Building with Model Context Protocol (MCP)? Congratulations, you’re taking the first step towards creating something amazing. But now comes the hard part: making it secure, reliable, and observable in production.
I’ve been there, and I know how overwhelming it can feel. That’s why I want to share some practical steps to help you secure and observe your MCP servers.
## Structured Logging
One of the most critical aspects of monitoring your MCP servers is structured logging. This involves logging events in a standardized format that can be easily parsed and analyzed. I recommend using JSON logging, which provides a clear and concise way to log events.
## Monitoring with Moesif and New Relic
Monitoring is essential to understanding what’s happening in your MCP servers. I use Moesif and New Relic to get real-time insights into my servers’ performance. With these tools, you can identify bottlenecks, troubleshoot issues, and optimize your servers for better performance.
## Permission Models and Audits
Permission models are crucial to ensuring that only authorized users have access to your MCP servers. I recommend implementing a role-based permission model that grants access based on user roles. Additionally, regular audits using tools like MCPSafetyScanner can help identify potential security vulnerabilities.
## Preventing Tool Poisoning and Prompt Injection
Tool poisoning and prompt injection are common security threats to MCP servers. To prevent these, I recommend implementing input validation and sanitization, as well as using secure prompts and templates.
## Real-World Design Patterns
I’ve included some real-world design patterns and code snippets to help you implement these practices in your own MCP servers. These examples demonstrate how to integrate structured logging, monitoring, and permission models into your MCP architecture.
## What’s Your Monitoring Stack?
I’m curious to know: what’s your monitoring stack for MCP today? Are you rolling your own dashboards or plugging into platforms like Moesif and New Relic? Let’s swap notes and share our experiences.
Further reading: [Monitoring and Security for MCP-Based AI Systems](https://glama.ai/blog/2025-08-17-monitoring-and-security-for-mcp-based-ai-systems)