safe-runbook-mcp

A policy-gated MCP server for operational runbooks. It lets an AI inspect and run known commands without giving it an unrestricted shell.

Why it exists

AI agents are useful for operations, but handing one a terminal is a large trust decision. This project keeps the useful part—repeatable diagnostics and maintenance—inside a small, reviewable boundary:

AI client → inspect plan → policy checks → optional human approval → exact command

Related MCP server: govmcp

Safety model

• Runbooks are version-controlled JSON; the AI cannot invent a command.

• Execution is off by default.

• Executables must be explicitly allowlisted.

• Variables are regex-validated and become complete process arguments.

• Commands run with shell: false inside a realpath-confined workspace.

• Mutating and destructive plans require a short-lived HMAC approval token created outside MCP.

• The token is bound to the runbook and exact plan hash, so changed inputs invalidate it.

• Processes have time and output limits; declared secrets are redacted.

MCP tool annotations are also provided for clients, while server-side checks remain the authority.

Stack

TypeScript 7, Node.js 22, MCP TypeScript SDK v2, Zod 4, Vitest 4, Biome 2, Docker, and GitHub Actions. The project is open source and has no paid API dependency.

Quick start

npm install
npm run cli -- list
npm run cli -- plan docker-service-status --var service=api
npm test

Execution must be enabled explicitly:

RUNBOOK_EXECUTION_ENABLED=true npm run cli -- run disk-usage

For a mutating runbook, generate approval outside the MCP connection and use the same variables for approval and execution:

export RUNBOOK_EXECUTION_ENABLED=true
export RUNBOOK_APPROVAL_SECRET='replace-with-a-long-random-secret'

TOKEN=$(npm run --silent cli -- approve restart-compose-service --var service=api)
npm run cli -- run restart-compose-service --var service=api --approval "$TOKEN"

Connect an MCP client

Build once, then add this stdio server to an MCP-compatible client. Replace the paths with absolute paths on your machine.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safe-runbooks": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/safe-runbook-mcp/dist/server.js"],
      "env": {
        "RUNBOOK_DIRECTORY": "/absolute/path/safe-runbook-mcp/runbooks",
        "RUNBOOK_WORKSPACE": "/workspace/to/manage",
        "RUNBOOK_EXECUTION_ENABLED": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

The server exposes:

• list_runbooks — discover available runbooks and risk levels.

• inspect_runbook — resolve variables and return the exact plan plus its hash.

• execute_runbook — execute the already-defined plan after policy checks.

• runbook://catalog — read-only catalog resource.

Logs go to stderr because stdout is reserved for MCP JSON-RPC traffic.

Add a runbook

Create a JSON file in runbooks/:

{
  "id": "service-status",
  "title": "Inspect a service",
  "description": "Read one Compose service state.",
  "risk": "diagnostic",
  "variables": {
    "service": {
      "description": "Compose service name",
      "pattern": "[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_-]{0,62}",
      "required": true
    }
  },
  "steps": [
    {
      "id": "status",
      "title": "Read status",
      "executable": "docker",
      "args": ["compose", "ps", "{{service}}"]
    }
  ]
}

Choose diagnostic, mutating, or destructive. Variables must occupy a complete argument such as "{{service}}"; string interpolation is intentionally rejected.

Docker

docker build -t safe-runbook-mcp .
docker run --rm -i \
  -v "$PWD:/workspace:ro" \
  -e RUNBOOK_WORKSPACE=/workspace \
  -e RUNBOOK_DIRECTORY=/app/runbooks \
  safe-runbook-mcp

Keep execution disabled for a read-only mount. If a runbook needs Docker, mount only the required socket or remote context after reviewing that trust boundary.

Development

npm run check
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the branch workflow and AGENTS.md for repository rules used by coding agents.

References

• MCP TypeScript SDK packages

• Build an MCP server

• Serve over stdio

License

MIT