AI agent identity startup Keycard acquires Runebook to empower MCP connectivity – News

Keycard Labs Inc., a startup that builds software to manage identity and access security for artificial intelligence agents, today announced it has acquired Runebook to assist companies in safely adopting AI agents and tools.

Keycard’s platform offers access management capabilities for AI agents, giving them distinct roles and permissions that define what they can access and how. This allows developers and information technology teams to define “per-task” permissions, enabling users to control the specifics of what an agent can see and do.

There may be instances where users need an AI agent to perform a task that requires permissions. However, those permissions may not always be revoked afterwards. Not only does Keycard’s platform control what an agent can do while it’s running, but it also allows developers to quickly remove permissions after a run once they’re no longer needed.

Runebook focuses on building text and voice-enabled AI agents using Model Context Protocol to make it easy for businesses to connect them to any application or service. It also developed a desktop large language model client called Tome, which simplifies connecting local AI models to external services.

MCP is an open standard developed and released by Anthropic PBC that provides universal, standardized protocols for AI systems, such as LLMs and AI agents, to connect with external data sources and applications. It has been touted as the “USB-C port for AI applications,” providing AI systems with a simple way to communicate.

“MCP is quickly becoming the foundation for how companies enable agents to interact with real systems,” said Ian Livingstone, co-founder and chief executive of Keycard.

Thousands of public MCP servers are available today, with more coming online, that provide simplified access to services and data. Leading AI agents, including those running in OpenAI Group PBC’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude Code and Anysphere Inc.’s Cursor all use MCP to access external data and tools required to complete tasks.

“We originally built our open-source product to make experimenting with MCP magical instead of painful,” said Peter Cho, co-founder of Runebook and head of product at Keycard. “As teams pushed MCP from experiments into production, we saw firsthand how much trust and security mattered.”

Livingstone added that Runebook’s experience building easy-to-use MCP integrations makes it simpler to adopt and deploy. With the company’s expertise and technology on board, Keycard will use it to expand its own drop-in software development kits and one-click installation capabilities.

Businesses will be able to use Keycard’s expanded simple connectivity using MCP and receive the company’s powerful AI agent access controls and observability on top of it. “Joining forces lets us build the future we always imagined, one where tools for agents are powerful, accessible and trusted,” said Cho.

Today’s announcement follows Keycard emerging from stealth last month with $38 million in funding across two rounds from Andreessen Horowitz, Acrew Capital and Boldstart.

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