docs: 5-minute MCP tutorial + neighboring-projects boundaries table

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ jobs:
           python examples/basic_cli.py
           python examples/billing_demo.py
           python examples/http_driver_demo.py
+          python examples/tutorial.py
 
   conformance_stub:
     name: "Weaver Spec Conformance Stub (v0.1.0)"

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,21 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+- "Secure your first MCP tool in 5 minutes" tutorial: new
+  [`docs/tutorial.md`](docs/tutorial.md) walks a new reader from install to a
+  working invocation, covering registration, principals, grants, all four
+  response modes, handle expansion, policy denial with stable
+  `reason_code`, and `explain()` audit. Companion runnable example
+  [`examples/tutorial.py`](examples/tutorial.py) uses `InMemoryDriver`
+  (offline, zero external deps) and is exercised by `make example` and CI.
+  (#46)
+- README "How this relates to neighboring projects" section: a neutral
+  boundaries table covering `AgentFence` (external CLI/proxy gate),
+  `contextweaver` (context compilation library), `ChainWeaver`
+  (deterministic flow orchestrator), and `weaver-spec` (specification +
+  conformance suite), plus a "When *not* to use this" callout. (#71)
+
 ## [0.7.0] - 2026-05-20
 
 ### Added

Makefile

@@ -16,5 +16,6 @@ example:
 	python examples/basic_cli.py
 	python examples/billing_demo.py
 	python examples/http_driver_demo.py
+	python examples/tutorial.py
 
 ci: fmt lint type test example

README.md

@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ pip install weaver-kernel
 
 > **Note:** The PyPI package is `weaver-kernel` (Weaver ecosystem), but the Python import remains `agent_kernel`.
 
+> **New here?** [docs/tutorial.md](docs/tutorial.md) walks through register → grant → invoke → expand → explain in five minutes.
+
 ```python
 import asyncio, os
 os.environ["AGENT_KERNEL_SECRET"] = "my-secret"
@@ -110,6 +112,45 @@ asyncio.run(main())
 
 `agent-kernel` sits **above** `contextweaver` (context compilation) and **above** raw tool execution. It provides the authorization, execution, and audit layer.
 
+## How this relates to neighboring projects
+
+`agent-kernel` is the embeddable runtime layer of the **Weaver ecosystem**. The
+projects below solve adjacent problems and are designed to compose, not to
+overlap.
+
+| Project | Role | Where it runs | Use it when… |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| **agent-kernel** *(this repo)* | Embeddable library/runtime: capability registry, policy, HMAC tokens, context firewall, audit trace. | In-process inside your agent host. | You need authorization, redaction, and audit between an LLM loop and a large tool ecosystem. |
+| [**AgentFence**](https://github.com/dgenio/AgentFence) | External CLI / local proxy that intercepts tool calls and applies a policy gate. | Out-of-process, alongside your agent. | You want a policy boundary without changing your agent code, or you need to gate a third-party agent host you can't modify. |
+| [**contextweaver**](https://github.com/dgenio/contextweaver) | Library that selects and compiles the context an LLM receives. | In-process, before the LLM call. | You need to assemble relevant context for a prompt. It sits *under* the LLM loop; agent-kernel sits *between* the LLM and tools. |
+| **ChainWeaver** | Orchestrator for deterministic tool chains. | In-process or as a separate service. | You need to run a multi-step deterministic flow rather than free-form LLM tool use. |
+| [**weaver-spec**](https://github.com/dgenio/weaver-spec) | Specification: invariants, capability/token/frame contracts, conformance suite. | Not a runtime — it's docs + a contract test suite. | You're building another Weaver-compatible implementation, or you want to verify an existing one. |
+
+A minimal architecture using `agent-kernel` as the central runtime:
+
+```
+LLM / agent loop
+       │
+       ▼
+contextweaver  ─►  agent-kernel  ─►  driver  ─►  MCP / HTTP / A2A / internal API
+                       │
+                       ▼
+                  ActionTrace
+```
+
+### When *not* to use this
+
+- You only need a process-level policy gate around an existing agent host —
+  reach for `AgentFence` instead.
+- You only need to compile context for a prompt — use `contextweaver`.
+- You want a deterministic, scripted workflow with no LLM in the inner loop —
+  use `ChainWeaver`.
+- You're writing a static analyzer or one-shot CLI scanner with no
+  per-invocation runtime — `agent-kernel` would be overkill.
+
+See [docs/tutorial.md](docs/tutorial.md) for an end-to-end "secure your first
+MCP tool in 5 minutes" walkthrough.
+
 ## Weaver Spec Compatibility: v0.1.0
 
 agent-kernel is a compliant implementation of [weaver-spec v0.1.0](https://github.com/dgenio/weaver-spec).

docs/tutorial.md

@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
+# Secure your first MCP tool in 5 minutes
+
+This walkthrough takes a brand-new reader from `pip install` to a working,
+authorized, audited tool invocation in roughly five minutes. Every code block
+is copy-pasteable; the runnable companion is
+[`examples/tutorial.py`](../examples/tutorial.py) (covered by CI).
+
+> The PyPI package is **`weaver-kernel`** but the Python import is
+> **`agent_kernel`**. We use both names in this document.
+
+## What you'll learn
+
+By the end of this page you will have seen, in this order:
+
+1. How to register a **capability** and how its `safety_class`,
+   `sensitivity`, and `allowed_fields` shape authorization.
+2. How a **principal** is created and why some attributes (like `tenant`)
+   are required for PII-tagged capabilities.
+3. How to issue a signed **token** with `kernel.get_token(...)`.
+4. How `kernel.invoke(...)` returns a bounded **Frame** in `summary`,
+   `table`, or `handle_only` modes — and why `email` never appears in any
+   of them.
+5. How to retrieve filtered raw rows by expanding a **Handle**.
+6. What a **policy denial** looks like and how to branch on its stable
+   `reason_code`.
+7. How `kernel.explain(action_id)` returns an audit **ActionTrace**.
+8. How to swap the in-process driver for a real **MCP** server.
+
+## 0. Install
+
+```bash
+pip install weaver-kernel
+```
+
+For the MCP section near the end, also install the optional extra:
+
+```bash
+pip install "weaver-kernel[mcp]"
+```
+
+Set a stable HMAC secret for the process. In production this should come
+from a real secret store; the example uses a fixed value so the output is
+reproducible:
+
+```python
+import os
+os.environ["AGENT_KERNEL_SECRET"] = "tutorial-secret-do-not-use-in-prod"
+```
+
+## 1. Register a capability
+
+A capability is the unit of authorization. The `safety_class` controls
+which roles may call it. The `sensitivity` tag tells the policy and
+firewall how to treat the data. `allowed_fields` is the projection the
+firewall applies before any row reaches the LLM.
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel import (
+    Capability,
+    CapabilityRegistry,
+    ImplementationRef,
+    SafetyClass,
+    SensitivityTag,
+)
+
+registry = CapabilityRegistry()
+registry.register(
+    Capability(
+        capability_id="billing.invoices.list",
+        name="List Invoices",
+        description="List recent invoices",
+        safety_class=SafetyClass.READ,
+        sensitivity=SensitivityTag.PII,
+        allowed_fields=["id", "customer_name", "amount", "status"],
+        tags=["billing", "invoices", "list"],
+        impl=ImplementationRef(driver_id="memory", operation="list_invoices"),
+    )
+)
+```
+
+> `email`, `phone`, and other non-listed columns will never reach the LLM
+> even if the driver returns them.
+
+## 2. Wire a driver and the kernel
+
+`InMemoryDriver` keeps the tutorial offline. The same pattern works with
+`HTTPDriver` or `MCPDriver` — see step 8.
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel import HMACTokenProvider, InMemoryDriver, Kernel, StaticRouter
+from agent_kernel.drivers.base import ExecutionContext
+
+INVOICES = [
+    {"id": "INV-001", "customer_name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com", "amount": 120.0, "status": "paid"},
+    {"id": "INV-002", "customer_name": "Bob",   "email": "bob@example.com",   "amount": 540.0, "status": "unpaid"},
+    {"id": "INV-003", "customer_name": "Carol", "email": "carol@example.com", "amount":  75.0, "status": "paid"},
+]
+
+driver = InMemoryDriver()
+driver.register_handler("list_invoices", lambda ctx: list(INVOICES))
+
+kernel = Kernel(
+    registry=registry,
+    token_provider=HMACTokenProvider(secret="tutorial-secret-do-not-use-in-prod"),
+    router=StaticRouter(routes={"billing.invoices.list": ["memory"]}),
+)
+kernel.register_driver(driver)
+```
+
+## 3. Create a principal
+
+The `DefaultPolicyEngine` requires a `tenant` attribute on the principal
+for any PII-tagged capability. Without it, the grant is denied with
+`reason_code="missing_tenant_attribute"`.
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel import Principal
+
+alice = Principal(principal_id="alice", roles=["reader"], attributes={"tenant": "acme"})
+```
+
+## 4. Grant a token
+
+`get_token` runs the policy engine and returns a signed
+`CapabilityToken`. No token, no invocation.
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel.models import CapabilityRequest
+
+request = CapabilityRequest(capability_id="billing.invoices.list", goal="list recent invoices")
+token = kernel.get_token(request, alice, justification="")
+print(token.token_id, token.expires_at)
+```
+
+## 5. Invoke and observe the Frame
+
+The default `response_mode` is `"summary"`. The Frame holds compact
+facts about the data plus a Handle the LLM can expand later.
+
+```python
+import asyncio
+
+frame = asyncio.run(kernel.invoke(token, principal=alice, args={"operation": "list_invoices"}))
+for fact in frame.facts:
+    print("•", fact)
+print("handle:", frame.handle and frame.handle.handle_id)
+```
+
+Try `response_mode="table"` to get a row preview that respects
+`allowed_fields`. Try `response_mode="handle_only"` to skip the preview
+entirely — the LLM gets only a reference. In every mode, **`email` is
+absent** from the Frame, because it is not in `allowed_fields`.
+
+```python
+table_frame = asyncio.run(
+    kernel.invoke(
+        kernel.get_token(request, alice, justification=""),
+        principal=alice,
+        args={"operation": "list_invoices"},
+        response_mode="table",
+    )
+)
+assert all("email" not in row for row in table_frame.table_preview)
+```
+
+## 6. Expand a Handle
+
+Handles let the LLM stay inside its context budget while still pulling
+specific rows or fields on demand. The expand projection is applied on
+top of `allowed_fields`, never around it.
+
+```python
+handle_frame = asyncio.run(
+    kernel.invoke(
+        kernel.get_token(request, alice, justification=""),
+        principal=alice,
+        args={"operation": "list_invoices"},
+        response_mode="handle_only",
+    )
+)
+expanded = kernel.expand(
+    handle_frame.handle,
+    query={"offset": 0, "limit": 2, "fields": ["id", "amount"]},
+)
+print(expanded.table_preview)
+# [{'id': 'INV-001', 'amount': 120.0}, {'id': 'INV-002', 'amount': 540.0}]
+```
+
+## 7. Watch policy enforcement
+
+Add a WRITE capability and try to call it as the reader principal. The
+denial carries both a human-readable `reason` and a stable
+`reason_code` your code can branch on.
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel.errors import PolicyDenied
+
+registry.register(
+    Capability(
+        capability_id="billing.invoices.create",
+        name="Create Invoice",
+        description="Create a new invoice",
+        safety_class=SafetyClass.WRITE,
+        tags=["billing", "invoices", "create"],
+        impl=ImplementationRef(driver_id="memory", operation="create_invoice"),
+    )
+)
+
+try:
+    kernel.get_token(
+        CapabilityRequest(capability_id="billing.invoices.create", goal="create an invoice"),
+        alice,
+        justification="reader trying a write — should fail",
+    )
+except PolicyDenied as exc:
+    print(exc.reason_code)   # 'missing_role'
+    print(str(exc))          # "WRITE capabilities require the 'writer' or 'admin' role..."
+```
+
+Stable reason codes come from `agent_kernel.policy_reasons.DenialReason`.
+Tests should assert on the code, not on the human-readable string.
+
+## 8. Audit with `explain()`
+
+Every successful invocation creates an `ActionTrace` keyed by
+`frame.action_id`. The trace records who, what, when, and which driver
+served the request — the auditable half of weaver-spec invariant I-02.
+
+```python
+trace = kernel.explain(frame.action_id)
+print(trace.action_id, trace.capability_id, trace.principal_id, trace.driver_id)
+```
+
+## 9. Swap the driver for an MCP server
+
+The kernel doesn't care whether the driver lives in-process, behind
+HTTP, or behind an MCP server — capabilities, policy, tokens, and
+firewall behave identically. To talk to a real MCP server, replace
+`InMemoryDriver` with `MCPDriver` (full transport details, including
+Streamable HTTP, live in [`docs/integrations.md`](integrations.md)):
+
+```python
+from agent_kernel.drivers.mcp import MCPDriver
+
+driver = MCPDriver.from_stdio(
+    command="python",
+    args=["-m", "my_mcp_server"],
+    server_name="local-tools",
+)
+kernel.register_driver(driver)
+
+# Discover the MCP server's tools and register each as an agent-kernel
+# capability under a namespace. Set safety_class/sensitivity/allowed_fields
+# on the resulting Capability objects to apply policy and the firewall.
+capabilities = asyncio.run(driver.discover(namespace="billing"))
+registry.register_many(capabilities)
+```
+
+That's the whole tutorial. From here:
+
+- [`docs/security.md`](security.md) — threat model, what HMAC tokens do
+  and do not protect against.
+- [`docs/context_firewall.md`](context_firewall.md) — redaction,
+  summarization, and budget details.
+- [`docs/capabilities.md`](capabilities.md) — designing capabilities
+  for large tool ecosystems.
+- [`docs/integrations.md`](integrations.md) — full MCP and HTTP driver
+  integration patterns.