4.7 — MCP on Google Cloud: Deployment Patterns
Production MCP Deployment on GCP
| GCP Service | Role in MCP Stack | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Run | Host MCP server containers | Auto-scaling, pay-per-request, easy deploy with gcloud run deploy |
| Cloud Load Balancer | TLS termination, routing | Managed TLS certs, global routing, DDoS protection |
| Secret Manager | Store API keys, OAuth secrets | Never hardcode credentials. Rotate without redeploying |
| IAM + Workload Identity | Service-to-service auth | MCP server → Cloud SQL/BigQuery without key management |
| Cloud Armor | WAF for MCP endpoints | Rate limiting, geo-blocking, OWASP rule sets |
| Cloud Audit Logs | Compliance trail | Every API call logged automatically |