Getting Started with ContextForge: From Zero to Tool Calls in 15 Minutes

In Part 1 , we covered why you need an MCP gateway. Now let's get hands-on. By the end of this post, you'll have: A running ContextForge gateway An MCP server registered and discoverable Tool calls executing through the gateway Admin UI up and running All on your local machine, in about 15 minutes. Prerequisites Python 3.12+ uv (package manager) — pip install uv if you don't have it Git Step 1: Clone and Configure git clone https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge.git cd mcp-context-forge cp .env.example .env Edit .env — change these default values for local development: # Admin UI login BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD = Dev@Local2026! # JWT signing key (32+ characters) JWT_SECRET_KEY = contextforge-dev-secret-key-2026-not-for-prod # Stored secrets encryption key AUTH_ENCRYPTION_SECRET = contextforge-dev-encryption-salt-2026 # Platform admin account PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL = admin@example.com PLATFORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD = Dev@Admin2026! Step 2: Install Dependencies make install-dev This creates a virtual