diff --git a/docs/features/mcp-gateway.mdx b/docs/features/mcp-gateway.mdx
index 393a4c85b..0d6cca447 100644
--- a/docs/features/mcp-gateway.mdx
+++ b/docs/features/mcp-gateway.mdx
@@ -281,6 +281,11 @@ and an exclusion wins over an allowed path.
 | Everyone except contractors | `disallowed_user_paths: ["/contractors"]` |
 | Engineering except its contractors | both of the above, scoped under `/engineering` |
 
+The caller's user path comes from its API key when the key has one. Otherwise,
+including with the master key, it comes from the `X-GoModel-User-Path` header
+(or the header named by `USER_PATH_HEADER`), which is a quick way to check what
+a given subtree sees.
+
 Hidden servers are left out of `tools/list`, and `/mcp/{slug}` returns 404 for
 them. Like tool filters, visibility edits apply without reconnecting to the
 server and are checked on every call, so they also reach MCP sessions that are
diff --git a/internal/server/auth.go b/internal/server/auth.go
index a6f57580c..7d73db6b9 100644
--- a/internal/server/auth.go
+++ b/internal/server/auth.go
@@ -100,10 +100,11 @@ func NewAuthMiddleware(cfg AuthMiddlewareConfig) echo.MiddlewareFunc {
 				// sessions. Hide every identity value installed by outer extension
 				// middleware before validating the selected credential; clearing only
 				// the response header would leave downstream context consumers scoped
-				// to the wrong principal.
+				// to the wrong principal. The caller's own user-path header is not
+				// such an identity and is restored (see transportOwnedUserPath).
 				setAuthenticationUserHeader(c, "")
 				ctx := ext.WithoutAuthentication(c.Request().Context())
-				ctx = core.WithEffectiveUserPath(ctx, "")
+				ctx = core.WithEffectiveUserPath(ctx, transportOwnedUserPath(c.Request(), userPathHeaderName))
 				ctx = core.WithCredentialAllowedModels(ctx, nil)
 				ctx = core.WithAccessScope(ctx, core.AccessScope{})
 				c.SetRequest(c.Request().WithContext(ctx))
@@ -158,6 +159,27 @@ func NewAuthMiddleware(cfg AuthMiddlewareConfig) echo.MiddlewareFunc {
 	}
 }
 
+// transportOwnedUserPath returns the request's user-path header for model
+// endpoints that own their transport (MCP, realtime, audio uploads), and ""
+// for every other endpoint. Those endpoints take no request snapshot, so
+// RequestSnapshotCapture seeds the header path as the effective user path;
+// without restoring it here, master-key and unbound-key callers lose their
+// path there while ingress-managed endpoints keep it through the snapshot.
+// Only this middleware and RequestSnapshotCapture write the header, so the
+// value is the caller's own, never an outer extension session's. A key with
+// a bound user path still overrides it in applyAuthKeyResult.
+func transportOwnedUserPath(req *http.Request, headerName string) string {
+	desc := core.DescribeEndpoint(req.Method, req.URL.Path)
+	if desc.IngressManaged || !desc.ModelInteraction {
+		return ""
+	}
+	userPath, err := core.NormalizeUserPath(req.Header.Get(headerName))
+	if err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return userPath
+}
+
 func hasRequestAuthenticators(authenticators []ext.RequestAuthenticator) bool {
 	for _, authenticator := range authenticators {
 		if !requestAuthenticatorIsNil(authenticator) {
diff --git a/internal/server/master_key_user_path_test.go b/internal/server/master_key_user_path_test.go
index ff17be0cf..d016d449e 100644
--- a/internal/server/master_key_user_path_test.go
+++ b/internal/server/master_key_user_path_test.go
@@ -101,3 +101,67 @@ func TestMasterKeyUserPathHeaderScopesRestrictedModelAccess(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// TestTransportOwnedEndpointsKeepHeaderUserPath covers model endpoints that
+// own their transport (MCP, realtime, audio uploads). They take no request
+// snapshot, so the header path lives only in the effective user path, and the
+// explicit-credential reset must not erase it: a master-key or unbound-key
+// caller keeps its header path, a bound key still wins, and identity from an
+// outer extension session never survives an explicit credential.
+func TestTransportOwnedEndpointsKeepHeaderUserPath(t *testing.T) {
+	authenticator := mockAuthenticator{
+		enabled:   true,
+		tokenToID: map[string]string{"sk_bound": "key-bound", "sk_unbound": "key-unbound"},
+		tokenPath: map[string]string{"sk_bound": "/team/bound"},
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		path          string
+		token         string
+		headerPath    string
+		outerIdentity string
+		// configuredHeader is the server's USER_PATH_HEADER; empty keeps the default.
+		configuredHeader string
+		want             string
+	}{
+		{name: "master key on /mcp keeps header path", path: "/mcp", token: "master-key", headerPath: "/eng/platform", want: "/eng/platform"},
+		{name: "master key on pinned /mcp/{server}", path: "/mcp/github", token: "master-key", headerPath: "/eng", want: "/eng"},
+		{name: "master key on audio transcription", path: "/v1/audio/transcriptions", token: "master-key", headerPath: "/team/x", want: "/team/x"},
+		{name: "master key on realtime", path: "/v1/realtime", token: "master-key", headerPath: "/team/x", want: "/team/x"},
+		{name: "master key without header stays global", path: "/mcp", token: "master-key", want: ""},
+		{name: "unbound managed key keeps header path", path: "/mcp", token: "sk_unbound", headerPath: "/eng/platform", want: "/eng/platform"},
+		{name: "bound managed key wins over header", path: "/mcp", token: "sk_bound", headerPath: "/eng/platform", want: "/team/bound"},
+		{name: "outer extension identity is dropped", path: "/mcp", token: "master-key", outerIdentity: "/ext/session", want: ""},
+		{name: "header replaces outer extension identity", path: "/mcp", token: "master-key", outerIdentity: "/ext/session", headerPath: "/eng", want: "/eng"},
+		{name: "configured header name on /mcp", path: "/mcp", token: "master-key", configuredHeader: "X-Tenant-Path", headerPath: "/eng", want: "/eng"},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var got string
+			auth := AuthMiddlewareWithAuthenticator("master-key", authenticator, nil, tt.configuredHeader)(func(c *echo.Context) error {
+				got = core.UserPathFromContext(c.Request().Context())
+				return c.String(http.StatusOK, "ok")
+			})
+			// An outer extension session installs its identity before the
+			// gateway's auth middleware runs.
+			outer := func(c *echo.Context) error {
+				if tt.outerIdentity != "" {
+					req := c.Request()
+					c.SetRequest(req.WithContext(core.WithEffectiveUserPath(req.Context(), tt.outerIdentity)))
+				}
+				return auth(c)
+			}
+			chain := RequestSnapshotCapture(tt.configuredHeader)(outer)
+
+			opts := []echotest.Option{echotest.WithHeader("Authorization", "Bearer "+tt.token)}
+			if tt.headerPath != "" {
+				opts = append(opts, echotest.WithHeader(core.UserPathHeaderName(tt.configuredHeader), tt.headerPath))
+			}
+			c, rec := echotest.Post(t, tt.path, `{}`, opts...)
+
+			require.NoError(t, chain(c))
+			require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, rec.Code)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}