ARC (Acuvity Runtime Container)

Overview

The ARC (Acuvity Runtime Container) is a purpose‑built, secure runtime environment for MCP servers. It addresses the growing need to run AI‑powered agents in production with minimal operational risk by isolating server processes, enforcing least privilege, and providing immutable file systems. By packaging an MCP server inside a hardened Docker container, ARC removes the burden of manual hardening and lets developers focus on extending assistant capabilities rather than patching infrastructure.

ARC’s value lies in its tight integration with Minibridge, a lightweight bridge that secures the communication channel between an AI assistant and its MCP server. Minibridge performs real‑time integrity checks, validates tool descriptions against a comprehensive policy set, and sanitizes responses to prevent leakage of internal state or secrets. Together, ARC and Minibridge form a fortified gateway that protects against covert instruction injection, tool shadowing, and cross‑tool exfiltration—issues that have become critical when assistants are exposed to untrusted users or data sources.

Key capabilities of ARC include:

• Built‑in security: isolated containers, non‑root execution, read‑only file systems, and automatic CVE scanning via Docker Scout.
• Policy enforcement: Open Policy Agent (OPA) rules that evaluate tool calls and responses for hidden prompts, schema misuse, or secret exposure.
• Runtime protection: Minibridge’s hashing and redaction mechanisms guarantee that only legitimate, vetted tools are invoked.
• Simplified connectivity: HTTP/SSE, WebSockets, and other protocols are handled automatically, eliminating the need for custom adapters.
• Kubernetes readiness: Helm charts and sensible defaults allow quick deployment in cluster environments.

In real‑world scenarios, ARC is ideal for enterprises that expose internal knowledge bases or proprietary APIs to AI assistants. For example, a finance firm can host an MCP server that queries secure transaction logs; ARC ensures that only authorized tool calls reach the data layer and that no sensitive information is leaked in the assistant’s responses. Similarly, a healthcare provider can run diagnostic MCP servers behind ARC to guarantee compliance with HIPAA by preventing unintended data exfiltration.

By combining robust container hardening, dynamic policy checks, and seamless remote access, ARC empowers developers to deploy MCP servers at scale while maintaining tight security controls. It removes the operational friction of securing AI workloads, allowing teams to iterate quickly on assistant logic without compromising infrastructure integrity.