diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b5ce907..23ddb35 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ For most users, start with these:
 | `components/hermes/hermes-safe-terminal` | Blocks dangerous terminal commands such as destructive deletes, disk wipes, env dumps, and curl-to-shell. |
 | `components/hermes/hermes-publish-gate` | Runs a 12-check public-release gate for secrets, PII, AI attribution, artifacts, licenses, and debug code. |
 | `components/hermes/hermes-workspace-scanner` | Scans an agent workspace for leaked secrets, suspicious files, tracked secret files, and hardcoded user paths. |
+| `components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard` | Reviews Hermes MCP server config for unsafe endpoints, broad tool exposure, literal credentials, and unpinned stdio launchers. |
 | `components/hermes/hermes-staging-scan` | Moves inbound files through ClamAV-backed scanned/quarantine directories. |
 | `components/hermes/hermes-secret-store` | Loads secrets from OS keystores instead of plaintext `.env` files. |
 | `components/hermes/hermes-memory-encrypt` | Encrypts `MEMORY.md` and `USER.md` at rest with HMAC verification. |
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/.gitignore b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bd90bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+.DS_Store
+*.log
+tmp/
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CHANGELOG.md b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68b8dc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## 0.1.0
+
+- Initial Hermes MCP configuration guard.
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CONTRIBUTING.md b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4447b96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Contributing
+
+Keep this component conservative and offline. It should inspect local Hermes
+configuration without connecting to MCP servers or printing secret values.
+
+Before opening a PR from the repository root, run:
+
+```bash
+bash scripts/publish-check.sh
+```
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/LICENSE b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba129f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 RedBeret
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/README.md b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1b2cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# hermes-mcp-guard
+
+Offline guard for reviewing Hermes MCP server configuration before an agent
+session uses external tools.
+
+It scans the `mcp_servers:` block in `~/.hermes/config.yaml` and reports:
+
+- literal API keys or bearer tokens in MCP config
+- insecure `http://` MCP endpoints
+- remote MCP hosts that are not explicitly allowlisted
+- local/private MCP endpoints that deserve review
+- stdio commands that shell out through `curl`, `wget`, `bash -c`, or `sh -c`
+- `npx`, `uvx`, and `pipx` MCP packages that are not version-pinned
+- enabled MCP servers that expose all tools instead of `tools.include` or
+  `tools.exclude`
+- server-initiated sampling with no visible `allowed_models` limit
+
+The script does not connect to any MCP server and does not print secret values.
+
+## Usage
+
+Scan the default Hermes config:
+
+```bash
+bash mcp-guard.sh
+```
+
+Scan a specific config:
+
+```bash
+bash mcp-guard.sh ~/.hermes/config.yaml
+```
+
+Treat warnings as failures:
+
+```bash
+bash mcp-guard.sh --strict ~/.hermes/config.yaml
+```
+
+Allow known remote MCP hosts:
+
+```bash
+MCP_GUARD_ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV="github.com,mcp.example.com" bash mcp-guard.sh
+```
+
+## Install
+
+```bash
+bash setup.sh
+```
+
+This installs `mcp-guard.sh` into `~/.hermes/security/`.
+
+## Notes
+
+This guard is deliberately text-based so it can run without extra YAML
+dependencies. Review warnings manually; some local MCP servers are legitimate
+when they are intentionally scoped and trusted.
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/SECURITY.md b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/SECURITY.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..756cabb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/SECURITY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Security
+
+Report issues through the repository's GitHub security advisory flow.
+
+This component should never echo raw header values, environment values, or MCP
+server credentials. Findings should identify the category and line number only.
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/mcp-guard.sh b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/mcp-guard.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..65fabb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/mcp-guard.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# hermes-mcp-guard: offline MCP configuration review for Hermes.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+STRICT=0
+CONFIG=""
+
+while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --strict) STRICT=1 ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      echo "usage: bash mcp-guard.sh [--strict] [config.yaml]"
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      if [ -n "$CONFIG" ]; then
+        echo "usage: bash mcp-guard.sh [--strict] [config.yaml]" >&2
+        exit 2
+      fi
+      CONFIG="$1"
+      ;;
+  esac
+  shift
+done
+
+CONFIG="${CONFIG:-${HERMES_CONFIG:-${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/config.yaml}}"
+ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV="${MCP_GUARD_ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV:-}"
+
+PASS=0
+WARN=0
+FAIL=0
+
+pass() { printf '  PASS %s\n' "$1"; PASS=$((PASS + 1)); }
+warn() { printf '  WARN line %s: %s\n' "$1" "$2"; WARN=$((WARN + 1)); }
+fail() { printf '  FAIL line %s: %s\n' "$1" "$2"; FAIL=$((FAIL + 1)); }
+
+is_allowed_host() {
+  local host="$1"
+  local item
+  IFS=',' read -r -a hosts <<< "$ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV"
+  for item in "${hosts[@]}"; do
+    item="$(printf '%s' "$item" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | xargs)"
+    [ "$host" = "$item" ] && return 0
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
+is_private_or_local_host() {
+  local host="$1"
+  case "$host" in
+    localhost|*.localhost|127.*|10.*|192.168.*|172.16.*|172.17.*|172.18.*|172.19.*|172.20.*|172.21.*|172.22.*|172.23.*|172.24.*|172.25.*|172.26.*|172.27.*|172.28.*|172.29.*|172.30.*|172.31.*|169.254.*|::1)
+      return 0
+      ;;
+  esac
+  return 1
+}
+
+extract_host() {
+  local url="$1"
+  url="${url#*://}"
+  url="${url%%/*}"
+  url="${url%%:*}"
+  printf '%s' "$url" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'
+}
+
+strip_value() {
+  local value="$1"
+  value="${value#*:}"
+  value="${value%%#*}"
+  value="$(printf '%s' "$value" | sed -E 's/^[[:space:]]+//; s/[[:space:]]+$//; s/^["'\'']//; s/["'\'']$//')"
+  printf '%s' "$value"
+}
+
+finish_server() {
+  local server="$1"
+  local line="$2"
+  local enabled="$3"
+  local has_filter="$4"
+  local has_sampling="$5"
+  local has_allowed_models="$6"
+
+  [ -z "$server" ] && return 0
+  [ "$enabled" = "false" ] && return 0
+
+  if [ "$has_filter" -eq 0 ]; then
+    warn "$line" "MCP server '$server' exposes all tools; prefer tools.include or tools.exclude."
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$has_sampling" -eq 1 ] && [ "$has_allowed_models" -eq 0 ]; then
+    warn "$line" "MCP server '$server' enables sampling without an allowed_models limit."
+  fi
+}
+
+echo ""
+echo "Hermes MCP Guard"
+echo "Config: $CONFIG"
+echo "----------------"
+
+if [ ! -f "$CONFIG" ]; then
+  pass "No Hermes config file found."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+MCP_BLOCK="$(awk '
+  /^[^[:space:]]/ {
+    in_mcp = ($1 == "mcp_servers:")
+  }
+  in_mcp {
+    print NR ":" $0
+  }
+' "$CONFIG")"
+
+if [ -z "$MCP_BLOCK" ]; then
+  pass "No mcp_servers block found."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+current_server=""
+current_server_line=0
+current_enabled="true"
+current_tool_filter=0
+current_sampling=0
+current_allowed_models=0
+in_sampling=0
+
+while IFS= read -r record; do
+  [ -z "$record" ] && continue
+  line_no="${record%%:*}"
+  line="${record#*:}"
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^  [A-Za-z0-9_.-]+:[[:space:]]*$'; then
+    finish_server "$current_server" "$current_server_line" "$current_enabled" "$current_tool_filter" "$current_sampling" "$current_allowed_models"
+    current_server="$(printf '%s' "$line" | sed -E 's/^  ([A-Za-z0-9_.-]+):[[:space:]]*$/\1/')"
+    current_server_line="$line_no"
+    current_enabled="true"
+    current_tool_filter=0
+    current_sampling=0
+    current_allowed_models=0
+    in_sampling=0
+    continue
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^[[:space:]]+enabled:[[:space:]]*false[[:space:]]*$'; then
+    current_enabled="false"
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^[[:space:]]+tools:[[:space:]]*.*(include|exclude):'; then
+    current_tool_filter=1
+  elif printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^[[:space:]]+(include|exclude):'; then
+    current_tool_filter=1
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^[[:space:]]+sampling:[[:space:]]*$'; then
+    current_sampling=1
+    in_sampling=1
+  elif [ "$in_sampling" -eq 1 ] && printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq '^[[:space:]]{4}[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+:'; then
+    in_sampling=0
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$in_sampling" -eq 1 ] && printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eq 'allowed_models:[[:space:]]*\[[^]]+[^[:space:]]\]'; then
+    current_allowed_models=1
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '(sk-ant-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{20,}|sk-or-v1-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{20,}|AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}|ghp_[A-Za-z0-9]{36}|github_pat_[A-Za-z0-9_]{22,}|glpat-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{20,})'; then
+    fail "$line_no" "literal credential pattern in MCP config; move it to a keystore or environment interpolation."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi 'Authorization:[[:space:]]*["'\'']?Bearer[[:space:]]+' && ! printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -q '\${'; then
+    fail "$line_no" "literal bearer token in MCP header; use Bearer \${ENV_VAR}."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '[A-Z0-9_]*(API_KEY|TOKEN|SECRET|PASSWORD)[A-Z0-9_]*:[[:space:]]*["'\'']?[^"$\{[:space:]#][^#]{7,}'; then
+    fail "$line_no" "literal secret-like env value in MCP config; use keystore-backed environment interpolation."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '^[[:space:]]+url:'; then
+    url="$(strip_value "$line")"
+    host="$(extract_host "$url")"
+    case "$url" in
+      http://*)
+        fail "$line_no" "MCP endpoint uses http://; use HTTPS or a trusted local stdio server."
+        ;;
+      https://*)
+        if is_private_or_local_host "$host"; then
+          warn "$line_no" "MCP endpoint resolves to a local/private-looking host; verify it is intentional."
+        elif ! is_allowed_host "$host"; then
+          warn "$line_no" "remote MCP host '$host' is not in MCP_GUARD_ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV."
+        fi
+        ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '^[[:space:]]+command:[[:space:]]*["'\'']?(curl|wget)\b'; then
+    fail "$line_no" "MCP stdio command starts with a downloader."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '(curl|wget).*\|[[:space:]]*(ba)?sh|[[:space:]](ba)?sh[[:space:]]+-c|[[:space:]]zsh[[:space:]]+-c'; then
+    fail "$line_no" "MCP stdio command shells remote or dynamic code."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '^[[:space:]]+command:[[:space:]]*["'\'']?(npx|uvx|pipx)["'\'']?[[:space:]]*$'; then
+    warn "$line_no" "MCP stdio launcher should use pinned packages or a reviewed local executable."
+  fi
+
+  if printf '%s\n' "$line" | grep -Eqi '@[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+/[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+["'\'',[:space:]]*$'; then
+    warn "$line_no" "scoped MCP package appears unpinned; prefer an explicit package version."
+  fi
+done <<< "$MCP_BLOCK"
+
+finish_server "$current_server" "$current_server_line" "$current_enabled" "$current_tool_filter" "$current_sampling" "$current_allowed_models"
+
+if [ "$PASS" -eq 0 ] && [ "$WARN" -eq 0 ] && [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then
+  pass "MCP config reviewed with no findings."
+fi
+
+echo "----------------"
+if [ "$FAIL" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "Result: FAIL ($FAIL fail, $WARN warn, $PASS pass)"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$WARN" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "Result: PASS with warnings ($WARN warn, $PASS pass)"
+  if [ "$STRICT" -eq 1 ]; then
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Result: PASS ($PASS pass)"
diff --git a/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/setup.sh b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..819204f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+HERMES_HOME="${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+echo "hermes-mcp-guard setup"
+echo "----------------------"
+
+mkdir -p "$HERMES_HOME/security"
+cp "$SCRIPT_DIR/mcp-guard.sh" "$HERMES_HOME/security/mcp-guard.sh"
+chmod +x "$HERMES_HOME/security/mcp-guard.sh"
+
+echo "Installed mcp-guard.sh to $HERMES_HOME/security/"
+echo ""
+echo "Usage:"
+echo "  bash ~/.hermes/security/mcp-guard.sh"
+echo "  MCP_GUARD_ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV=\"github.com\" bash ~/.hermes/security/mcp-guard.sh"
diff --git a/docs/COMPONENTS.md b/docs/COMPONENTS.md
index 2d1f786..a5e7302 100644
--- a/docs/COMPONENTS.md
+++ b/docs/COMPONENTS.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ own README and setup script.
 
 - Publish gate: release-readiness checks before making a repo public.
 - Workspace scanner: local security scan for agent workspaces.
+- MCP guard: offline review of Hermes MCP server configuration.
 - Staging scan: ClamAV-backed inbound-file scan and quarantine workflow.
 
 ## Secret and State Handling
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ own README and setup script.
 4. Commit guard
 5. Workspace scanner
 6. Publish gate
+7. MCP guard, if MCP servers are enabled
 
 Add memory encryption, staging scans, brain backups, and smart launchers only
 after the core protections are working.
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-test.sh b/scripts/smoke-test.sh
index 8f235d4..fc30629 100755
--- a/scripts/smoke-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/smoke-test.sh
@@ -64,4 +64,31 @@ fi
 grep -q 'SECRETS FOUND' /tmp/ask-scan.out
 ok "workspace scanner detects secret"
 
+good_mcp=$(mktemp)
+cat > "$good_mcp" <<'EOF'
+mcp_servers:
+  reviewed:
+    url: "https://mcp.example.com/mcp"
+    headers:
+      Authorization: "Bearer ${MCP_REVIEWED_API_KEY}"
+    tools:
+      include: ["search"]
+EOF
+MCP_GUARD_ALLOWED_HOSTS_CSV="mcp.example.com" bash components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/mcp-guard.sh "$good_mcp" >/tmp/ask-mcp-good.out
+
+bad_mcp=$(mktemp)
+cat > "$bad_mcp" <<'EOF'
+mcp_servers:
+  unsafe:
+    url: "http://mcp.example.com/mcp"
+    headers:
+      Authorization: "Bearer literal-token-value"
+EOF
+if bash components/hermes/hermes-mcp-guard/mcp-guard.sh "$bad_mcp" >/tmp/ask-mcp-bad.out 2>&1; then
+  echo "mcp guard missed unsafe config" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+grep -q 'Result: FAIL' /tmp/ask-mcp-bad.out
+ok "mcp guard"
+
 printf 'all smoke tests passed\n'