📌Overview

Purpose: The MCP Server Kubernetes is designed to connect and manage a Kubernetes cluster seamlessly.

Overview: This framework serves as an interface to facilitate interactions with Kubernetes clusters. By leveraging standard tools like kubectl and Helm, it enables users to perform a variety of cluster management tasks through a simple command-line interface.

Key Features:

Kubernetes Cluster Connectivity: Automatically connects to the current kubectl context for streamlined operations.
Resource Management: Allows users to list, create, delete, and describe various Kubernetes resources, including pods, services, deployments, and namespaces.
Helm Support: Integrates Helm v3 for managing chart installations, upgrades, and custom configurations within the Kubernetes environment.
Real-time Log Access: Supports fetching logs from pods for troubleshooting and includes features to observe Kubernetes events.
Port Forwarding: Facilitates port forwarding to specific pods or services, enhancing accessibility for user applications.

MCP Server Kubernetes

MCP Server that can connect to a Kubernetes cluster and manage it.

Usage with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-kubernetes"]
    }
  }
}

The server will automatically connect to your current kubectl context. Ensure you have:

kubectl installed and in your PATH
A valid kubeconfig file with contexts configured
Access to a Kubernetes cluster configured for kubectl (e.g. minikube, Rancher Desktop, GKE, etc.)
Helm v3 installed and in your PATH (optional if you don't plan to use Helm)

Verify your connection by asking Claude to list your pods or create a test deployment.

If you encounter errors, open a terminal and run kubectl get pods to check cluster connectivity and credentials.

Usage with mcp-chat

mcp-chat is a CLI chat client for MCP servers. Use it to interact with the Kubernetes server:

npx mcp-chat --server "npx mcp-server-kubernetes"

Alternatively, pass your existing Claude Desktop configuration file:

Mac:

npx mcp-chat --config "~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"

Windows:

npx mcp-chat --config "%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json"

Features

Connect to a Kubernetes cluster
List all pods, services, deployments
List and describe nodes
Create, describe, delete pods
List all namespaces, create namespaces
Create custom pod & deployment configs, update deployment replicas
Create, describe, delete, update services
Manage ConfigMaps (create, get, update, delete)
Get logs from pods for debugging (pods, deployments, jobs, label selectors)
Helm v3 support for installing charts
- Install charts with custom values
- Uninstall releases
- Upgrade releases
- Support namespaces, version specification, custom repositories
kubectl explain and kubectl api-resources support
Retrieve Kubernetes events from the cluster
Port forward to pods or services
Create, list, and describe cronjobs
Non-destructive mode for read and create/update-only cluster access

Local Development

Make sure you have bun installed. Then clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/Flux159/mcp-server-kubernetes.git
cd mcp-server-kubernetes
bun install

Development Workflow

Start the server in development mode (watches for file changes):

bun run dev

Run unit tests:

bun run test

Build the project:

bun run build

Local Testing with Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js
# Follow terminal instructions for Inspector link

Local testing with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-kubernetes": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/mcp-server-kubernetes/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Local testing with mcp-chat

bun run chat

Contributing

See the CONTRIBUTING.md file for details.

Advanced

For more advanced information such as using SSE transport or Non-destructive mode with ALLOW_ONLY_NON_DESTRUCTIVE_TOOLS, see the ADVANCED_README.md.

Architecture

Request Flow

The sequence below illustrates how requests flow through the system:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client
    participant Transport as StdioTransport
    participant Server as MCP Server
    participant Handler as Request Handler
    participant K8sManager as KubernetesManager
    participant K8s as Kubernetes API

    Client->>Transport: Send Request via STDIO
    Transport->>Server: Forward Request

    alt Tools Request
        Server->>Handler: Route to tools handler
        Handler->>K8sManager: Execute tool operation
        K8sManager->>K8s: Make API call
        K8s-->>K8sManager: Return result
        K8sManager-->>Handler: Process response
        Handler-->>Server: Return tool result
    else Resource Request
        Server->>Handler: Route to resource handler
        Handler->>K8sManager: Get resource data
        K8sManager->>K8s: Query API
        K8s-->>K8sManager: Return data
        K8sManager-->>Handler: Format response
        Handler-->>Server: Return resource data
    end

    Server-->>Transport: Send Response
    Transport-->>Client: Return Final Response

Publishing New Release

Go to the releases page, click on "Draft New Release", choose a tag in the format v{major}.{minor}.{patch}, add a release title and description/changelog, then publish the release.

This triggers a release build workflow that publishes the release to npm. The version in package.json is automatically updated during this process.

Not Planned

Authentication / adding clusters to kubectx