remote-capable server

The server can be hosted and run remotely because it primarily relies on remote services or has no dependency on the local environment.

Integrations

Enables container management within Kubernetes clusters, supporting Docker containers for deployments and pod creation.
Supports Helm v3 operations for managing Kubernetes applications, enabling installation of charts with custom values, upgrading and uninstalling releases, and working with custom repositories.
Allows interaction with Kubernetes clusters, including listing and managing pods, services, deployments, and nodes, as well as creating and deleting resources, viewing logs, and retrieving cluster events.

MCP Server Kubernetes

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

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f25f8f4e-4d04-479b-9ae0-5dac452dd2ed

Usage with Claude Desktop

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

The server will automatically connect to your current kubectl context. Make sure 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 (no Tiller required). Optional if you don't plan to use Helm.

You can verify your connection by asking Claude to list your pods or create a test deployment.

If you have errors open up a standard terminal and run kubectl get pods to see if you can connect to your cluster without credentials issues.

Usage with mcp-chat

mcp-chat is a CLI chat client for MCP servers. You can use it to interact with the Kubernetes server.

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

Alternatively, pass it your existing Claude Desktop configuration file from above (Linux should pass the correct path to config):

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
List all services
List all deployments
List all nodes
Create a pod
Delete a pod
Describe a pod
List all namespaces
Get logs from a pod for debugging (supports pods deployments jobs and label selectors)
Support Helm v3 for installing charts
- Install charts with custom values
- Uninstall releases
- Upgrade existing releases
- Support for namespaces
- Support for version specification
- Support for custom repositories
kubectl explain and kubectl api-resources support
Get Kubernetes events from the cluster
Port forward to a pod
Choose namespace for next commands (memory)

Local Development

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 further instructions on terminal 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

npm run chat

Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # Main server implementation
│   ├── types.ts              # Type re-exports
│   ├── config/               # Configuration files
│   │   ├── container-templates.ts  # Container configurations
│   │   ├── server-config.ts        # Server settings
│   │   ├── deployment-config.ts    # Deployment schemas
│   │   ├── namespace-config.ts     # Namespace schemas
│   │   └── cleanup-config.ts       # Resource cleanup configuration
│   ├── models/               # Data models and schemas
│   │   ├── response-schemas.ts     # API response schemas
│   │   ├── resource-models.ts      # Resource models
│   │   ├── tool-models.ts          # Tool schemas
│   │   ├── helm-models.ts          # Helm operation schemas
│   │   └── kubectl-models.ts       # Kubectl operation schemas
│   ├── utils/                # Utility classes
│   │   └── kubernetes-manager.ts   # K8s management
│   ├── resources/            # Resource handlers
│   │   └── handlers.ts       # Resource implementation
│   └── tools/                # Tool implementations
│       ├── list_pods.ts      # Pod listing operations
│       ├── list_services.ts  # Service listing operations
│       ├── list_deployments.ts # Deployment listing operations
│       ├── list_nodes.ts     # Node listing operations
│       ├── create_pod.ts     # Pod creation operations
│       ├── delete_pod.ts     # Pod deletion operations
│       ├── describe_pod.ts   # Pod description operations
│       ├── get_logs.ts       # Container logs operations
│       ├── get_events.ts     # Kubernetes events operations
│       ├── helm-operations.ts # Helm chart operations
│       └── kubectl-operations.ts # Kubectl utility operations
├── tests/                    # Test files
│   ├── unit.test.ts          # Unit tests for basic operations
│   ├── helm.test.ts          # Helm-specific tests
│   └── kubectl.test.ts       # Kubectl-specific tests
├── .github/                  # GitHub configuration
│   └── workflows/            # CI/CD workflows
│       ├── ci.yml            # Continuous integration
│       └── cd.yml            # Continuous deployment
├── Dockerfile                # Docker container definition
├── LICENSE                   # MIT license
├── README.md                 # Project documentation
├── package.json              # NPM package configuration
├── tsconfig.json             # TypeScript configuration
└── vitest.config.ts          # Test configuration

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes
Add tests for new functionality
Ensure all tests pass
Submit a pull request

For bigger changes please open an issue first to discuss the proposed changes.

Architecture

This section describes the high-level architecture of the MCP Kubernetes server.

Request Flow

The sequence diagram below illustrates how requests flow through the system:

Publishing new release

Go to the releases page, click on "Draft New Release", click "Choose a tag" and create a new tag by typing out a new version number using "v{major}.{minor}.{patch}" semver format. Then, write a release title "Release v{major}.{minor}.{patch}" and description / changelog if necessary and click "Publish Release".

This will create a new tag which will trigger a new release build via the cd.yml workflow. Once successful, the new release will be published to npm. Note that there is no need to update the package.json version manually, as the workflow will automatically update the version number in the package.json file & push a commit to main.

Not planned

Authentication / adding clusters to kubectx.