Kibana MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to interact with Kibana dashboards, visualizations, and Elasticsearch data through a standardized interface.

Features

• Resources: Read-only access to Kibana dashboards, visualizations, data views, and saved searches

• Tools: Execute searches, export dashboards, and query Elasticsearch data

• Dual Transport: Supports both stdio (local) and HTTP/SSE (containerized) transports

• Docker Support: Production-ready containerization with Docker and Podman

• Authentication: API key and username/password authentication

• Type-Safe: Built with TypeScript for enhanced reliability

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐
│   AI Assistant  │
│  (Claude, etc.) │
└────────┬────────┘
         │ MCP Protocol
         │
┌────────▼────────┐      ┌─────────────┐
│   MCP Server    │─────▶│   Kibana    │
│  (This Server)  │      │   REST API  │
└─────────────────┘      └──────┬──────┘
                                │
                         ┌──────▼──────┐
                         │Elasticsearch│
                         └─────────────┘

Quick Start

Using Docker/Podman (Recommended)

1. Clone and configure:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd kibana-mcp-poc
   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your Kibana credentials

2. Run with Docker Compose:

   docker-compose up --build

3. Or with Podman:

   podman build -t kibana-mcp .
   podman run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env kibana-mcp

4. Verify it's running:

   curl http://localhost:3000/health

Local Development

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Configure environment:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your Kibana credentials

3. Run in development mode:

   # Stdio mode (for Claude Desktop)
   npm run dev
   
   # HTTP mode (for testing)
   npm run dev:http

4. Build and run production:

   npm run build
   npm start        # stdio mode
   npm start:http   # HTTP mode

Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file based on .env.example:

# Kibana Configuration (required)
KIBANA_URL=https://your-kibana-instance.com
KIBANA_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Alternative: Username/Password Authentication
# KIBANA_USERNAME=your_username
# KIBANA_PASSWORD=your_password

# Server Configuration
MCP_TRANSPORT=http           # or stdio
HTTP_PORT=3000               # Port for HTTP server
LOG_LEVEL=info               # debug, info, warn, error

Authentication Methods

API Key (Recommended):

KIBANA_URL=https://kibana.example.com
KIBANA_API_KEY=your_base64_encoded_api_key

Username/Password:

KIBANA_URL=https://kibana.example.com
KIBANA_USERNAME=admin
KIBANA_PASSWORD=your_password

MCP Capabilities

Resources (Read-Only Data)

• kibana://dashboards - List all dashboards

• kibana://dashboard/{id} - Get specific dashboard

• kibana://visualizations - List all visualizations

• kibana://data-views - List all data views

• kibana://saved-searches - List saved searches

Tools (Executable Functions)

list_dashboards

List dashboards with optional search and pagination.

{
  "search": "security",
  "page": 1,
  "perPage": 20
}

get_dashboard

Get detailed information about a specific dashboard.

{
  "id": "dashboard-id-here"
}

export_dashboard

Export dashboard with all dependencies.

{
  "id": "dashboard-id-here",
  "includeReferences": true
}

search_logs

Query Elasticsearch data through Kibana.

{
  "index": "logs-*",
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "message": "error"
    }
  },
  "size": 10,
  "sort": [{"@timestamp": "desc"}]
}

Other Tools

• list_visualizations - List visualizations

• get_visualization - Get visualization details

• list_data_views - List available data views

Connecting to AI Assistants

Claude Code

Claude Code connects to MCP servers running over HTTP/SSE. You have two options:

Option 1: Using Docker (Recommended)

1. Start the server:

   docker-compose up -d

2. Add to Claude Code settings (~/.config/claude-code/settings.json on Linux/macOS or %APPDATA%\claude-code\settings.json on Windows):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "kibana": {
         "url": "http://localhost:3000"
       }
     }
   }

3. Restart Claude Code to load the new MCP server.

Option 2: Direct Configuration with Environment Variables

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kibana": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3000",
      "env": {
        "KIBANA_URL": "https://your-kibana.com",
        "KIBANA_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "http",
        "HTTP_PORT": "3000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then start the server manually:

npm run start:http

Verification: In Claude Code, type /mcp to see available servers. You should see "kibana" in the list with resources and tools.

Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer also supports MCP servers via HTTP/SSE transport.

Setup with Docker

1. Start the Kibana MCP server:

   docker run -d \
     --name kibana-mcp \
     -p 3000:3000 \
     -e KIBANA_URL=https://your-kibana.com \
     -e KIBANA_API_KEY=your-api-key \
     -e MCP_TRANSPORT=http \
     kibana-mcp:latest

2. Configure Amazon Q Developer:

   Edit your Amazon Q configuration file (location varies by IDE):

   VS Code (settings.json):

   {
     "amazonQ.mcp.servers": {
       "kibana": {
         "url": "http://localhost:3000/sse"
       }
     }
   }

   JetBrains IDEs (Settings → Tools → Amazon Q):

   • Add MCP Server

   • Name: kibana

   • URL: http://localhost:3000/sse

3. Restart your IDE to activate the connection.

Alternative: MCP Proxy for stdio

If your tool requires stdio transport, use mcp-proxy to bridge:

# Install mcp-proxy globally
npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/mcp-proxy

# Start the HTTP server
docker-compose up -d

# Run proxy in stdio mode
mcp-proxy stdio http://localhost:3000/sse

Then configure Amazon Q to use the proxy as a stdio command:

{
  "command": "mcp-proxy",
  "args": ["stdio", "http://localhost:3000/sse"]
}

Claude Desktop (stdio mode)

For local Claude Desktop app (not Claude Code), use stdio transport:

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kibana": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/kibana-mcp-poc/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "KIBANA_URL": "https://your-kibana.com",
        "KIBANA_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Generic HTTP/SSE Clients

Connect any MCP client to the HTTP server at:

http://localhost:3000/sse

The server exposes these endpoints:

• GET /health - Health check

• GET /info - Server information

• GET /sse - SSE connection endpoint for MCP protocol

Docker Deployment

Build Image

docker build -t kibana-mcp:latest .

Run Container

docker run -d \
  --name kibana-mcp \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e KIBANA_URL=https://your-kibana.com \
  -e KIBANA_API_KEY=your-api-key \
  kibana-mcp:latest

Docker Compose

# Start
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop
docker-compose down

Development

Project Structure

kibana-mcp-poc/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # Stdio entry point
│   ├── http-server.ts        # HTTP/SSE entry point
│   ├── server.ts             # Core MCP server logic
│   ├── kibana/
│   │   ├── client.ts         # Kibana API client
│   │   ├── types.ts          # TypeScript types
│   │   └── auth.ts           # Authentication
│   ├── resources/
│   │   └── index.ts          # MCP resources
│   └── tools/
│       └── index.ts          # MCP tools
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
└── package.json

Adding New Tools

1. Define the tool schema in src/tools/index.ts

2. Implement the handler in the tools/call request handler

3. Add corresponding Kibana client method if needed

Testing

# Health check
curl http://localhost:3000/health

# Server info
curl http://localhost:3000/info

# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector dist/index.js

Security

• Container Isolation: Runs as non-root user (mcpuser)

• Minimal Base Image: Uses node:20-slim to reduce attack surface

• Secret Management: Environment variables for credentials

• API Authentication: Supports API keys and basic auth

• RBAC: Respects Kibana's role-based access control

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

# Check if Kibana is accessible
curl -I https://your-kibana.com/api/status

# Verify authentication
curl -H "Authorization: ApiKey YOUR_KEY" \
     -H "kbn-xsrf: true" \
     https://your-kibana.com/api/status

Container Issues

# View logs
docker logs kibana-mcp-server

# Shell into container
docker exec -it kibana-mcp-server /bin/sh

# Rebuild without cache
docker-compose build --no-cache

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:

1. Use TypeScript for all new code

2. Follow existing code style

3. Add tests for new features

4. Update documentation

License

MIT

Resources

• Model Context Protocol Specification

• Kibana REST API Documentation

• MCP TypeScript SDK