Openlane MCP Server

A secure, open-source Model Context Protocol server for the Openlane GRC platform.

This project is not an official Openlane product and is not endorsed by theopenlane, Inc.

Overview

openlane-mcp lets MCP clients such as Cursor and Claude Desktop query Openlane over stdio (default) or Streamable HTTP. It talks to Openlane Cloud or a self-hosted instance through the official Openlane Go client.

MCP Client
    → Openlane MCP Server (stdio or HTTP)
        → Official Openlane Go Client
            → Openlane API

The server is read-only by default. Write and delete tools are opt-in and independent. Openlane authorization still applies to every request.

Related MCP server: Agentic Ops Platform MCP Server

Features

• Openlane MCP access for programs, controls, evidence, policies, risks, standards, tasks, entities (vendors), assets, platforms, contacts, findings, assessments, control implementations, groups, users, and workflows

• Enriched get tools with vendor/security fields and compact relationship summaries

• List filters on entities, risks, findings, evidence, programs, assessments, implementations, and workflows

• Opt-in create/update tools for controls, evidence, policies, risks, tasks, vendors/entities, contacts, vendor Risk Reviews, workflow definitions, workflow assignments, and native policy lifecycle

• Opt-in delete tools for the same domains plus workflow definitions (except programs and standards)

• Openlane Cloud and self-hosted Openlane (configurable base URL)

• stdio transport (default) and opt-in Streamable HTTP transport

• Native Go binary

• Docker image (published with GitHub Releases)

• MCP Registry listing on tagged releases (io.github.GregDog/mcp-server-theopenlane)

Quick Start

Create an Openlane API token or PAT in console developer settings. Organization tokens start with tola_. Personal access tokens start with tolp_.

export OPENLANE_API_TOKEN="tola_..."
# Optional for multi-org PATs:
export OPENLANE_ORGANIZATION_ID="..."

openlane-mcp serve

Then connect an MCP client. See Client configuration.

Installation

From source

go install github.com/GregDog/mcp-server-theopenlane/cmd/openlane-mcp@latest

Requires Go 1.27 or later.

GitHub Releases

Binary archives will be published on tagged GitHub Releases (linux/darwin amd64+arm64, windows amd64) with SHA256 checksums.

Docker

docker run --rm -i \
  -e OPENLANE_API_TOKEN \
  -e OPENLANE_ORGANIZATION_ID \
  ghcr.io/gregdog/mcp-server-theopenlane serve

Images are published with GitHub Releases to ghcr.io/gregdog/mcp-server-theopenlane.

Client configuration

Cursor (stdio, recommended)

This repository's .cursor/mcp.json uses scripts/mcp-serve.sh, which loads .env and runs the local binary:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openlane": {
      "command": "bash",
      "args": ["${workspaceFolder}/scripts/mcp-serve.sh"]
    }
  }
}

Or install globally and pass env vars directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openlane": {
      "command": "openlane-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {
        "OPENLANE_API_TOKEN": "${env:OPENLANE_API_TOKEN}",
        "OPENLANE_ORGANIZATION_ID": "${env:OPENLANE_ORGANIZATION_ID}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor (HTTP)

Start the server with bash scripts/mcp-http.sh (see HTTP transport), then use examples/cursor-http.mcp.json as a template.

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openlane": {
      "command": "openlane-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {
        "OPENLANE_API_TOKEN": "tola_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Prefer environment substitution or a local secrets store over committing tokens. Examples in this repository use fictional values only.

Security

Read tools are always available. Write tools require OPENLANE_ALLOW_WRITE=true or --allow-write. Delete tools require OPENLANE_ALLOW_DELETE=true or --allow-delete.

A successful read still requires:

1. An Openlane token with the relevant object:read scope (or equivalent PAT permissions)

2. Openlane authorization for that object in the selected organization

Writes and deletes additionally require server opt-in (OPENLANE_ALLOW_WRITE / OPENLANE_ALLOW_DELETE) and matching Openlane token permissions. Workflow definition writes, workflow assignment actions, native policy lifecycle actions, and workflow deletes also require confirm: true on the tool call.

Tokens are never logged. See docs/security.md.

Tool coverage

Write tools (require OPENLANE_ALLOW_WRITE=true or --allow-write):

Delete tools (require OPENLANE_ALLOW_DELETE=true or --allow-delete):

See docs/tools.md for full details. With all modes enabled there are 77 tools (44 read, 27 write, 6 delete).

Enriched get tools return bounded relationship summaries (count + items) so agents can answer program, vendor, control, and finding questions without chaining dozens of shallow calls.

List responses are paginated (items, next_cursor, has_more, total_count). Default page size is 20; maximum is 50.

There is no dedicated control search GraphQL operation in the current Openlane Go client. openlane_controls_search uses official ControlWhereInput contains-filters.

File contents and presigned download URLs are not returned from read tools. Write tools accept optional base64-encoded files[] on evidence create/update (default max 10 MiB decoded per file).

Linking evidence to controls

openlane_evidence_create accepts optional control_ids; openlane_evidence_update supports add_control_ids / remove_control_ids. Only org-owned controls (owner_id set) may be linked — system catalog copies are rejected (core#1647). Use openlane_controls_search with linkable_only: true to list linkable controls. Program-imported controls may still show source: FRAMEWORK when owner_id is set.

openlane_control_update accepts owner_id and delegate_id as user id, email, name, or group id; user identifiers resolve to managed personal groups (Openlane controlOwnerID / delegateID). Read responses include control_owner and delegate objects with resolved user_email — do not use openlane_user_get on group ids. See docs/openlane-assignee-ids.md (user vs group vs org; what is fixed globally vs controls-only).

For large files[] base64 uploads, prefer a direct MCP client or automation script that passes the payload machine-to-machine. Agent loops that copy content_base64 between tool calls may truncate or corrupt the data.

HTTP transport

By default the server uses stdio. For local HTTP testing:

export OPENLANE_MCP_TRANSPORT=http
export OPENLANE_MCP_HTTP_ADDR=127.0.0.1:8090
openlane-mcp serve

The default bind is loopback only (127.0.0.1:8090). Do not use 0.0.0.0 or bare :port addresses unless you understand the exposure.

HTTP mode has no built-in authentication. Do not expose it directly to the public internet. Anyone who can reach the endpoint can use the server's Openlane token. For remote or shared-network deployment, place a trusted authentication reverse proxy (or equivalent private network controls) in front of the server. See docs/security.md.

Increase OPENLANE_MCP_HTTP_MAX_BODY_BYTES when uploading large evidence files over HTTP.

MCP Registry

Published to the MCP Registry as io.github.GregDog/mcp-server-theopenlane on each tagged release. The OCI package is ghcr.io/gregdog/mcp-server-theopenlane.

Development

make test
make build
./bin/openlane-mcp version

See docs/development.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. To add or extend an MCP tool, see docs/adding-tools.md.

Issues labeled good first issue or help wanted are a good place to start.

Licence

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.

Openlane names are used only to describe compatibility. Do not copy Openlane logos or imply official endorsement.