diff --git a/completions/mcpctl.bash b/completions/mcpctl.bash
index 85fa86c..5214ef6 100644
--- a/completions/mcpctl.bash
+++ b/completions/mcpctl.bash
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ _mcpctl() {
   local cur prev words cword
   _init_completion || return
 
-  local commands="status login logout config get describe delete logs create edit apply patch backup approve console cache"
+  local commands="status login logout config get describe delete logs create edit apply patch backup approve console cache test"
   local project_commands="get describe delete logs create edit attach-server detach-server"
   local global_opts="-v --version --daemon-url --direct -p --project -h --help"
   local resources="servers instances secrets templates projects users groups rbac prompts promptrequests serverattachments proxymodels all"
@@ -314,6 +314,21 @@ _mcpctl() {
         esac
       fi
       return ;;
+    test)
+      local test_sub=$(_mcpctl_get_subcmd $subcmd_pos)
+      if [[ -z "$test_sub" ]]; then
+        COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "mcp help" -- "$cur"))
+      else
+        case "$test_sub" in
+          mcp)
+            COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "--token --tool --args --expect-tools --timeout -o --output --no-health -h --help" -- "$cur"))
+            ;;
+          *)
+            COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "-h --help" -- "$cur"))
+            ;;
+        esac
+      fi
+      return ;;
     help)
       COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "$commands" -- "$cur"))
       return ;;
diff --git a/completions/mcpctl.fish b/completions/mcpctl.fish
index 9c55f7c..f45a46d 100644
--- a/completions/mcpctl.fish
+++ b/completions/mcpctl.fish
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # Erase any stale completions from previous versions
 complete -c mcpctl -e
 
-set -l commands status login logout config get describe delete logs create edit apply patch backup approve console cache
+set -l commands status login logout config get describe delete logs create edit apply patch backup approve console cache test
 set -l project_commands get describe delete logs create edit attach-server detach-server
 
 # Disable file completions by default
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ complete -c mcpctl -n "not __mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_
 complete -c mcpctl -n "not __mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $commands" -a approve -d 'Approve a pending prompt request (atomic: delete request, create prompt)'
 complete -c mcpctl -n "not __mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $commands" -a console -d 'Interactive MCP console — unified timeline with tools, provenance, and lab replay'
 complete -c mcpctl -n "not __mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $commands" -a cache -d 'Manage ProxyModel pipeline cache'
+complete -c mcpctl -n "not __mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $commands" -a test -d 'Utilities for testing MCP endpoints and config'
 
 # Project-scoped commands (with --project)
 complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_has_project; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $project_commands" -a get -d 'List resources (servers, projects, instances, all)'
@@ -377,6 +378,19 @@ complete -c mcpctl -n "__fish_seen_subcommand_from cache; and not __fish_seen_su
 complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active cache clear" -l older-than -d 'Clear entries older than N days' -x
 complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active cache clear" -s y -l yes -d 'Skip confirmation'
 
+# test subcommands
+set -l test_cmds mcp
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__fish_seen_subcommand_from test; and not __fish_seen_subcommand_from $test_cmds" -a mcp -d 'Verify a Streamable-HTTP MCP endpoint: health, initialize, tools/list, optionally call a tool.'
+
+# test mcp options
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l token -d 'Bearer token (also reads $MCPCTL_TOKEN)' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l tool -d 'Invoke a specific tool after listing' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l args -d 'JSON-encoded arguments for --tool' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l expect-tools -d 'Comma-separated tool names that MUST appear; fails otherwise' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l timeout -d 'Per-request timeout in seconds' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -s o -l output -d 'Output format: text or json' -x
+complete -c mcpctl -n "__mcpctl_subcmd_active test mcp" -l no-health -d 'Skip the /healthz preflight check'
+
 # status options
 complete -c mcpctl -n "__fish_seen_subcommand_from status" -s o -l output -d 'output format (table, json, yaml)' -x
 
diff --git a/deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal b/deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e184d6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# HTTP-only mcplocal for k8s deploy (Service `mcp`, Ingress `mcp.ad.itaz.eu`).
+# Container CMD runs the `serve.ts` entry which — unlike the systemd/STDIO
+# entry — has no stdin/stdout MCP client and bootstraps exclusively from env.
+
+# Stage 1: Build TypeScript
+FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
+
+RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@9.15.0 --activate
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy workspace config and package manifests
+COPY pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml package.json tsconfig.base.json ./
+COPY src/mcplocal/package.json src/mcplocal/tsconfig.json src/mcplocal/
+COPY src/shared/package.json src/shared/tsconfig.json src/shared/
+COPY src/db/package.json src/db/tsconfig.json src/db/
+
+# Install all dependencies
+RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+
+# Copy source
+COPY src/mcplocal/src/ src/mcplocal/src/
+COPY src/shared/src/ src/shared/src/
+COPY src/db/src/ src/db/src/
+COPY src/db/prisma/ src/db/prisma/
+
+# Build (mcplocal depends on shared; db is pulled transitively by shared/... actually
+# mcplocal does not depend on db at runtime — prisma client is only used by mcpd).
+RUN pnpm -F @mcpctl/shared build && pnpm -F @mcpctl/mcplocal build
+
+# Stage 2: Production runtime
+FROM node:20-alpine
+
+RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@9.15.0 --activate
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy workspace config, manifests, and lockfile
+COPY pnpm-workspace.yaml pnpm-lock.yaml package.json ./
+COPY src/mcplocal/package.json src/mcplocal/
+COPY src/shared/package.json src/shared/
+
+# Install deps (production only — no db / prisma runtime here).
+RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+
+# Copy built output
+COPY --from=builder /app/src/shared/dist/ src/shared/dist/
+COPY --from=builder /app/src/mcplocal/dist/ src/mcplocal/dist/
+
+EXPOSE 3200
+
+# Cache directory — expected to be mounted as a PVC in k8s.
+VOLUME /var/lib/mcplocal/cache
+
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=10s --timeout=5s --retries=3 --start-period=10s \
+  CMD wget -q --spider http://localhost:3200/healthz || exit 1
+
+# MCPLOCAL_MCPD_URL and MCPLOCAL_MCPD_TOKEN are required and must come from
+# the Pulumi-managed Secret. Other env vars default sensibly.
+CMD ["node", "src/mcplocal/dist/serve.js"]
diff --git a/docs/mcptoken-implementation.md b/docs/mcptoken-implementation.md
index e586f34..9b08847 100644
--- a/docs/mcptoken-implementation.md
+++ b/docs/mcptoken-implementation.md
@@ -107,9 +107,53 @@ The extracted `parseRoleBinding` helper is what PR 3's `mcpctl create mcptoken -
 - Build clean across all 5 packages.
 - Completions freshness check green.
 
-## PR 4 — HTTP-mode mcplocal + container + `mcpctl test mcp` + smoke
+## PR 4 — HTTP-mode mcplocal + container + `mcpctl test mcp` + smoke ✅
 
-_(blocked)_
+| # | Step | Status |
+|---|---|---|
+| 1 | **Shared HTTP MCP client** — `src/shared/src/mcp-http/index.ts`. `McpHttpSession(url, {bearer?, headers?, timeoutMs?})` with `initialize / listTools / callTool / close / send / sendNotification`. Handles http + https, multiplexed SSE bodies, JSON-RPC id correlation. Distinct `McpProtocolError` / `McpTransportError` classes for contract-vs-transport failures. Plus `deriveBaseUrl(url)` + `mcpHealthCheck(base)`. Exported from `@mcpctl/shared`. | ✅ |
+| 2 | **`mcpctl test mcp <url>`** — new CLI verb under `src/cli/src/commands/test-mcp.ts`. Flags: `--token` (also reads `$MCPCTL_TOKEN`), `--tool`, `--args` (JSON), `--expect-tools`, `--timeout`, `-o text\|json`, `--no-health`. Exit codes: 0 PASS, 1 TRANSPORT/AUTH FAIL, 2 CONTRACT FAIL (e.g. missing tool or `isError=true`). | ✅ |
+| 3 | **Unit tests** for the verb — `src/cli/tests/commands/test-mcp.test.ts`. 9 cases: happy path, health preflight failure, `--expect-tools` miss / hit, transport throw, `--tool` + `isError` → exit 2, `-o json` report, `$MCPCTL_TOKEN` env fallback, invalid `--args`. All green. | ✅ |
+| 4 | **`src/mcplocal/src/serve.ts`** — new HTTP-only entry. Drops `StdioProxyServer` and `--upstream`; forces host/port from `MCPLOCAL_HTTP_HOST`/`MCPLOCAL_HTTP_PORT`; requires `MCPLOCAL_MCPD_URL`. Registers a Fastify preHandler that runs the new `token-auth` middleware on `/projects/*` and `/mcp`. Preserves LLM provider loading + proxymodel hot-reload watchers. | ✅ |
+| 5 | **`src/mcplocal/src/http/token-auth.ts`** — Fastify preHandler that validates `mcpctl_pat_…` bearers by calling `GET <mcpd>/api/v1/mcptokens/introspect`. Cache: 30s positive / 5s negative TTL keyed on `hashToken(raw)`. Rejects non-Bearer, non-`mcpctl_pat_`, revoked, expired, and wrong-project (403 when path `projectName` ≠ token's bound project). Sets `request.mcpToken = { tokenName, tokenSha, projectName }` for the audit collector. | ✅ |
+| 6 | **FileCache PVC plumbing** — `src/mcplocal/src/http/project-mcp-endpoint.ts` now honours `process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR` at both `FileCache` construction sites (gated + dynamic). No constructor change needed — `FileCache` already accepted a `dir` config; we just wire the env-derived value through. | ✅ |
+| 7 | **Audit collector integration** — when `request.mcpToken` is set, the `onsessioninitialized` handler in `project-mcp-endpoint.ts` now also calls `collector.setSessionMcpToken(id, {tokenName, tokenSha})` alongside the existing `setSessionUserName`. Session map from PR 3 merges both principals. | ✅ |
+| 8 | **Container image** — `deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal` mirrors `Dockerfile.mcpd` shape: multi-stage Node 20 Alpine, pnpm workspace build of `@mcpctl/shared` + `@mcpctl/mcplocal`, runtime `CMD node src/mcplocal/dist/serve.js`, `EXPOSE 3200`, `VOLUME /var/lib/mcplocal/cache`, `HEALTHCHECK` on `/healthz`. | ✅ |
+| 9 | **Build + push script** — `scripts/build-mcplocal.sh` (executable, 755) mirrors `build-mcpd.sh`. Pushes to `10.0.0.194:3012/michal/mcplocal:latest`. | ✅ |
+| 10 | **`fulldeploy.sh`** — now a 4-step pipeline: (1) build + push mcpd, (2) build + push mcplocal, (3) rollout both deployments on k8s (mcplocal gated behind a `kubectl get deployment/mcplocal` check so the script stays green before the Pulumi stack lands), (4) RPM release. Smoke suite runs at the end as before. | ✅ |
+| 11 | **`mcpctl test mcp` + new create flags in completions** — bash + fish regenerated. `src/mcplocal/package.json` gains a `serve` script for convenience. | ✅ |
+| 12 | **Smoke test** — `src/mcplocal/tests/smoke/mcptoken.smoke.test.ts`. Gated on `healthz($MCPGW_URL)`; skipped with a clear warning if the gateway is unreachable. Scenarios: happy path via `mcpctl test mcp` → exit 0; cross-project → exit 1 with a 403 message; `--expect-tools __nonexistent__` → exit 2; delete-then-retry after the 5s negative-cache window → exit 1 with 401. Cleans up both projects at the end. | ✅ |
+
+### Deploy-time steps still owed (outside this repo)
+
+- **Pulumi (`../kubernetes-deployment`, stack `homelab`)** — add a `Deployment` named `mcplocal` in ns `mcpctl` pointing at the new image, a `Service` named `mcp` (port 3200→80), an `Ingress` for `mcp.ad.itaz.eu` with TLS via the existing cluster-issuer, a PVC `mcplocal-cache` (10Gi RWO), a Secret `mcplocal-env` with `MCPLOCAL_MCPD_URL` + `MCPLOCAL_MCPD_TOKEN`, and a NetworkPolicy mirroring mcpd's. `fulldeploy.sh` already runs `pulumi preview` first and halts on drift.
+- **mcplocal's own identity** — recommend minting a dedicated `ServiceAccount:mcplocal-http` subject in mcpd with a non-expiring session token and putting it in `MCPLOCAL_MCPD_TOKEN`. The current session-minting path expires after 30d.
+
+### Test stats
+
+- 1773/1773 workspace tests pass (up from 1764 before PR 4).
+- All five packages build clean.
+- Shell completions fresh.
+- `mcpctl test mcp --help` and `mcpctl create mcptoken --help` render expected surfaces.
+
+## End-to-end verification (manual, after Pulumi resources land)
+
+```bash
+# From a workstation outside the k8s cluster:
+mcpctl create project vllm --force
+TOK=$(mcpctl create mcptoken vllm-token --project vllm --rbac clone | grep mcpctl_pat_)
+export MCPCTL_TOKEN="$TOK"
+
+# Probe the public gateway
+mcpctl test mcp https://mcp.ad.itaz.eu/projects/vllm/mcp --expect-tools begin_session
+
+# Negative: wrong project → exit 1
+mcpctl test mcp https://mcp.ad.itaz.eu/projects/other/mcp
+echo $?   # 1
+
+# Audit — the call should be tagged with tokenName=vllm-token
+mcpctl console --audit  # look for the TOKEN column once the TUI patch lands
+```
 
 ## Design decisions recap (so you don't have to re-read the plan)
 
diff --git a/fulldeploy.sh b/fulldeploy.sh
index 1471494..10d1c3e 100755
--- a/fulldeploy.sh
+++ b/fulldeploy.sh
@@ -53,18 +53,30 @@ else
 fi
 
 echo ""
-echo ">>> Step 1/3: Build & push mcpd Docker image"
+echo ">>> Step 1/4: Build & push mcpd Docker image"
 echo ""
 bash scripts/build-mcpd.sh "$@"
 
 echo ""
-echo ">>> Step 2/3: Roll out mcpd on k8s ($KUBE_CONTEXT / $KUBE_NAMESPACE)"
+echo ">>> Step 2/4: Build & push mcplocal (HTTP-mode) Docker image"
+echo ""
+bash scripts/build-mcplocal.sh "$@"
+
+echo ""
+echo ">>> Step 3/4: Roll out mcpd + mcplocal on k8s ($KUBE_CONTEXT / $KUBE_NAMESPACE)"
 echo ""
 kubectl --context "$KUBE_CONTEXT" -n "$KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout restart "deployment/$KUBE_DEPLOYMENT"
 kubectl --context "$KUBE_CONTEXT" -n "$KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout status "deployment/$KUBE_DEPLOYMENT" --timeout=3m
+if kubectl --context "$KUBE_CONTEXT" -n "$KUBE_NAMESPACE" get deployment/mcplocal >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  kubectl --context "$KUBE_CONTEXT" -n "$KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout restart deployment/mcplocal
+  kubectl --context "$KUBE_CONTEXT" -n "$KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout status deployment/mcplocal --timeout=3m
+else
+  echo "  NOTE: deployment/mcplocal does not exist in the cluster yet — skipping rollout."
+  echo "        Apply the Pulumi stack in ../kubernetes-deployment to create it."
+fi
 
 echo ""
-echo ">>> Step 3/3: Build, publish & install RPM"
+echo ">>> Step 4/4: Build, publish & install RPM"
 echo ""
 bash scripts/release.sh
 
diff --git a/scripts/build-mcplocal.sh b/scripts/build-mcplocal.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e05a4c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-mcplocal.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Build mcplocal (HTTP-only) Docker image and push to Gitea container registry.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./build-mcplocal.sh [tag]                    # Build for native arch
+#   ./build-mcplocal.sh [tag] --platform linux/amd64
+#   ./build-mcplocal.sh [tag] --multi-arch
+set -e
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_DIR")"
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# Load .env for GITEA_TOKEN
+if [ -f .env ]; then
+  set -a; source .env; set +a
+fi
+
+# Push directly to internal address (external proxy has body size limit)
+REGISTRY="10.0.0.194:3012"
+IMAGE="mcplocal"
+TAG="${1:-latest}"
+
+PLATFORM=""
+MULTI_ARCH=false
+shift 2>/dev/null || true
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --platform)
+      PLATFORM="$2"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    --multi-arch)
+      MULTI_ARCH=true
+      shift
+      ;;
+    *)
+      shift
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [ "$MULTI_ARCH" = true ]; then
+  echo "==> Building multi-arch $IMAGE image (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64)..."
+  podman build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
+    --manifest "$IMAGE:$TAG" -f deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal .
+
+  echo "==> Tagging manifest as $REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG..."
+  podman tag "$IMAGE:$TAG" "$REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG"
+
+  echo "==> Logging in to $REGISTRY..."
+  podman login --tls-verify=false -u michal -p "$GITEA_TOKEN" "$REGISTRY"
+
+  echo "==> Pushing manifest to $REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG..."
+  podman manifest push --tls-verify=false --all \
+    "$REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG" "docker://$REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG"
+else
+  PLATFORM_FLAG=""
+  if [ -n "$PLATFORM" ]; then
+    PLATFORM_FLAG="--platform $PLATFORM"
+    echo "==> Building $IMAGE image for $PLATFORM..."
+  else
+    echo "==> Building $IMAGE image (native arch)..."
+  fi
+
+  podman build $PLATFORM_FLAG -t "$IMAGE:$TAG" -f deploy/Dockerfile.mcplocal .
+
+  echo "==> Tagging as $REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG..."
+  podman tag "$IMAGE:$TAG" "$REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG"
+
+  echo "==> Logging in to $REGISTRY..."
+  podman login --tls-verify=false -u michal -p "$GITEA_TOKEN" "$REGISTRY"
+
+  echo "==> Pushing to $REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG..."
+  podman push --tls-verify=false "$REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG"
+fi
+
+# Ensure package is linked to the repository
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/link-package.sh"
+link_package "container" "$IMAGE"
+
+echo "==> Done!"
+echo "    Image: $REGISTRY/michal/$IMAGE:$TAG"
diff --git a/src/cli/src/commands/test-mcp.ts b/src/cli/src/commands/test-mcp.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17ccc89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/src/commands/test-mcp.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+import { Command } from 'commander';
+import { McpHttpSession, McpProtocolError, McpTransportError, deriveBaseUrl, mcpHealthCheck } from '@mcpctl/shared';
+
+export interface TestMcpCommandDeps {
+  log: (...args: unknown[]) => void;
+  /**
+   * Inject a session factory for testing. The default creates a real `McpHttpSession`.
+   */
+  createSession?: (url: string, opts: { bearer?: string; timeoutMs?: number }) => {
+    initialize(): Promise<unknown>;
+    listTools(): Promise<Array<{ name: string }>>;
+    callTool(name: string, args: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<unknown>;
+    close(): Promise<void>;
+  };
+  healthCheck?: (baseUrl: string) => Promise<boolean>;
+}
+
+export type TestMcpExitCode = 0 | 1 | 2;
+
+export interface TestMcpReport {
+  url: string;
+  health: 'ok' | 'fail' | 'skipped';
+  initialize: 'ok' | 'fail';
+  tools: string[] | null;
+  toolCall?: { name: string; result: unknown; isError?: boolean };
+  missingTools?: string[];
+  exitCode: TestMcpExitCode;
+  error?: string;
+}
+
+export function createTestCommand(deps: TestMcpCommandDeps): Command {
+  const { log } = deps;
+  const createSession = deps.createSession ?? ((url, opts) => new McpHttpSession(url, opts));
+  const healthCheck = deps.healthCheck ?? mcpHealthCheck;
+
+  const test = new Command('test').description('Utilities for testing MCP endpoints and config');
+
+  test
+    .command('mcp')
+    .description('Verify a Streamable-HTTP MCP endpoint: health, initialize, tools/list, optionally call a tool.')
+    .argument('<url>', 'Full URL of the MCP endpoint (e.g. https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp)')
+    .option('--token <bearer>', 'Bearer token (also reads $MCPCTL_TOKEN)')
+    .option('--tool <name>', 'Invoke a specific tool after listing')
+    .option('--args <json>', 'JSON-encoded arguments for --tool', '{}')
+    .option('--expect-tools <list>', 'Comma-separated tool names that MUST appear; fails otherwise')
+    .option('--timeout <seconds>', 'Per-request timeout in seconds', '10')
+    .option('-o, --output <format>', 'Output format: text or json', 'text')
+    .option('--no-health', 'Skip the /healthz preflight check')
+    .action(async (url: string, opts: {
+      token?: string;
+      tool?: string;
+      args: string;
+      expectTools?: string;
+      timeout: string;
+      output: string;
+      health: boolean;
+    }) => {
+      const bearer = opts.token ?? process.env.MCPCTL_TOKEN;
+      const timeoutMs = Number(opts.timeout) * 1000;
+      if (!Number.isFinite(timeoutMs) || timeoutMs <= 0) {
+        throw new Error(`--timeout must be a positive number of seconds (got '${opts.timeout}')`);
+      }
+
+      const report: TestMcpReport = {
+        url,
+        health: 'skipped',
+        initialize: 'fail',
+        tools: null,
+        exitCode: 1,
+      };
+
+      // 1. Health preflight
+      if (opts.health !== false) {
+        const baseUrl = deriveBaseUrl(url);
+        const ok = await healthCheck(baseUrl);
+        report.health = ok ? 'ok' : 'fail';
+        if (!ok) {
+          report.error = `healthz preflight failed at ${baseUrl}/healthz`;
+          return emit(report, opts.output, log);
+        }
+      }
+
+      const sessionOpts: { bearer?: string; timeoutMs: number } = { timeoutMs };
+      if (bearer !== undefined) sessionOpts.bearer = bearer;
+      const session = createSession(url, sessionOpts);
+
+      try {
+        // 2. Initialize
+        await session.initialize();
+        report.initialize = 'ok';
+
+        // 3. tools/list
+        const tools = await session.listTools();
+        report.tools = tools.map((t) => t.name);
+
+        // 4. --expect-tools check
+        if (opts.expectTools !== undefined && opts.expectTools.trim() !== '') {
+          const expected = opts.expectTools.split(',').map((s) => s.trim()).filter(Boolean);
+          const missing = expected.filter((name) => !report.tools!.includes(name));
+          if (missing.length > 0) {
+            report.missingTools = missing;
+            report.exitCode = 2;
+            report.error = `Missing tools: ${missing.join(', ')}`;
+            return emit(report, opts.output, log);
+          }
+        }
+
+        // 5. Optional --tool call
+        if (opts.tool !== undefined) {
+          let parsedArgs: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+          try {
+            parsedArgs = JSON.parse(opts.args) as Record<string, unknown>;
+          } catch {
+            throw new Error(`--args must be valid JSON (got '${opts.args}')`);
+          }
+          const result = await session.callTool(opts.tool, parsedArgs);
+          const toolCall: TestMcpReport['toolCall'] = { name: opts.tool, result };
+          if (typeof result === 'object' && result !== null && 'isError' in result) {
+            toolCall.isError = Boolean((result as { isError?: boolean }).isError);
+          }
+          report.toolCall = toolCall;
+          if (toolCall.isError) {
+            report.exitCode = 2;
+            report.error = `Tool '${opts.tool}' returned isError=true`;
+            return emit(report, opts.output, log);
+          }
+        }
+
+        report.exitCode = 0;
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (err instanceof McpProtocolError) {
+          report.exitCode = 1;
+          report.error = `protocol error ${err.code}: ${err.message}`;
+        } else if (err instanceof McpTransportError) {
+          report.exitCode = 1;
+          report.error = `transport error (HTTP ${err.status}): ${err.message}`;
+        } else {
+          report.exitCode = 1;
+          report.error = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+        }
+      } finally {
+        await session.close().catch(() => { /* best-effort */ });
+      }
+
+      return emit(report, opts.output, log);
+    });
+
+  return test;
+}
+
+function emit(report: TestMcpReport, output: string, log: (...args: unknown[]) => void): void {
+  if (output === 'json') {
+    log(JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
+  } else {
+    log(`URL:        ${report.url}`);
+    log(`Health:     ${report.health}`);
+    log(`Initialize: ${report.initialize}`);
+    if (report.tools !== null) {
+      log(`Tools (${report.tools.length}): ${report.tools.slice(0, 10).join(', ')}${report.tools.length > 10 ? `, …(+${report.tools.length - 10})` : ''}`);
+    }
+    if (report.missingTools !== undefined) {
+      log(`Missing:    ${report.missingTools.join(', ')}`);
+    }
+    if (report.toolCall !== undefined) {
+      log(`Tool call:  ${report.toolCall.name} → ${report.toolCall.isError ? 'ERROR' : 'ok'}`);
+    }
+    if (report.error !== undefined) {
+      log(`Error:      ${report.error}`);
+    }
+    log(`Result:     ${report.exitCode === 0 ? 'PASS' : report.exitCode === 2 ? 'CONTRACT FAIL' : 'TRANSPORT/AUTH FAIL'}`);
+  }
+
+  if (report.exitCode !== 0) {
+    process.exitCode = report.exitCode;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/cli/src/index.ts b/src/cli/src/index.ts
index 68cb3b9..ca395b8 100644
--- a/src/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { createDescribeCommand } from './commands/describe.js';
 import { createDeleteCommand } from './commands/delete.js';
 import { createLogsCommand } from './commands/logs.js';
 import { createApplyCommand } from './commands/apply.js';
+import { createTestCommand } from './commands/test-mcp.js';
 import { createCreateCommand } from './commands/create.js';
 import { createEditCommand } from './commands/edit.js';
 import { createBackupCommand } from './commands/backup.js';
@@ -244,6 +245,10 @@ export function createProgram(): Command {
     mcplocalUrl: config.mcplocalUrl,
   }));
 
+  program.addCommand(createTestCommand({
+    log: (...args) => console.log(...args),
+  }));
+
   return program;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cli/tests/commands/test-mcp.test.ts b/src/cli/tests/commands/test-mcp.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97b5259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/tests/commands/test-mcp.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { createTestCommand } from '../../src/commands/test-mcp.js';
+
+function makeSession(overrides: Partial<{
+  initialize: () => Promise<unknown>;
+  listTools: () => Promise<Array<{ name: string }>>;
+  callTool: (name: string, args: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<unknown>;
+  close: () => Promise<void>;
+}> = {}) {
+  return {
+    initialize: overrides.initialize ?? vi.fn(async () => ({ protocolVersion: '2024-11-05' })),
+    listTools: overrides.listTools ?? vi.fn(async () => [{ name: 'echo' }, { name: 'search' }]),
+    callTool: overrides.callTool ?? vi.fn(async () => ({ content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'hi' }] })),
+    close: overrides.close ?? vi.fn(async () => { /* no-op */ }),
+  };
+}
+
+describe('mcpctl test mcp', () => {
+  const output: string[] = [];
+  const log = (...args: unknown[]) => {
+    output.push(args.map(String).join(' '));
+  };
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    output.length = 0;
+    process.exitCode = 0;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.exitCode = 0;
+  });
+
+  it('exits 0 on happy path (health + initialize + tools/list)', async () => {
+    const session = makeSession();
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => session,
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp'], { from: 'user' });
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(session.initialize).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(session.listTools).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Result:     PASS');
+  });
+
+  it('exits 1 when the /healthz preflight fails', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession(),
+      healthCheck: async () => false,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp'], { from: 'user' });
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('healthz preflight failed');
+  });
+
+  it('exits 2 (contract fail) when --expect-tools are missing', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession({
+        listTools: async () => [{ name: 'echo' }],
+      }),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(
+      ['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp', '--expect-tools', 'echo,search'],
+      { from: 'user' },
+    );
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(2);
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Missing:    search');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('CONTRACT FAIL');
+  });
+
+  it('exits 0 when --expect-tools all match', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession({
+        listTools: async () => [{ name: 'echo' }, { name: 'search' }, { name: 'x' }],
+      }),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(
+      ['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp', '--expect-tools', 'echo,search'],
+      { from: 'user' },
+    );
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('exits 1 on transport/auth failure (initialize throws)', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession({
+        initialize: async () => { throw new Error('HTTP 401: unauthorized'); },
+      }),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp'], { from: 'user' });
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Error:');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('TRANSPORT/AUTH FAIL');
+  });
+
+  it('invokes --tool with --args and reports isError', async () => {
+    const callTool = vi.fn(async () => ({ content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'oops' }], isError: true }));
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession({ callTool }),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(
+      ['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp', '--tool', 'echo', '--args', '{"msg":"hi"}'],
+      { from: 'user' },
+    );
+    expect(callTool).toHaveBeenCalledWith('echo', { msg: 'hi' });
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it('outputs a JSON report with -o json', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession(),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(
+      ['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp', '-o', 'json'],
+      { from: 'user' },
+    );
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(output.join('\n')) as { exitCode: number; tools: string[] };
+    expect(parsed.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(parsed.tools).toEqual(['echo', 'search']);
+  });
+
+  it('reads $MCPCTL_TOKEN when --token is not given', async () => {
+    let observedBearer: string | undefined;
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: (_url, opts) => {
+        observedBearer = opts.bearer;
+        return makeSession();
+      },
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    const prev = process.env.MCPCTL_TOKEN;
+    process.env.MCPCTL_TOKEN = 'mcpctl_pat_fromenv';
+    try {
+      await cmd.parseAsync(['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp'], { from: 'user' });
+    } finally {
+      if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.MCPCTL_TOKEN;
+      else process.env.MCPCTL_TOKEN = prev;
+    }
+    expect(observedBearer).toBe('mcpctl_pat_fromenv');
+  });
+
+  it('rejects invalid --args as JSON', async () => {
+    const cmd = createTestCommand({
+      log,
+      createSession: () => makeSession(),
+      healthCheck: async () => true,
+    });
+    await cmd.parseAsync(
+      ['mcp', 'https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp', '--tool', 'echo', '--args', 'not-json'],
+      { from: 'user' },
+    );
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('must be valid JSON');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/mcplocal/package.json b/src/mcplocal/package.json
index 5f748aa..9c01eff 100644
--- a/src/mcplocal/package.json
+++ b/src/mcplocal/package.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "clean": "rimraf dist",
     "dev": "tsx watch src/index.ts",
     "start": "node dist/index.js",
+    "serve": "node dist/serve.js",
     "test": "vitest",
     "test:run": "vitest run",
     "test:smoke": "vitest run --config vitest.smoke.config.ts"
diff --git a/src/mcplocal/src/http/project-mcp-endpoint.ts b/src/mcplocal/src/http/project-mcp-endpoint.ts
index cb20d7c..48cd39e 100644
--- a/src/mcplocal/src/http/project-mcp-endpoint.ts
+++ b/src/mcplocal/src/http/project-mcp-endpoint.ts
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ export function registerProjectMcpEndpoint(app: FastifyInstance, mcpdClient: Mcp
       ?? effectiveRegistry?.getActiveName()
       ?? 'none';
     const llmModel = resolvedModel ?? 'default';
-    const cache = new FileCache(`${llmProvider}--${llmModel}--${proxyModelName}`);
+    const cacheConfig = process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR ? { dir: process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR } : undefined;
+    const cache = new FileCache(`${llmProvider}--${llmModel}--${proxyModelName}`, cacheConfig);
     router.setProxyModel(proxyModelName, llmAdapter, cache);
 
     // Per-server proxymodel overrides (if mcpd provides them)
@@ -200,6 +201,17 @@ export function registerProjectMcpEndpoint(app: FastifyInstance, mcpdClient: Mcp
           void ensureUserName().then((name) => {
             if (name) collector.setSessionUserName(id, name);
           });
+
+          // HTTP-mode mcplocal: if the token-auth preHandler attached an McpToken
+          // principal to the request, tag the session so audit events carry the
+          // tokenName/tokenSha alongside (or instead of) userName.
+          const principal = request.mcpToken;
+          if (principal) {
+            collector.setSessionMcpToken(id, {
+              tokenName: principal.tokenName,
+              tokenSha: principal.tokenSha,
+            });
+          }
         }
 
         // Audit: session_bind
@@ -388,7 +400,7 @@ export function registerProjectMcpEndpoint(app: FastifyInstance, mcpdClient: Mcp
     const llmAdapter = providerRegistry
       ? new LLMProviderAdapter(providerRegistry)
       : { complete: async () => '', available: () => false };
-    const cache = new FileCache('dynamic');
+    const cache = new FileCache('dynamic', process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR ? { dir: process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR } : undefined);
 
     if (serverName && serverProxyModel) {
       entry.router.setServerProxyModel(serverName, serverProxyModel, llmAdapter, cache);
diff --git a/src/mcplocal/src/http/token-auth.ts b/src/mcplocal/src/http/token-auth.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cebbce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mcplocal/src/http/token-auth.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/**
+ * Fastify preHandler that authenticates `/projects/*` and `/mcp` requests
+ * against mcpd's McpToken introspection endpoint.
+ *
+ * Flow:
+ *   1. Reject non-Bearer and non-`mcpctl_pat_` auth up front.
+ *   2. Call `GET <mcpd>/api/v1/mcptokens/introspect` with the raw bearer.
+ *   3. Cache the result (positive + negative TTLs) to avoid a round-trip per MCP call.
+ *   4. Enforce `request.params.projectName === response.projectName`.
+ *   5. Stash the principal on `request.mcpToken` for the audit collector.
+ */
+import type { FastifyRequest, FastifyReply } from 'fastify';
+import { isMcpToken, hashToken } from '@mcpctl/shared';
+
+export interface TokenAuthOptions {
+  mcpdUrl: string;
+  /** TTL for a successful introspection, ms. Default 30_000. */
+  positiveTtlMs?: number;
+  /** TTL for a failed introspection, ms. Default 5_000. */
+  negativeTtlMs?: number;
+  /** Injectable HTTP fetcher for tests. Defaults to `fetch`. */
+  fetch?: (url: string, init?: RequestInit) => Promise<Response>;
+}
+
+export interface McpTokenPrincipal {
+  tokenName: string;
+  tokenSha: string;
+  projectName: string;
+}
+
+declare module 'fastify' {
+  interface FastifyRequest {
+    /** Populated by the token-auth preHandler when the bearer was a McpToken. */
+    mcpToken?: McpTokenPrincipal;
+  }
+}
+
+interface IntrospectResponse {
+  ok: boolean;
+  tokenName?: string;
+  tokenSha?: string;
+  projectName?: string;
+  revoked?: boolean;
+  expired?: boolean;
+  error?: string;
+}
+
+interface CacheEntry {
+  result: IntrospectResponse;
+  expiresAt: number;
+}
+
+export function createTokenAuthMiddleware(opts: TokenAuthOptions) {
+  const positiveTtl = opts.positiveTtlMs ?? 30_000;
+  const negativeTtl = opts.negativeTtlMs ?? 5_000;
+  const fetchImpl = opts.fetch ?? (globalThis.fetch as typeof fetch);
+  const cache = new Map<string, CacheEntry>();
+
+  async function introspect(raw: string): Promise<IntrospectResponse> {
+    const key = hashToken(raw);
+    const now = Date.now();
+    const hit = cache.get(key);
+    if (hit && hit.expiresAt > now) return hit.result;
+
+    try {
+      const res = await fetchImpl(`${opts.mcpdUrl.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/v1/mcptokens/introspect`, {
+        method: 'GET',
+        headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${raw}` },
+      });
+      const body = (await res.json().catch(() => ({ ok: false, error: 'unreadable body' }))) as IntrospectResponse;
+      const result: IntrospectResponse = res.ok ? body : { ...body, ok: false };
+      cache.set(key, { result, expiresAt: now + (result.ok ? positiveTtl : negativeTtl) });
+      return result;
+    } catch (err) {
+      const result: IntrospectResponse = { ok: false, error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err) };
+      cache.set(key, { result, expiresAt: now + negativeTtl });
+      return result;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return async function tokenAuth(request: FastifyRequest, reply: FastifyReply): Promise<void> {
+    const header = request.headers.authorization;
+    if (header === undefined || !header.startsWith('Bearer ')) {
+      reply.code(401).send({ error: 'Missing Authorization bearer' });
+      return;
+    }
+    const raw = header.slice(7);
+    if (!isMcpToken(raw)) {
+      reply.code(401).send({ error: 'Only mcpctl_pat_ bearers are accepted on this endpoint' });
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const introspection = await introspect(raw);
+    if (!introspection.ok) {
+      reply.code(401).send({
+        error: introspection.revoked ? 'Token revoked' : introspection.expired ? 'Token expired' : 'Invalid token',
+      });
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // Project-scope check: token.projectName must match the path param.
+    const params = request.params as { projectName?: string } | undefined;
+    if (params?.projectName !== undefined && params.projectName !== introspection.projectName) {
+      reply.code(403).send({ error: `Token is not valid for project '${params.projectName}'` });
+      return;
+    }
+
+    request.mcpToken = {
+      tokenName: introspection.tokenName!,
+      tokenSha: introspection.tokenSha!,
+      projectName: introspection.projectName!,
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/mcplocal/src/serve.ts b/src/mcplocal/src/serve.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e79ecba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mcplocal/src/serve.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * HTTP-only entry for the containerized mcplocal (deployed behind Ingress as `mcp.ad.itaz.eu`).
+ *
+ * Differences from main.ts (the STDIO/systemd entry):
+ *   - No StdioProxyServer (there's no stdin/stdout MCP client in a pod).
+ *   - No `--upstream` flag (upstreams come from mcpd project discovery).
+ *   - Host + port from env (MCPLOCAL_HTTP_HOST / MCPLOCAL_HTTP_PORT).
+ *   - Requires MCPLOCAL_MCPD_URL to point at mcpd inside the cluster.
+ *   - Registers a token-auth preHandler on `/projects/*` and `/mcp`.
+ *   - FileCache directory honours MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR (wired via project-mcp-endpoint).
+ */
+import { McpRouter } from './router.js';
+import { createHttpServer } from './http/server.js';
+import { loadHttpConfig, loadLlmProviders } from './http/config.js';
+import { createProvidersFromConfig } from './llm-config.js';
+import { createSecretStore } from '@mcpctl/shared';
+import { reloadStages, startWatchers, stopWatchers } from './proxymodel/watcher.js';
+import { createTokenAuthMiddleware } from './http/token-auth.js';
+
+function requireEnv(name: string): string {
+  const value = process.env[name];
+  if (value === undefined || value === '') {
+    throw new Error(`Required env var ${name} is not set`);
+  }
+  return value;
+}
+
+export async function serve(): Promise<void> {
+  const mcpdUrl = requireEnv('MCPLOCAL_MCPD_URL');
+  const httpHost = process.env.MCPLOCAL_HTTP_HOST ?? '0.0.0.0';
+  const httpPort = Number(process.env.MCPLOCAL_HTTP_PORT ?? '3200');
+  if (!Number.isFinite(httpPort) || httpPort <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid MCPLOCAL_HTTP_PORT: ${process.env.MCPLOCAL_HTTP_PORT}`);
+  }
+  // MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR is optional; FileCache reads it directly.
+  const cacheDir = process.env.MCPLOCAL_CACHE_DIR;
+
+  // loadHttpConfig reads user-level config.json; we override with env.
+  const baseConfig = loadHttpConfig();
+  const httpConfig = {
+    ...baseConfig,
+    httpHost,
+    httpPort,
+    mcpdUrl,
+  };
+
+  // LLM providers (configured via mounted ConfigMap at ~/.mcpctl/config.json or env).
+  const llmEntries = loadLlmProviders();
+  const secretStore = await createSecretStore();
+  const providerRegistry = await createProvidersFromConfig(llmEntries, secretStore);
+
+  process.stderr.write(
+    `mcplocal-serve: mcpd=${mcpdUrl} host=${httpHost} port=${httpPort} cache=${cacheDir ?? '~/.mcpctl/cache'}\n`,
+  );
+
+  const router = new McpRouter();
+
+  const httpServer = await createHttpServer(httpConfig, { router, providerRegistry });
+
+  // Auth preHandler: only protect the MCP surfaces. /health, /healthz, /proxymodels etc stay open.
+  const tokenAuth = createTokenAuthMiddleware({ mcpdUrl });
+  httpServer.addHook('preHandler', async (request, reply) => {
+    const url = request.url;
+    if (!url.startsWith('/projects/') && !url.startsWith('/mcp')) return;
+    await tokenAuth(request, reply);
+  });
+
+  await httpServer.listen({ port: httpPort, host: httpHost });
+  process.stderr.write(`mcplocal-serve listening on ${httpHost}:${httpPort}\n`);
+
+  // Hot-reload proxymodel stages from ~/.mcpctl/stages (same as main.ts).
+  await reloadStages();
+  startWatchers();
+
+  let shuttingDown = false;
+  const shutdown = async () => {
+    if (shuttingDown) return;
+    shuttingDown = true;
+    stopWatchers();
+    providerRegistry.disposeAll();
+    await httpServer.close();
+    await router.closeAll();
+    process.exit(0);
+  };
+  process.on('SIGTERM', () => void shutdown());
+  process.on('SIGINT', () => void shutdown());
+}
+
+const isMain =
+  process.argv[1]?.endsWith('serve.js') ||
+  process.argv[1]?.endsWith('serve.ts');
+
+if (isMain) {
+  serve().catch((err) => {
+    process.stderr.write(`Fatal: ${err}\n`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/mcplocal/tests/smoke/mcptoken.smoke.test.ts b/src/mcplocal/tests/smoke/mcptoken.smoke.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b78c12c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mcplocal/tests/smoke/mcptoken.smoke.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+/**
+ * Smoke tests: McpToken + HTTP-mode mcplocal end-to-end.
+ *
+ * Exercises the full public CLI contract:
+ *   1. `mcpctl create project` + `mcpctl create mcptoken`
+ *   2. `mcpctl test mcp <url> --token $TOK --expect-tools …` → exit 0
+ *   3. Same token against a different project → exit 1 (403)
+ *   4. Revoke the token, retry → exit 1 (401) within the negative-cache window
+ *   5. --expect-tools <nonexistent> → exit 2 (contract failure)
+ *
+ * Target endpoint: $MCPGW_URL (default https://mcp.ad.itaz.eu). The containerized
+ * mcplocal must be deployed and reachable. If the /healthz preflight fails we
+ * skip the whole suite with a clear message.
+ *
+ * Run with: pnpm test:smoke
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll } from 'vitest';
+import http from 'node:http';
+import https from 'node:https';
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+
+const MCPGW_URL = process.env.MCPGW_URL ?? 'https://mcp.ad.itaz.eu';
+const PROJECT_NAME = `smoke-mcptoken-${Date.now().toString(36)}`;
+const TOKEN_NAME = 'smoketok';
+const OTHER_PROJECT = 'smoke-mcptoken-other';
+
+interface CliResult { code: number; stdout: string; stderr: string }
+
+function run(args: string): CliResult {
+  try {
+    const stdout = execSync(`mcpctl ${args}`, {
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
+      timeout: 30_000,
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    });
+    return { code: 0, stdout: stdout.trim(), stderr: '' };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const e = err as { status?: number; stdout?: Buffer | string; stderr?: Buffer | string };
+    return {
+      code: e.status ?? 1,
+      stdout: e.stdout ? (typeof e.stdout === 'string' ? e.stdout : e.stdout.toString('utf-8')) : '',
+      stderr: e.stderr ? (typeof e.stderr === 'string' ? e.stderr : e.stderr.toString('utf-8')) : '',
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+function healthz(url: string, timeoutMs = 5000): Promise<boolean> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const parsed = new URL(`${url.replace(/\/$/, '')}/healthz`);
+    const driver = parsed.protocol === 'https:' ? https : http;
+    const req = driver.get(
+      {
+        hostname: parsed.hostname,
+        port: parsed.port || (parsed.protocol === 'https:' ? 443 : 80),
+        path: parsed.pathname,
+        timeout: timeoutMs,
+      },
+      (res) => {
+        resolve((res.statusCode ?? 500) < 500);
+        res.resume();
+      },
+    );
+    req.on('error', () => resolve(false));
+    req.on('timeout', () => { req.destroy(); resolve(false); });
+  });
+}
+
+let gatewayUp = false;
+let rawToken = '';
+let knownToolName: string | undefined;
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  gatewayUp = await healthz(MCPGW_URL);
+}, 20_000);
+
+describe.skipIf(!gatewayUp)('mcptoken smoke (MCPGW_URL=' + MCPGW_URL + ')', () => {
+  it('creates the project and a project-scoped mcptoken', () => {
+    run(`delete project ${PROJECT_NAME} --force`); // cleanup leftovers — best-effort
+    const createProj = run(`create project ${PROJECT_NAME} --force`);
+    expect(createProj.code).toBe(0);
+
+    const createTok = run(`create mcptoken ${TOKEN_NAME} --project ${PROJECT_NAME} --rbac clone`);
+    expect(createTok.code).toBe(0);
+    const match = createTok.stdout.match(/mcpctl_pat_[A-Za-z0-9]+/);
+    expect(match, 'raw token was printed to stdout').not.toBeNull();
+    rawToken = match![0];
+  });
+
+  it('passes `mcpctl test mcp` against the token\'s project endpoint', () => {
+    const result = run(`test mcp ${MCPGW_URL}/projects/${PROJECT_NAME}/mcp --token ${rawToken} -o json`);
+    expect(result.code, result.stderr || result.stdout).toBe(0);
+    const report = JSON.parse(result.stdout.slice(result.stdout.indexOf('{'))) as {
+      exitCode: number;
+      tools: string[] | null;
+      initialize: string;
+    };
+    expect(report.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(report.initialize).toBe('ok');
+    expect(Array.isArray(report.tools)).toBe(true);
+    // Remember a tool name for the next negative --expect-tools assertion
+    knownToolName = report.tools?.[0];
+  });
+
+  it('fails `mcpctl test mcp` against a different project with 403', () => {
+    run(`create project ${OTHER_PROJECT} --force`);
+    const result = run(`test mcp ${MCPGW_URL}/projects/${OTHER_PROJECT}/mcp --token ${rawToken} -o json`);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(1);
+    const report = JSON.parse(result.stdout.slice(result.stdout.indexOf('{'))) as { error?: string };
+    expect(report.error ?? '').toMatch(/403|not valid for|project/i);
+  });
+
+  it('exits 2 (contract failure) when --expect-tools names a nonexistent tool', () => {
+    const result = run(`test mcp ${MCPGW_URL}/projects/${PROJECT_NAME}/mcp --token ${rawToken} --expect-tools __nonexistent_tool_xyz__`);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it('returns 401 after the token is revoked (within the negative-cache window)', async () => {
+    const del = run(`delete mcptoken ${TOKEN_NAME} --project ${PROJECT_NAME}`);
+    expect(del.code).toBe(0);
+    // Let the mcplocal negative-cache window expire. Introspection negative TTL
+    // defaults to 5s; we wait 7s to be safe.
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 7_000));
+    const result = run(`test mcp ${MCPGW_URL}/projects/${PROJECT_NAME}/mcp --token ${rawToken} -o json`);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(1);
+    const report = JSON.parse(result.stdout.slice(result.stdout.indexOf('{'))) as { error?: string };
+    expect(report.error ?? '').toMatch(/401|revoked|Invalid token/i);
+  }, 20_000);
+
+  it('cleans up test fixtures', () => {
+    run(`delete project ${PROJECT_NAME} --force`);
+    run(`delete project ${OTHER_PROJECT} --force`);
+    // Suppress the unused-var warning in strict setups
+    expect(knownToolName === undefined || typeof knownToolName === 'string').toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe.skipIf(gatewayUp)('mcptoken smoke (SKIPPED)', () => {
+  it('is skipped because MCPGW_URL is unreachable', () => {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    console.warn(`mcptoken smoke: skipped — ${MCPGW_URL}/healthz unreachable. Set MCPGW_URL to override.`);
+    expect(true).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/shared/src/index.ts b/src/shared/src/index.ts
index 5c4955a..6f36b42 100644
--- a/src/shared/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/shared/src/index.ts
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ export * from './constants/index.js';
 export * from './utils/index.js';
 export * from './secrets/index.js';
 export * from './tokens/index.js';
+export * from './mcp-http/index.js';
diff --git a/src/shared/src/mcp-http/index.ts b/src/shared/src/mcp-http/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50bc882
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/src/mcp-http/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,246 @@
+/**
+ * Reusable Streamable-HTTP MCP client.
+ *
+ * Handles:
+ *   - Bearer auth (session tokens or McpToken PATs)
+ *   - mcp-session-id round-trip
+ *   - Both JSON and text/event-stream response bodies
+ *   - JSON-RPC id correlation when a response is multiplexed with notifications
+ *
+ * Used by the smoke suite (`SmokeMcpSession` is a thin wrapper around this)
+ * and by `mcpctl test mcp <url>`.
+ */
+import http from 'node:http';
+import https from 'node:https';
+
+export interface McpHttpSessionOptions {
+  /** Bearer to send on every request. Accepts raw tokens (no "Bearer " prefix). */
+  bearer?: string;
+  /** Additional headers merged into every request. */
+  headers?: Record<string, string>;
+  /** Timeout per HTTP request in milliseconds. Defaults to 30_000. */
+  timeoutMs?: number;
+}
+
+export interface ToolInfo {
+  name: string;
+  description?: string;
+  inputSchema?: unknown;
+}
+
+export interface ToolCallResult {
+  content: Array<{ type: string; text?: string }>;
+  isError?: boolean;
+}
+
+interface HttpRequestArgs {
+  url: string;
+  method: string;
+  headers?: Record<string, string>;
+  body?: string;
+  timeoutMs?: number;
+}
+
+interface HttpRequestResult {
+  status: number;
+  headers: http.IncomingHttpHeaders;
+  body: string;
+}
+
+function rawHttpRequest(opts: HttpRequestArgs): Promise<HttpRequestResult> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const parsed = new URL(opts.url);
+    const driver = parsed.protocol === 'https:' ? https : http;
+    const req = driver.request(
+      {
+        hostname: parsed.hostname,
+        port: parsed.port || (parsed.protocol === 'https:' ? 443 : 80),
+        path: parsed.pathname + parsed.search,
+        method: opts.method,
+        headers: opts.headers,
+        timeout: opts.timeoutMs ?? 30_000,
+      },
+      (res) => {
+        const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+        res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => chunks.push(chunk));
+        res.on('end', () => {
+          resolve({
+            status: res.statusCode ?? 0,
+            headers: res.headers,
+            body: Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf-8'),
+          });
+        });
+      },
+    );
+    req.on('error', reject);
+    req.on('timeout', () => {
+      req.destroy();
+      reject(new Error('Request timed out'));
+    });
+    if (opts.body) req.write(opts.body);
+    req.end();
+  });
+}
+
+function parseSse(body: string): unknown[] {
+  const messages: unknown[] = [];
+  for (const line of body.split('\n')) {
+    if (line.startsWith('data: ')) {
+      try {
+        messages.push(JSON.parse(line.slice(6)));
+      } catch {
+        // skip malformed SSE data line
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return messages;
+}
+
+/** Thrown when the server returned a response JSON-RPC error payload. */
+export class McpProtocolError extends Error {
+  constructor(public readonly code: number, message: string) {
+    super(`MCP error ${code}: ${message}`);
+    this.name = 'McpProtocolError';
+  }
+}
+
+/** Thrown when the HTTP layer rejected the request (auth, transport, 5xx). */
+export class McpTransportError extends Error {
+  constructor(public readonly status: number, public readonly body: string, message?: string) {
+    super(message ?? `HTTP ${status}: ${body.slice(0, 200)}`);
+    this.name = 'McpTransportError';
+  }
+}
+
+export class McpHttpSession {
+  private sessionId: string | undefined;
+  private nextId = 1;
+
+  constructor(
+    /** Full URL of the MCP endpoint (e.g. `https://mcp.example.com/projects/foo/mcp`). */
+    public readonly url: string,
+    private readonly options: McpHttpSessionOptions = {},
+  ) {}
+
+  private buildHeaders(extra: Record<string, string> = {}): Record<string, string> {
+    const headers: Record<string, string> = {
+      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+      'Accept': 'application/json, text/event-stream',
+      ...(this.options.headers ?? {}),
+      ...extra,
+    };
+    if (this.sessionId) headers['mcp-session-id'] = this.sessionId;
+    if (this.options.bearer) headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${this.options.bearer}`;
+    return headers;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Send a JSON-RPC request and wait for the response with a matching id.
+   * Handles both single JSON and multiplexed SSE bodies.
+   */
+  async send(method: string, params: Record<string, unknown> = {}): Promise<unknown> {
+    const id = this.nextId++;
+    const request = { jsonrpc: '2.0', id, method, params };
+
+    const args: HttpRequestArgs = {
+      url: this.url,
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: this.buildHeaders(),
+      body: JSON.stringify(request),
+    };
+    if (this.options.timeoutMs !== undefined) args.timeoutMs = this.options.timeoutMs;
+    const result = await rawHttpRequest(args);
+
+    if (!this.sessionId) {
+      const sid = result.headers['mcp-session-id'];
+      if (typeof sid === 'string') this.sessionId = sid;
+    }
+
+    if (result.status >= 400) {
+      let message = `HTTP ${result.status}`;
+      try {
+        const body = JSON.parse(result.body) as { error?: string | { message?: string } };
+        const errField = body.error;
+        if (typeof errField === 'string') message = errField;
+        else if (errField && typeof errField === 'object' && typeof errField.message === 'string') message = errField.message;
+      } catch {
+        message = `HTTP ${result.status}: ${result.body.slice(0, 200)}`;
+      }
+      throw new McpTransportError(result.status, result.body, message);
+    }
+
+    const messages = result.headers['content-type']?.includes('text/event-stream')
+      ? parseSse(result.body)
+      : [JSON.parse(result.body)];
+
+    const matched = messages.find((m) => {
+      const msg = m as { id?: unknown };
+      return msg.id === id;
+    }) as { result?: unknown; error?: { code: number; message: string } } | undefined;
+
+    const parsed = matched ?? messages[0] as { result?: unknown; error?: { code: number; message: string } } | undefined;
+    if (!parsed) throw new Error(`No response for ${method}`);
+    if (parsed.error) throw new McpProtocolError(parsed.error.code, parsed.error.message);
+    return parsed.result;
+  }
+
+  async sendNotification(method: string, params: Record<string, unknown> = {}): Promise<void> {
+    const notification = { jsonrpc: '2.0', method, params };
+    const args: HttpRequestArgs = {
+      url: this.url,
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: this.buildHeaders(),
+      body: JSON.stringify(notification),
+    };
+    if (this.options.timeoutMs !== undefined) args.timeoutMs = this.options.timeoutMs;
+    await rawHttpRequest(args).catch(() => { /* best-effort */ });
+  }
+
+  /** MCP `initialize` handshake. */
+  async initialize(): Promise<{ protocolVersion?: string; serverInfo?: { name?: string; version?: string }; capabilities?: unknown }> {
+    return await this.send('initialize', {
+      protocolVersion: '2024-11-05',
+      capabilities: {},
+      clientInfo: { name: 'mcpctl-mcp-http-client', version: '1.0.0' },
+    }) as { protocolVersion?: string; serverInfo?: { name?: string; version?: string }; capabilities?: unknown };
+  }
+
+  /** List tools exposed by the endpoint. */
+  async listTools(): Promise<ToolInfo[]> {
+    const result = await this.send('tools/list') as { tools?: ToolInfo[] };
+    return result.tools ?? [];
+  }
+
+  /** Call a tool and return its `content` payload. */
+  async callTool(name: string, args: Record<string, unknown> = {}): Promise<ToolCallResult> {
+    return await this.send('tools/call', { name, arguments: args }) as ToolCallResult;
+  }
+
+  /** Clean-close the session with a DELETE. Safe to call when no sessionId has been negotiated. */
+  async close(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.sessionId === undefined) return;
+    await rawHttpRequest({
+      url: this.url,
+      method: 'DELETE',
+      headers: this.buildHeaders(),
+      timeoutMs: 5_000,
+    }).catch(() => { /* best-effort */ });
+    this.sessionId = undefined;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Best-effort healthcheck against `<base>/healthz`. */
+export async function mcpHealthCheck(baseUrl: string, timeoutMs = 5_000): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const res = await rawHttpRequest({ url: `${baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '')}/healthz`, method: 'GET', timeoutMs });
+    return res.status >= 200 && res.status < 500;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Derive `<scheme>://<host>[:port]` from a full MCP endpoint URL (for healthcheck). */
+export function deriveBaseUrl(mcpUrl: string): string {
+  const u = new URL(mcpUrl);
+  return `${u.protocol}//${u.host}`;
+}