Citrix, a Cloud Software Group company, today announced updates to its high-performance application delivery and security platform NetScaler®, introducing MCP Gateway functionality to allow enterprises to securely route, govern and observe agent traffic to backend Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. In addition, the company unveiled other enhancements to NetScaler® AI Gateway that extend model routing and token-level usage tracking for LLM traffic. Together, the capabilities enable organizations to govern both sides of enterprise AI from a single platform and dashboard.
NetScaler MCP Gateway provides centralized authentication, granular control, and session persistence.
Extends AI Gateway with content switching-based model routing and usage tracking.
60% of GenAI POCs abandoned upon completion in 2024 (Gartner).
Single-pass architecture minimizes latency for high-volume AI workloads.
Claude Code use case in private tech preview.
Included at no additional cost for Citrix Platform License or Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud customers.
Steve Shah, general manager of NetScaler at Citrix, stated: "As agents become pervasive elements of the modern enterprise, querying systems of record through MCPs will become the new API call. Protecting systems of record with clear policies for who can access which services and ensuring that such requests are handled safely, will be a key for modern security and regulatory compliance. It is not a matter of if, but when, cyber-insurance requirements will mandate the use of MCP gateways to protect against dangerous agents."
MCP Gateway provides centralized authentication and granular control with per-user and global tokens, OAuth and hybrid flows, tool-based rate limiting and server allow/block lists. Reliability for multi-step agent workflows includes session persistence and protocol-aware monitoring to keep agents connected to the right back-end server. Model routing and usage visibility for LLM traffic includes content switching-based model routing and usage tracking by team, user or application.
Citrix is expanding NetScaler AI Gateway with content switching-based model routing and usage tracking. These enhancements allow incoming chat requests from AI agents and applications to be routed to different models based on policy, while giving teams visibility into input and output tokens or requests by team, user or application. Together, they help enterprises optimize cost and performance across multiple model providers, avoid vendor lock-in and hold teams accountable for AI spend.
NetScaler is unique in combining governance for both LLM and MCP traffic from a single platform with its proprietary single-pass architecture. This architecture is designed to perform traffic management, authentication, routing, security inspection, rate limiting and observability in one pass through the data path, helping organizations apply the governance AI requires while minimizing latency.
Citrix has been running NetScaler AI Gateway in production as part of the control layer for Citrix Aidrien™, its AI-powered in-product assistant, demonstrating that the same governance capabilities are already operating at enterprise scale inside Citrix.
About Citrix
Citrix sets the governance for how enterprise applications are secured, accessed and experienced. As applications evolve, data migrates, devices multiply, and AI transforms how work gets done, today's workforce is more complex than ever. Founded on pioneering secure remote access, Citrix has evolved into a platform that supports the full application value chain.
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