diff --git a/cmd/mcpRunner.go b/cmd/mcpRunner.go
index de318ee1d..907607488 100644
--- a/cmd/mcpRunner.go
+++ b/cmd/mcpRunner.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/internal/connect"
 	"github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/kubernetes"
 	"github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/misc"
+	"github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/utils"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 )
 
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ func runMCPWithConfig(setFlags []string, directURL string, allowDestructive bool
 	zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.Disabled)
 
 	server := &mcpServer{
-		httpClient:       &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second},
+		httpClient:       utils.NewHubHTTPClient(30*time.Second, config.Config.License),
 		stdin:            os.Stdin,
 		stdout:           os.Stdout,
 		setFlags:         setFlags,
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ func (s *mcpServer) validateDirectURL() error {
 	s.directURL = urlStr
 
 	// Use a short timeout for validation
-	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
+	client := utils.NewHubHTTPClient(10*time.Second, config.Config.License)
 
 	// Try to reach the MCP API base endpoint which returns tool definitions
 	testURL := fmt.Sprintf("%s/api/mcp", urlStr)
@@ -205,6 +206,10 @@ func (s *mcpServer) validateDirectURL() error {
 	}
 	defer func() { _ = resp.Body.Close() }()
 
+	if utils.IsAuthRequired(resp) {
+		return utils.ErrHubAuthRequired
+	}
+
 	// Try to parse the MCP response to validate it's a valid Kubeshark endpoint
 	var mcpInfo hubMCPResponse
 	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&mcpInfo); err != nil {
@@ -820,10 +825,10 @@ func (s *mcpServer) callDownloadFile(args map[string]any) (string, bool) {
 	// The default s.httpClient has a 30s total timeout which would fail for large files (up to 10GB).
 	// This client sets only connection-level timeouts and lets the body stream without a deadline.
 	downloadClient := &http.Client{
-		Transport: &http.Transport{
+		Transport: utils.HubAuthTransport(config.Config.License, &http.Transport{
 			TLSHandshakeTimeout:   10 * time.Second,
 			ResponseHeaderTimeout: 30 * time.Second,
-		},
+		}),
 	}
 
 	resp, err := downloadClient.Get(fullURL)
@@ -1145,7 +1150,7 @@ func establishProxyConnection(timeout time.Duration) (string, error) {
 
 // fetchAndDisplayTools fetches tools from the Kubeshark API and displays them
 func fetchAndDisplayTools(hubURL string, timeout time.Duration) {
-	client := &http.Client{Timeout: timeout}
+	client := utils.NewHubHTTPClient(timeout, config.Config.License)
 
 	// Fetch tools list from /api/mcp endpoint
 	resp, err := client.Get(strings.TrimSuffix(hubURL, "/mcp") + "/mcp")
diff --git a/utils/http.go b/utils/http.go
index 46194feca..5496a741b 100644
--- a/utils/http.go
+++ b/utils/http.go
@@ -2,17 +2,67 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 )
 
 const (
 	X_KUBESHARK_CAPTURE_HEADER_KEY          = "X-Kubeshark-Capture"
 	X_KUBESHARK_CAPTURE_HEADER_IGNORE_VALUE = "ignore"
+	LICENSE_KEY_HEADER                      = "License-Key"
 )
 
+// ErrHubAuthRequired indicates the Hub rejected the request because auth is
+// enabled but no valid credential was presented (missing/expired license).
+var ErrHubAuthRequired = errors.New("hub requires authentication: set a valid license (config 'license') or credentials")
+
+// licenseKeyRoundTripper attaches the License-Key header to every request so
+// any client built with it authenticates to a gated Hub. License-Key is a
+// custom (non-Authorization) header so it survives the kube API-server
+// service proxy, unlike a bearer token.
+type licenseKeyRoundTripper struct {
+	licenseKey string
+	base       http.RoundTripper
+}
+
+func (rt *licenseKeyRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+	base := rt.base
+	if base == nil {
+		base = http.DefaultTransport
+	}
+	if rt.licenseKey != "" && req.Header.Get(LICENSE_KEY_HEADER) == "" {
+		req = req.Clone(req.Context())
+		req.Header.Set(LICENSE_KEY_HEADER, rt.licenseKey)
+	}
+	return base.RoundTrip(req)
+}
+
+// NewHubHTTPClient returns an *http.Client that authenticates to the Hub by
+// attaching the License-Key header to every request.
+func NewHubHTTPClient(timeout time.Duration, licenseKey string) *http.Client {
+	return &http.Client{
+		Timeout:   timeout,
+		Transport: &licenseKeyRoundTripper{licenseKey: licenseKey},
+	}
+}
+
+// HubAuthTransport wraps base so requests carry the License-Key header. Use
+// when a client needs custom transport settings (e.g. streaming downloads)
+// but must still authenticate to the Hub.
+func HubAuthTransport(licenseKey string, base http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTripper {
+	return &licenseKeyRoundTripper{licenseKey: licenseKey, base: base}
+}
+
+// IsAuthRequired reports whether the response indicates the Hub demanded
+// authentication — a 401, or a 302 redirect to an SSO login page.
+func IsAuthRequired(resp *http.Response) bool {
+	return resp != nil && (resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusFound)
+}
+
 // Get - When err is nil, resp always contains a non-nil resp.Body.
 // Caller should close resp.Body when done reading from it.
 func Get(url string, client *http.Client) (*http.Response, error) {