MCP Server Kubernetes

MCP Server that can connect to a Kubernetes cluster and manage it. Supports loading kubeconfig from multiple sources in priority order.

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

Installation & Usage

Prerequisites

Before using this MCP server with any tool, make sure you have:

1. kubectl installed and in your PATH

2. A valid kubeconfig file with contexts configured

3. Access to a Kubernetes cluster configured for kubectl (e.g. minikube, Rancher Desktop, GKE, etc.)

4. 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 running kubectl get pods in a terminal to ensure you can connect to your cluster without credential issues.

By default, the server loads kubeconfig from ~/.kube/config. For additional authentication options (environment variables, custom paths, etc.), see ADVANCED_README.md.

Claude Code

Add the MCP server to Claude Code using the built-in command:

This will automatically configure the server in your Claude Code MCP settings.

Claude Desktop

Add the following configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

Claude Desktop Connector via mcpb

MCP Server Kubernetes is also available as a mcpb (formerly dxt) extension. In Claude Desktop, go to Settings (Cmd+, on Mac) -> Extensions -> Browse Extensions and scroll to find mcp-server-kubernetes in the modal. Install it & it will install & utilize kubectl via command line & your kubeconfig.

To manually install, you can also get the .mcpb by going to the latest Release and downloading it.

VS Code

For VS Code integration, you can use the MCP server with extensions that support the Model Context Protocol:

1. Install a compatible MCP extension (such as Claude Dev or similar MCP clients)

2. Configure the extension to use this server:

Cursor

Cursor supports MCP servers through its AI integration. Add the server to your Cursor MCP configuration:

The server will automatically connect to your current kubectl context. You can verify the connection by asking the AI assistant to list your pods or create a test deployment.

Related MCP server: k8m

Usage with mcp-chat

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

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

Mac:

Windows:

Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI allows you to install mcp servers as extensions. From a shell, install the extension by pointing to this repo:

Features

• Connect to a Kubernetes cluster

• Unified kubectl API for managing resources

  • Get or list resources with kubectl_get

  • Describe resources with kubectl_describe

  • List resources with kubectl_get

  • Create resources with kubectl_create

  • Apply YAML manifests with kubectl_apply

  • Delete resources with kubectl_delete

  • Get logs with kubectl_logs

  • Manage kubectl contexts with kubectl_context

  • Explain Kubernetes resources with explain_resource

  • List API resources with list_api_resources

  • Scale resources with kubectl_scale

  • Update field(s) of a resource with kubectl_patch

  • Manage deployment rollouts with kubectl_rollout

  • Execute any kubectl command with kubectl_generic

  • Verify connection with ping

• Advanced operations

  • Scale deployments with kubectl_scale (replaces legacy scale_deployment)

  • Port forward to pods and services with port_forward

  • Run Helm operations

    • Install, upgrade, and uninstall charts

    • Support for custom values, repositories, and versions

    • Template-based installation (helm_template_apply) to bypass authentication issues

    • Template-based uninstallation (helm_template_uninstall) to bypass authentication issues

  • Pod cleanup operations

    • Clean up problematic pods (cleanup_pods) in states: Evicted, ContainerStatusUnknown, Completed, Error, ImagePullBackOff, CrashLoopBackOff

  • Node management operations

    • Cordoning, draining, and uncordoning nodes (node_management) for maintenance and scaling operations

• Troubleshooting Prompt (k8s-diagnose)

  • Guides through a systematic Kubernetes troubleshooting flow for pods based on a keyword and optional namespace.

• Non-destructive mode for read and create/update-only access to clusters

• Secrets masking for security (masks sensitive data in kubectl get secrets commands, does not affect logs)

Prompts

The MCP Kubernetes server includes specialized prompts to assist with common diagnostic operations.

/k8s-diagnose Prompt

This prompt provides a systematic troubleshooting flow for Kubernetes pods. It accepts a keyword to identify relevant pods and an optional namespace to narrow the search. The prompt's output will guide you through an autonomous troubleshooting flow, providing instructions for identifying issues, collecting evidence, and suggesting remediation steps.

Local Development

Make sure that you have bun installed. Clone the repo & install dependencies:

Development Workflow

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

2. Run unit tests:

3. Build the project:

4. Local Testing with Inspector

5. Local testing with Claude Desktop

6. Local testing with mcp-chat

Contributing

See the CONTRIBUTING.md file for details.

Advanced

Non-Destructive Mode

You can run the server in a non-destructive mode that disables all destructive operations (delete pods, delete deployments, delete namespaces, etc.):

For Claude Desktop configuration with non-destructive mode:

Commands Available in Non-Destructive Mode

All read-only and resource creation/update operations remain available:

• Resource Information: kubectl_get, kubectl_describe, kubectl_logs, explain_resource, list_api_resources

• Resource Creation/Modification: kubectl_apply, kubectl_create, kubectl_scale, kubectl_patch, kubectl_rollout

• Helm Operations: install_helm_chart, upgrade_helm_chart, helm_template_apply, helm_template_uninstall

• Connectivity: port_forward, stop_port_forward

• Context Management: kubectl_context

Commands Disabled in Non-Destructive Mode

The following destructive operations are disabled:

• kubectl_delete: Deleting any Kubernetes resources

• uninstall_helm_chart: Uninstalling Helm charts

• cleanup: Cleanup of managed resources

• cleanup_pods: Cleaning up problematic pods

• node_management: Node management operations (can drain nodes)

• kubectl_generic: General kubectl command access (may include destructive operations)

For additional advanced features, see the ADVANCED_README.md and also the docs folder for specific information on helm_install, helm_template_apply, node management & pod cleanup.

Architecture

See this DeepWiki link for a more indepth architecture overview created by Devin.

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:

See this DeepWiki link for a more indepth architecture overview created by Devin.

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

Adding clusters to kubectx.

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