Building Protected MCP Servers — Den Delimarsky and Julia Kasper, MCP Steering Committee & Microsoft
Jun 20, 2025 · 20:13
Den Delimarsky and Julia Kasper, Microsoft engineers on the MCP Steering Committee, explain how the new MCP authorization spec simplifies securing remote MCP servers by separating the resource server from the authorization server, eliminating the need for developers to build custom token factories. They argue that developers shouldn't need to be security experts, so the spec offloads token minting and lifecycle management to standard identity providers like Entra ID, Okta, or Auth0. The client now handles the full OAuth 2.0 dance, while the server only validates tokens via a Protected Resource Metadata (PRM) document. A live C# SDK demo shows a server configured with minimal code, and an Azure API Management deployment demonstrates production-ready remote MCP servers with OAuth proxy and consent flows, including integration with VS Code and GitHub Copilot. The session also previews transforming REST APIs into MCP tools via Azure API Management.
