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mcp-kubernetes-server

STHITAPRAJNAS/mcp-kubernetes-server
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Install to Claude Code

This server doesn't publish a one-line install command. Follow the setup in the source repository.

Summary

Enterprise-grade MCP server for Kubernetes operations, supporting local kubeconfig and AWS EKS authentication, with read, write, and destructive operations protected by multi-layer safety guards.

README.md

MCP Kubernetes Server

Enterprise-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Kubernetes operations built with FastMCP.

Designed for two primary deployment scenarios:

  • Local development: Application engineers using their own kubeconfig (with team RBAC roles)
  • AWS EKS production: Deployed as a pod with IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts)

Features

Read Operations (always safe)

  • List/inspect pods, deployments, services, namespaces, nodes, ingresses
  • Stream pod logs with filtering (tail lines, since, previous instance)
  • View ConfigMap keys (values optional), Secret metadata (values never exposed)
  • List jobs, cronjobs, events (with warning filters)
  • Cluster health summary and version info

Write Operations (with dry-run support)

  • Scale deployments up/down (with 0-replica warning)
  • Rolling restart of deployments
  • Create namespaces and configmaps
  • Apply YAML/JSON manifests (server-side apply)
  • Validate manifests (dry-run only)
  • Rollback deployments to previous revisions

Destructive Operations (multi-layer guards)

  • Delete pods, deployments, services, configmaps, namespaces
  • Rollback deployments
  • Every destructive operation requires:
  1. MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE=true (global kill switch)
  2. Protected namespaces (kube-system etc.) are always blocked
  3. Confirmation token: confirm_name must match resource name exactly
  4. Full audit trail

Resources (LLM context)

  • k8s://cluster/info — cluster version, identity, node/namespace counts
  • k8s://cluster/namespaces — all namespace names
  • k8s://cluster/nodes — all nodes with status
  • k8s://cluster/health — health summary (not-ready pods, warning events)

Guided Prompts

  • diagnose_pod — systematic pod troubleshooting workflow
  • diagnose_deployment — deployment health investigation
  • pre_deployment_checklist — pre-flight checks before deploying
  • cluster_health_report — comprehensive cluster health report
  • safe_delete_workflow — guided safe deletion with impact assessment

---

Architecture

mcp-kubernetes-server/
├── src/mcp_kubernetes/
│   ├── server.py              # FastMCP server + tool registration
│   ├── config.py              # Pydantic settings (env vars)
│   ├── k8s_client.py          # Kubernetes client manager
│   ├── audit.py               # Structured audit logging
│   ├── utils.py               # Shared utilities
│   ├── auth/
│   │   ├── base.py            # AuthProvider interface
│   │   ├── local.py           # Kubeconfig auth (local engineers)
│   │   ├── aws.py             # AWS EKS IAM auth (pre-signed STS token)
│   │   └── factory.py         # Auto-detect env and create provider
│   ├── tools/
│   │   ├── pods.py            # Pod list/get/logs/exec
│   │   ├── deployments.py     # Deployment list/get/scale/restart/history
│   │   ├── namespaces.py      # Namespace list/create
│   │   ├── services.py        # Service/Ingress list/get
│   │   ├── nodes.py           # Node list/get/pod-list
│   │   ├── configmaps_secrets.py  # ConfigMap/Secret operations
│   │   ├── events.py          # Events/Jobs/CronJobs
│   │   ├── apply.py           # Manifest apply/validate
│   │   └── destructive.py     # Delete operations with guards
│   ├── resources/
│   │   └── cluster.py         # k8s:// URI resources
│   ├── prompts/
│   │   └── diagnose.py        # Guided workflow prompts
│   └── models/
│       └── responses.py       # Pydantic response models
├── tests/                     # Pytest test suite
├── deploy/k8s/                # Kubernetes manifests + IAM policies
├── Dockerfile                 # Multi-stage production image
└── docker-compose.yaml        # Local development

---

Authentication

Local Mode (Application Engineers)

Uses the standard kubeconfig file. Supports all authentication mechanisms:

  • Client certificates
  • Bearer tokens
  • OIDC / SSO via exec plugins
  • AWS EKS via aws eks get-token exec plugin in kubeconfig
# Uses ~/.kube/config with current-context
MCP_K8S_ENV=local

# Or specify a context
MCP_K8S_ENV=local
MCP_K8S_DEFAULT_CONTEXT=my-team-staging

# Custom kubeconfig path
KUBECONFIG=/path/to/my-kubeconfig

AWS Mode (Deployed in AWS)

Generates EKS authentication tokens via pre-signed AWS STS requests.

When deployed as an EKS pod (IRSA): ```bash MCP_K8S_ENV=aws MCP_K8S_EKS_CLUSTER_NAME=my-production-cluster AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1

AWS credentials come automatically from IRSA (no explicit config needed)


**When running locally against AWS EKS** (assume engineer role):

MCP_K8S_ENV=aws MCP_K8S_EKS_CLUSTER_NAME=my-production-cluster AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1

Assume a specific IAM role before generating the token:

MCP_K8S_AWS_ROLE_ARN=arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ApplicationEngineer MCP_K8S_AWS_ROLE_SESSION_DURATION=3600 ```

Multi-cluster (AWS): ``bash MCP_K8S_CLUSTER_MAP={"prod":"eks-prod-01","staging":"eks-staging-01","dev":"eks-dev-01"} MCP_K8S_DEFAULT_CLUSTER=staging ``

---

Installation

Requirements

  • Python 3.11+
  • uv (recommended) or pip

Local Development

# Clone and set up
git clone https://github.com/sthitaprajnas/mcp-kubernetes-server.git
cd mcp-kubernetes-server

# Install with uv
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Or with pip
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Configure (copy and edit .env)
cp .env.example .env

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes": {
      "command": "mcp-kubernetes",
      "env": {
        "MCP_K8S_ENV": "local",
        "MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE": "true",
        "MCP_K8S_REQUIRE_DESTRUCTIVE_CONFIRMATION": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

For AWS EKS: ``json { "mcpServers": { "kubernetes": { "command": "mcp-kubernetes", "env": { "MCP_K8S_ENV": "aws", "MCP_K8S_EKS_CLUSTER_NAME": "my-cluster", "AWS_DEFAULT_REGION": "us-east-1", "MCP_K8S_AWS_ROLE_ARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ApplicationEngineer", "MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE": "true" } } } } ``

Claude Code (VS Code Extension)

Add to .claude/mcp.json in your project: ``json { "servers": { "kubernetes": { "type": "stdio", "command": "mcp-kubernetes", "env": { "MCP_K8S_ENV": "local" } } } } ``

SSE Transport (for web-based MCP clients)

MCP_K8S_TRANSPORT=sse MCP_K8S_PORT=8080 mcp-kubernetes

---

Docker Usage

Local development with Docker Compose

# Copy and configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your settings

# Run with your local kubeconfig
docker-compose up

# MCP server available at http://localhost:8080

Building the image

docker build -t mcp-kubernetes-server:latest .

Running in read-only mode

docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/mcpuser/.kube/config:ro \
  -e MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE=false \
  -e MCP_K8S_TRANSPORT=sse \
  mcp-kubernetes-server:latest

---

Deploying to AWS EKS

1. Create namespace and RBAC

kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/rbac.yaml

2. Create IAM role for IRSA

# Get your OIDC provider URL
OIDC=$(aws eks describe-cluster --name my-cluster \
  --query 'cluster.identity.oidc.issuer' --output text | sed 's|https://||')

# Edit the trust policy
sed -i "s/ACCOUNT_ID/$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)/" \
  deploy/k8s/iam-role-trust-policy.json
sed -i "s/REGION/$(aws configure get region)/" \
  deploy/k8s/iam-role-trust-policy.json
sed -i "s|OIDC_PROVIDER_ID|${OIDC}|g" \
  deploy/k8s/iam-role-trust-policy.json

# Create the role
aws iam create-role \
  --role-name mcp-kubernetes-server-role \
  --assume-role-policy-document file://deploy/k8s/iam-role-trust-policy.json

aws iam put-role-policy \
  --role-name mcp-kubernetes-server-role \
  --policy-name eks-access \
  --policy-document file://deploy/k8s/iam-role-inline-policy.json

3. Create ServiceAccount with IRSA annotation

# Update ACCOUNT_ID in serviceaccount.yaml
sed -i "s/ACCOUNT_ID/$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)/" \
  deploy/k8s/serviceaccount.yaml

kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/serviceaccount.yaml

4. Grant the IAM role access in aws-auth (or EKS access entries)

# For aws-auth ConfigMap approach:
kubectl edit configmap aws-auth -n kube-system
# Add:
# - rolearn: arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT_ID:role/mcp-kubernetes-server-role
#   username: mcp-kubernetes-server
#   groups:
#     - mcp-server  # Create a dedicated group with appropriate RBAC

5. Deploy the server

# Update the image registry in deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f deploy/k8s/deployment.yaml

---

Configuration Reference

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | MCP_K8S_ENV | auto | Environment mode: local, aws, auto | | MCP_K8S_TRANSPORT | stdio | Transport: stdio or sse | | MCP_K8S_HOST | 0.0.0.0 | SSE server bind address | | MCP_K8S_PORT | 8080 | SSE server port | | MCP_K8S_LOG_LEVEL | INFO | Log level | | MCP_K8S_JSON_LOGS | false | Structured JSON logging | | MCP_K8S_AUDIT_LOG_FILE | ` | Path to audit log file | | KUBECONFIG | ~/.kube/config | Kubeconfig path (local mode) | | MCP_K8S_DEFAULT_CONTEXT | | Default kubeconfig context | | AWS_DEFAULT_REGION | us-east-1 | AWS region | | AWS_PROFILE | | AWS credential profile | | MCP_K8S_EKS_CLUSTER_NAME | | EKS cluster name (AWS mode) | | MCP_K8S_AWS_ROLE_ARN | | IAM role ARN to assume | | MCP_K8S_AWS_ROLE_SESSION_DURATION | 3600 | Assumed role duration (seconds) | | MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE | true | Enable delete operations | | MCP_K8S_PROTECTED_NAMESPACES | kube-system,kube-public,kube-node-lease | Protected namespaces | | MCP_K8S_REQUIRE_DESTRUCTIVE_CONFIRMATION | true | Require name confirmation | | MCP_K8S_MAX_BATCH_DELETE | 5 | Max resources deleteable at once | | MCP_K8S_DRY_RUN | false | Global dry-run mode | | MCP_K8S_MASK_SECRETS | true | Mask secret values in responses | | MCP_K8S_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE | 120 | API rate limit | | MCP_K8S_REQUEST_TIMEOUT | 30 | K8s API timeout (seconds) | | MCP_K8S_CLUSTER_MAP | {} | JSON map of alias→cluster name | | MCP_K8S_DEFAULT_CLUSTER | ` | Default cluster alias |

---

Security Considerations

Secret Handling

Secret values are never returned by any tool. list_secrets and get_secret_metadata return only key names and metadata. This is hardcoded and cannot be configured away.

Destructive Operations

Three independent gates must all pass:

  1. Global flag: MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE=true
  2. Namespace protection: namespace not in MCP_K8S_PROTECTED_NAMESPACES
  3. Confirmation token: confirm_name must equal the resource name exactly

For namespace deletion, the system namespaces (default, kube-system, kube-public, kube-node-lease) are always blocked regardless of configuration.

Read-Only Mode

Set MCP_K8S_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE=false for a completely read-only server suitable for monitoring/observability use cases.

Audit Logging

Every operation (read and write) is audit-logged with:

  • ISO 8601 UTC timestamp
  • Operation type (READ/WRITE/DELETE/EXEC/SCALE/AUTH)
  • Tool name, resource kind/name/namespace
  • Identity (IAM ARN or kubeconfig user)
  • Cluster name
  • Success/failure
  • Dry-run flag

Configure MCP_K8S_AUDIT_LOG_FILE=/var/log/mcp-k8s-audit.json for persistent audit logs.

Network Security

When using SSE transport in production:

  • Deploy behind an API gateway or reverse proxy with mTLS
  • Use Kubernetes NetworkPolicy to restrict pod-to-pod access
  • Consider deploying as a sidecar to the Claude client

---

Development

# Run tests
pytest

# Run tests with coverage
pytest --cov=mcp_kubernetes --cov-report=html

# Lint
ruff check src/ tests/

# Type check
mypy src/

---

Comparison to mcp-server-kubernetes

Inspired by Flux159/mcp-server-kubernetes.

| Feature | This Server | Flux159 | |---------|-------------|---------| | Language | Python (FastMCP) | TypeScript (Bun) | | AWS EKS auth | Native IRSA + role assumption | Via kubeconfig exec plugin | | Auto env detection | Yes (IMDS, IRSA, env vars) | No | | Destructive guards | 3-layer (flag + namespace + confirm) | Non-destructive mode flag | | Audit logging | Structured JSON, file+stdout | No | | Secret masking | Values never returned | Partial | | Multi-cluster | Via cluster_map + switch_cluster | No | | Helm support | Planned | Yes | | Port forwarding | Planned | Yes |

---

License

MIT

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