prompt injection
        |
  Typed Errors          Structured {code, message, retryable, suggested_fix} JSON —
                        fuzzy matching suggests corrections for typos
        |
 Content Size Limits    OOM prevention for text (10MB), binary (1MB) responses
        |
  Resource Validation   URI scheme blocklist (data/javascript/ftp/gopher/telnet/ldap),
                        path traversal, null bytes, control chars
        |
  Session Stash         Key validation, value/total size limits, TTL enforcement,
                        group isolation, per-execution rate limiting
        |
  Parallel Execution    Bounded concurrency, shared rate limit counter
        |
  Error Redaction       URLs, IPs, paths, credentials, stack traces stripped
                        before reaching the LLM — validation errors preserved
        |
 Resource Limits        Timeout, heap cap, output size cap, concurrency cap
        |
 Header Security        Sensitive headers (auth, token, key, cookie, secret,
                        credential, password) stripped on plain HTTP
        |
 Per-Server Timeouts    Individual timeout per downstream server
        |
  Circuit Breakers      Closed → Open → HalfOpen state machine per server,
                        prevents cascade failures from flaky downstreams
        |
Transport Resilience    TransportDead detection (broken pipe, channel overflow),
                        auto-reconnection with exponential backoff (1s → max),
                        CAS-guarded concurrent reconnection prevention
        |
  Server Groups         Opt-in strict/open isolation policies controlling
                        cross-server data flow within a single execution
        |
Process Isolation       Child process, clean env, kill-on-timeout (production mode)
        |
  Worker Pool           Warm process reuse with health checks, idle reaping,
                        typed error preservation across IPC boundary
        |
 Binary Security        Absolute paths only, permission checks, no PATH fallback
        |
  IPC Protocol          Length-delimited JSON, configurable message size limits,
                        protocol desync prevention, typed ErrorKind across boundary
        |
  Audit Logging         Every execution logged — code hash, tool calls, duration,
                        outcome, worker reuse, pool size, redacted code preview

See SECURITY.md for the full threat model, defense-in-depth table, and hardening checklist. See ARCHITECTURE.md for detailed design.

Examples

The examples/ directory contains runnable JavaScript files demonstrating all sandbox APIs:

Run an example: forgemax run examples/basic-tool-chaining.js

Tests

~790 tests across the workspace:

cargo test --workspace

Dependencies

License

FSL-1.1-ALv2 — Functional Source License, Version 1.1, with Apache License 2.0 future grant.

You can use, modify, and redistribute Forgemax for any purpose except offering a competing commercial product or service. After two years from each release, that version converts to Apache 2.0.