mcp-kubernetes

The mcp-kubernetes is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to interact with Kubernetes clusters. It serves as a bridge between AI tools (like Claude, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot) and Kubernetes, translating natural language requests into Kubernetes operations and returning the results in a format the AI tools can understand.

It allows AI tools to:

Query Kubernetes resources
Execute kubectl commands
Manage Kubernetes clusters through natural language interactions
Diagnose and interpret the states of Kubernetes resources

How it works

How to install

Docker

Get your kubeconfig file for your Kubernetes cluster and setup in the mcpServers (replace src path with your kubeconfig path):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/home/username/.kube/config,dst=/home/mcp/.kube/config",
        "ghcr.io/azure/mcp-kubernetes"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Local

Install kubectl

Install kubectl if it's not installed yet and add it to your PATH, e.g.

# For Linux
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

# For MacOS
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/arm64/kubectl"

Install helm

Install helm if it's not installed yet and add it to your PATH, e.g.

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

Config your MCP servers in Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT Copilot, Github Copilot and other supported AI clients, e.g.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes": {
      "command": "<path of binary 'mcp-kubernetes'>",
      "args": [
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "KUBECONFIG": "<your-kubeconfig-path>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Options

Environment variables:

KUBECONFIG: Path to your kubeconfig file, e.g. /home/<username>/.kube/config.

Command line arguments:

Usage of ./mcp-kubernetes:
      --additional-tools string   Comma-separated list of additional tools to support (kubectl is always enabled). Available: helm,cilium
      --allow-namespaces string   Comma-separated list of namespaces to allow (empty means all allowed)
      --host string               Host to listen for the server (only used with transport sse or streamable-http) (default "127.0.0.1")
      --port int                  Port to listen for the server (only used with transport sse or streamable-http) (default 8000)
      --readonly                  Enable read-only mode (prevents write operations)
      --timeout int               Timeout for command execution in seconds, default is 60s (default 60)
      --transport string          Transport mechanism to use (stdio, sse or streamable-http) (default "stdio")

Usage

Ask any questions about Kubernetes cluster in your AI client, e.g.

What is the status of my Kubernetes cluster?

What is wrong with my nginx pod?

Available Tools

The mcp-kubernetes server provides the following tools for interacting with Kubernetes clusters:

Read-Only Tools

kubectl_get: Get Kubernetes resources
kubectl_describe: Show detailed information about Kubernetes resources
kubectl_explain: Get documentation for Kubernetes resources
kubectl_logs: Print logs from containers in pods
kubectl_api_resources: List available API resources
kubectl_api_versions: List available API versions
kubectl_diff: Show differences between current state and applied changes
kubectl_cluster_info: Display cluster information
kubectl_top: Display resource usage (CPU/Memory)
kubectl_events: List events in the cluster
kubectl_auth: Inspect authorization settings

Read-Write Tools

kubectl_create: Create Kubernetes resources
kubectl_delete: Delete Kubernetes resources
kubectl_apply: Apply configurations to resources
kubectl_expose: Expose a resource as a new Kubernetes service
kubectl_run: Run a particular image in the cluster
kubectl_set: Set specific features on objects
kubectl_rollout: Manage rollouts of deployments
kubectl_scale: Scale deployments, statefulsets, and replicasets
kubectl_autoscale: Auto-scale deployments, statefulsets, and replicasets
kubectl_label: Update labels on resources
kubectl_annotate: Update annotations on resources
kubectl_patch: Update fields of resources using strategic merge patch
kubectl_replace: Replace existing resources
kubectl_cp: Copy files between containers and local filesystems
kubectl_exec: Execute commands in containers

Admin Tools

kubectl_cordon: Mark node as unschedulable
kubectl_uncordon: Mark node as schedulable
kubectl_drain: Drain node for maintenance
kubectl_taint: Update taints on nodes
kubectl_certificate: Modify certificate resources

Helm Tools

Run-helm-command: Run helm commands and get results

Note: Read-write and admin tools are only available when the server is not run in read-only mode.

Development

How to inspect MCP server requests and responses:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector <path of binary 'mcp-kubernetes'>

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com.

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact [email protected] with any additional questions or comments.

Trademarks

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