Kubernetes MCP Server
✨ Features | 🚀 Getting Started | 🎥 Demos | ⚙️ Configuration | 🛠️ Tools | 🧑💻 Development
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/be2b67b3-fc1c-4d11-ae46-93deba8ed98e
✨ Features
A powerful and flexible Kubernetes Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation with support for Kubernetes and OpenShift.
- ✅ Configuration:
- Automatically detect changes in the Kubernetes configuration and update the MCP server.
- View and manage the current Kubernetes
.kube/config or in-cluster configuration.
- ✅ Generic Kubernetes Resources: Perform operations on any Kubernetes or OpenShift resource.
- Any CRUD operation (Create or Update, Get, List, Delete).
- ✅ Pods: Perform Pod-specific operations.
- List pods in all namespaces or in a specific namespace.
- Get a pod by name from the specified namespace.
- Delete a pod by name from the specified namespace.
- Show logs for a pod by name from the specified namespace.
- Exec into a pod and run a command.
- Run a container image in a pod and optionally expose it.
- ✅ Namespaces: List Kubernetes Namespaces.
- ✅ Events: View Kubernetes events in all namespaces or in a specific namespace.
- ✅ Projects: List OpenShift Projects.
- ☸️ Helm:
- Install a Helm chart in the current or provided namespace.
- List Helm releases in all namespaces or in a specific namespace.
- Uninstall a Helm release in the current or provided namespace.
Unlike other Kubernetes MCP server implementations, this IS NOT just a wrapper around kubectl or helm command-line tools.
It is a Go-based native implementation that interacts directly with the Kubernetes API server.
There is NO NEED for external dependencies or tools to be installed on the system.
If you're using the native binaries you don't need to have Node or Python installed on your system.
- ✅ Lightweight: The server is distributed as a single native binary for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- ✅ High-Performance / Low-Latency: Directly interacts with the Kubernetes API server without the overhead of calling and waiting for external commands.
- ✅ Cross-Platform: Available as a native binary for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as an npm package, a Python package, and container/Docker image.
- ✅ Configurable: Supports command-line arguments to configure the server behavior.
- ✅ Well tested: The server has an extensive test suite to ensure its reliability and correctness across different Kubernetes environments.
🚀 Getting Started
Requirements
- Access to a Kubernetes cluster.
Claude Desktop
Using npx
If you have npm installed, this is the fastest way to get started with kubernetes-mcp-server on Claude Desktop.
Open your claude_desktop_config.json and add the mcp server to the list of mcpServers:
{
"mcpServers": {
"kubernetes": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
VS Code / VS Code Insiders
Install the Kubernetes MCP server extension in VS Code Insiders by pressing the following link:
Alternatively, you can install the extension manually by running the following command:
# For VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"kubernetes","command":"npx","args":["kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"]}'
# For VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"kubernetes","command":"npx","args":["kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"]}'
Goose CLI
Goose CLI is the easiest (and cheapest) way to get rolling with artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
Using npm
If you have npm installed, this is the fastest way to get started with kubernetes-mcp-server.
Open your goose config.yaml and add the mcp server to the list of mcpServers:
extensions:
kubernetes:
command: npx
args:
- -y
- kubernetes-mcp-server@latest
🎥 Demos
Diagnosing and automatically fixing an OpenShift Deployment
Demo showcasing how Kubernetes MCP server is leveraged by Claude Desktop to automatically diagnose and fix a deployment in OpenShift without any user assistance.
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a576176d-a142-4c19-b9aa-a83dc4b8d941
Vibe Coding a simple game and deploying it to OpenShift
In this demo, I walk you through the process of Vibe Coding a simple game using VS Code and how to leverage Podman MCP server and Kubernetes MCP server to deploy it to OpenShift.
Supercharge GitHub Copilot with Kubernetes MCP Server in VS Code - One-Click Setup!
In this demo, I'll show you how to set up Kubernetes MCP server in VS code just by clicking a link.
⚙️ Configuration
The Kubernetes MCP server can be configured using command line (CLI) arguments.
You can run the CLI executable either by using npx, uvx, or by downloading the latest release binary.
# Run the Kubernetes MCP server using npx (in case you have npm and node installed)
npx kubernetes-mcp-server@latest --help
# Run the Kubernetes MCP server using uvx (in case you have uv and python installed)
uvx kubernetes-mcp-server@latest --help
# Run the Kubernetes MCP server using the latest release binary
./kubernetes-mcp-server --help
Configuration Options
| Option | Description |
|---|
--sse-port | Starts the MCP server in Server-Sent Event (SSE) mode and listens on the specified port. |
--log-level | Sets the logging level (values from 0-9). Similar to kubectl logging levels. |
--kubeconfig | Path to the Kubernetes configuration file. If not provided, it will try to resolve the configuration (in-cluster, default location, etc.). |
--read-only | If set, the MCP server will run in read-only mode, meaning it will not allow any write operations (create, update, delete) on the Kubernetes cluster. This is useful for debugging or inspecting the cluster without making changes. |
--disable-destructive | If set, the MCP server will disable all destructive operations (delete, update, etc.) on the Kubernetes cluster. This is useful for debugging or inspecting the cluster without accidentally making changes. This option has no effect when --read-only is used. |
🛠️ Tools
configuration_view
Get the current Kubernetes configuration content as a kubeconfig YAML
Parameters:
minified (boolean, optional, default: true)
- Return a minified version of the configuration
- If
true, keeps only the current-context and relevant configuration pieces
- If
false, returns all contexts, clusters, auth-infos, and users
events_list
List all the Kubernetes events in the current cluster from all namespaces
Parameters:
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to retrieve the events from. If not provided, will list events from all namespaces
helm_install
Install a Helm chart in the current or provided namespace with the provided name and chart
Parameters:
chart (string, required)
- Name of the Helm chart to install
- Can be a local path or a remote URL
- Example:
./my-chart.tgz or https://example.com/my-chart.tgz
values (object, optional)
- Values to pass to the Helm chart
- Example:
{"key": "value"}
name (string, optional)
- Name of the Helm release
- Random name if not provided
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to install the Helm chart in
- If not provided, will use the configured namespace
helm_list
List all the Helm releases in the current or provided namespace (or in all namespaces if specified)
Parameters:
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to list the Helm releases from
- If not provided, will use the configured namespace
all_namespaces (boolean, optional)
- If
true, will list Helm releases from all namespaces
- If
false, will list Helm releases from the specified namespace
helm_uninstall
Uninstall a Helm release in the current or provided namespace with the provided name
Parameters:
name (string, required)
- Name of the Helm release to uninstall
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to uninstall the Helm release from
- If not provided, will use the configured namespace
namespaces_list
List all the Kubernetes namespaces in the current cluster
Parameters: None
pods_delete
Delete a Kubernetes Pod in the current or provided namespace with the provided name
Parameters:
name (string, required)
- Name of the Pod to delete
namespace (string, required)
- Namespace to delete the Pod from
pods_exec
Execute a command in a Kubernetes Pod in the current or provided namespace with the provided name and command
Parameters:
command (string[], required)
- Command to execute in the Pod container
- First item is the command, rest are arguments
- Example:
["ls", "-l", "/tmp"]
name (string, required)
namespace (string, required)
container (string, optional)
- Name of the Pod container to get logs from
pods_get
Get a Kubernetes Pod in the current or provided namespace with the provided name
Parameters:
name (string, required)
namespace (string, required)
- Namespace to get the Pod from
pods_list
List all the Kubernetes pods in the current cluster from all namespaces
Parameters:
labelSelector (string, optional)
- Kubernetes label selector (e.g., 'app=myapp,env=prod' or 'app in (myapp,yourapp)'). Use this option to filter the pods by label
pods_list_in_namespace
List all the Kubernetes pods in the specified namespace in the current cluster
Parameters:
namespace (string, required)
- Namespace to list pods from
labelSelector (string, optional)
- Kubernetes label selector (e.g., 'app=myapp,env=prod' or 'app in (myapp,yourapp)'). Use this option to filter the pods by label
pods_log
Get the logs of a Kubernetes Pod in the current or provided namespace with the provided name
Parameters:
name (string, required)
- Name of the Pod to get logs from
namespace (string, required)
- Namespace to get the Pod logs from
container (string, optional)
- Name of the Pod container to get logs from
pods_run
Run a Kubernetes Pod in the current or provided namespace with the provided container image and optional name
Parameters:
image (string, required)
- Container Image to run in the Pod
namespace (string, required)
- Namespace to run the Pod in
name (string, optional)
- Name of the Pod (random name if not provided)
port (number, optional)
- TCP/IP port to expose from the Pod container
- No port exposed if not provided
projects_list
List all the OpenShift projects in the current cluster
resources_create_or_update
Create or update a Kubernetes resource in the current cluster by providing a YAML or JSON representation of the resource
Parameters:
resource (string, required)
- A JSON or YAML containing a representation of the Kubernetes resource
- Should include top-level fields such as apiVersion, kind, metadata, and spec
Common apiVersion and kind include:
- v1 Pod
- v1 Service
- v1 Node
- apps/v1 Deployment
- networking.k8s.io/v1 Ingress
resources_delete
Delete a Kubernetes resource in the current cluster
Parameters:
apiVersion (string, required)
- apiVersion of the resource (e.g.,
v1, apps/v1, networking.k8s.io/v1)
kind (string, required)
- kind of the resource (e.g.,
Pod, Service, Deployment, Ingress)
name (string, required)
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to delete the namespaced resource from
- Ignored for cluster-scoped resources
- Uses configured namespace if not provided
resources_get
Get a Kubernetes resource in the current cluster
Parameters:
apiVersion (string, required)
- apiVersion of the resource (e.g.,
v1, apps/v1, networking.k8s.io/v1)
kind (string, required)
- kind of the resource (e.g.,
Pod, Service, Deployment, Ingress)
name (string, required)
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to retrieve the namespaced resource from
- Ignored for cluster-scoped resources
- Uses configured namespace if not provided
resources_list
List Kubernetes resources and objects in the current cluster
Parameters:
apiVersion (string, required)
- apiVersion of the resources (e.g.,
v1, apps/v1, networking.k8s.io/v1)
kind (string, required)
- kind of the resources (e.g.,
Pod, Service, Deployment, Ingress)
namespace (string, optional)
- Namespace to retrieve the namespaced resources from
- Ignored for cluster-scoped resources
- Lists resources from all namespaces if not provided
labelSelector (string, optional)
- Kubernetes label selector (e.g., 'app=myapp,env=prod' or 'app in (myapp,yourapp)'). Use this option to filter the pods by label.
🧑💻 Development
Running with mcp-inspector
Compile the project and run the Kubernetes MCP server with mcp-inspector to inspect the MCP server.
# Compile the project
make build
# Run the Kubernetes MCP server with mcp-inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector@latest $(pwd)/kubernetes-mcp-server
