# Reported issues for mcp-seatbelt

Pod holds 13 of 13 problems reported by people outside the maintainer team. Issues filed by the project's own owners, members and collaborators are excluded entirely — a maintainer's release checklist is not a warning to a prospective user.

Back to [mcp-seatbelt](/mcp/mcp-seatbelt).

## Most discussed

### Add MCP server health check endpoint to proxy

## Summary

Add a `GET /:serverName/ping` endpoint to the proxy's HTTP server that checks whether the named upstream MCP server is alive and reachable. Returns `200` when healthy, `503` when not.

## Motivation

Orchestrators and monitoring tools need a cheap way to tell whether an agent's MCP servers are actually up *through* the proxy, without sending a real tool call. (Related to #5, which adds retry logic at registration time — this issue is about an ongoing, on-demand health endpoint.)

## 

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/14) · 2026-07-22 · open · 1 comment

### Add --dry-run flag to proxy command

## Summary

Add a `--dry-run` flag to `mcp-seatbelt proxy` that starts the proxy and prints every tool call that *would* be blocked by the active policy — without actually blocking anything. This lets users test policies safely before going live in enforce mode.

## Motivation

Today the only way to see how a policy behaves is to run the proxy in `enforce` mode (risky — real calls get blocked) or to read the policy file by hand. A dry-run mode gives instant feedback: "these 3 calls from your age

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/10) · 2026-07-22 · open · 1 comment

### Add --watch flag auto-reload to proxy dashboard

The proxy already has `--watch` for policy hot reload. The dashboard at :9421 should auto-refresh when policy changes too.

**What to do:**
- In `src/commands/dashboard.ts`, add SSE endpoint that pushes updates when proxy stats change
- Dashboard page auto-refreshes without manual reload
- Bonus: show a notification when policy reloads

**Difficulty:** Medium. SSE + frontend JS. 3-4 hours.
**Files:** `src/commands/dashboard.ts`, the inline HTML template.

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/8) · 2026-07-17 · open · 1 comment

### Add --output format flag to diff command

The `mcp-seatbelt diff` command currently outputs colored terminal text. Add `--json` and `--markdown` flags.

**What to do:**
- Add `--json` flag: outputs diff as JSON
- Add `--markdown` flag: outputs diff as markdown table
- Useful for CI/CD integration
- File: `src/commands/diff.ts`

**Difficulty:** Medium. Parse flags, format output. 2-3 hours.

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/4) · 2026-07-17 · open · 1 comment

### Add more MCP client detectors (JetBrains Fleet, Zed, Windsurf)

Seatbelt currently detects MCP configs for 8 clients. Let's add more.

**What to do:**
- Create `src/detectors/fleet.ts` for JetBrains Fleet
- Create `src/detectors/zed.ts` for Zed editor
- Follow the pattern in existing detectors (cursor.ts, vscode.ts, jetbrains.ts)
- Register in `src/detectors/index.ts` detectAll()

**Difficulty:** Easy. Copy existing detector, change paths. 1-2 hours.
**Tests:** Add a test in `tests/detectors.test.ts`

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/2) · 2026-07-17 · open · 1 comment

### Add hotkeys to dashboard

## Summary

Add keyboard shortcuts to the `mcp-seatbelt dashboard` UI so it can be driven without a mouse:

- `R` — refresh data now
- `F` — focus the filter input
- `Space` — pause/resume live updates

## Motivation

The dashboard is often run in a terminal alongside the agent being watched. Hotkeys make it much faster to inspect a burst of blocked calls without reaching for the mouse.

## Proposed behavior

- Keys work whenever the dashboard has focus.
- A small help footer (`R refresh · F fil

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/13) · 2026-07-22 · open · 0 comments

### Add JSON schema validation for policy.yml in CI

## Summary

`mcp-seatbelt check` should fully validate the structure of `policy.yml` against a JSON Schema before doing anything else — unknown fields, wrong types, and missing required keys should fail fast with human-readable errors. Then wire that validation into CI so malformed policies never merge.

## Motivation

Today a typo like `defaultAction: denny` or a rule missing `action` can slip through and only surface at proxy runtime. Structural validation at `check` time (and in CI) catches t

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/12) · 2026-07-22 · closed · 0 comments

### Add rate limit configuration to policy.yml

## Summary

Rate limiting is currently only configurable via the `--rate-limit` CLI flag on `mcp-seatbelt proxy`. Add a `rateLimitPerMinute` field to `PolicyConfig` so the limit can live in `policy.yml` alongside the rest of the policy.

## Motivation

Policies should be self-contained and version-controllable. A rate limit that only exists as a CLI flag is easy to forget, can't be shared through `extends`, and isn't part of the policy templates.

## Proposed behavior

- `PolicyConfig` gains an 

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/11) · 2026-07-22 · open · 0 comments

## Most recent

### Add performance benchmark results to README

We have a `mcp-seatbelt benchmark` command but no published results.

**What to do:**
- Run `mcp-seatbelt benchmark` locally (or build a quick test)
- Document: requests/sec, p50/p95/p99 latency, throughput under load
- Add a "Performance" section to README.md with the numbers
- Include the benchmark command used

**Difficulty:** Easy. Run benchmark, write results. 1 hour.

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/9) · 2026-07-17 · open · 0 comments

### Add server-specific policy templates

mcp-firewall ships drop-in configs for common MCP servers. Let's do the same.

**What to add to `templates/`:**
- `filesystem.yml` — safe write paths, block /etc and ~/.ssh
- `github.yml` — block force-push, allow read-only operations
- `shell.yml` — strict: allow specific commands only
- `playwright.yml` — allow browser automation, block file system access

**Each template should include:**
- Appropriate `defaultAction` (deny for shell, allow for filesystem)
- 3-5 specific rules for that server

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/7) · 2026-07-17 · open · 0 comments

### Add CONTRIBUTING.md section for first-time contributors

The CONTRIBUTING.md exists but could use a more detailed first-time contributor walkthrough.

**What to add:**
- Step-by-step: clone → install → test → make change → PR
- Common gotchas (TypeScript strict mode, test conventions)
- How to run a single test file
- How to test the proxy locally
- Link to good-first-issue label

**Difficulty:** Easy. Documentation only. 1 hour.

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/6) · 2026-07-17 · open · 0 comments

### Add health check retry to proxy server registration

When the proxy starts, it spawns child processes for each registered MCP server. If a server takes >1s to start, the proxy fills the log with restart warnings.

**What to do:**
- Add a `startupGracePeriod` (default 5s) before starting the restart count
- Only count as failure if the process exits AFTER the grace period
- File: `src/proxy/server.ts` StdioClient

**Difficulty:** Medium. Timing logic + test. 2-3 hours.

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/5) · 2026-07-17 · open · 0 comments

### Add more secret patterns to DLP scanner

The response DLP scanner in `src/proxy/intercept.ts` scanResponse() currently checks 6 patterns (AWS keys, GitHub tokens, OpenAI keys, private keys, API keys, generic secrets).

**What to add:**
- GitLab tokens (glpat-)
- Slack bot tokens (xoxb-)
- JWT tokens (eyJ prefix)
- Stripe secret keys (sk_live_)
- Add tests in `tests/proxy.test.ts`

**Difficulty:** Easy. Add regex patterns + tests. 1-2 hours.
**File:** `src/proxy/intercept.ts` scanResponse()

[Read the thread](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues/3) · 2026-07-17 · open · 0 comments

The remaining reports are on [the project's issue tracker](https://github.com/KryptosAI/mcp-seatbelt/issues).