Gatekeeper vs HOL Guard

In-depth architectural comparison of the Gatekeeper and HOL Guard MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Gatekeeper when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Gatekeeper Details

Choose HOL Guard when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore HOL Guard Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Gatekeeper Security	HOL Guard Security
Summary	Run MCP tool calls through Runestone Gatekeeper — policy enforcement, human approval, audit.	Local-first AI agent security evidence and approval workflows through HOL Guard's stdio MCP server.
Category & Scope	Security	Security
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gatekeeper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@runestone-labs/gatekeeper-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hol-guard": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "hol-guard"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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