ssh-mcp v4.0

MCP server for persistent SSH work across Linux hosts and network devices.

Features

• Persistent SSH connections with automatic reconnection

• Secure credential storage via Windows Credential Manager

• Network device support: Cisco IOS/IOS-XE/XR, MikroTik, FortiGate, Juniper

• Config management: backup, restore, diff for network devices

• SFTP: upload, download, list remote files

• SSH tunnels: persistent port forwarding

• Rate limiting: prevents device saturation (100ms minimum between commands)

• Smart connection: use ssh_connect(alias='vps') to load saved credentials automatically

Related MCP server: SSH MCP Server

Quick Start

1. Save a server (once)

ssh_save_server(
    alias='vps',
    host='192.168.10.1',
    username='sassogba',
    password='your-password',
    auto_connect=True  # Auto-connect on startup
)

2. Connect (simple mode)

ssh_connect(alias='vps')  # Loads credentials from servers.json

3. Execute commands

ssh_exec(alias='vps', command='df -h')
ssh_exec_sudo(alias='vps', command='systemctl restart nginx', sudo_password='...')

What's New in v4.0

Smart Connection Mode

• ssh_connect now accepts just an alias to load credentials automatically

• No need to provide host, username, password every time

• Fixes Claude Code integration issues

Critical Fixes

• Timeout handling: Now raises TimeoutError instead of silently returning incomplete buffers

• Rate limiting: 100ms minimum between network commands to prevent device saturation

• Magic numbers eliminated: Named constants for shell dimensions

Documentation

• New CLAUDE_CODE_USAGE.md with complete usage examples

• New CLAUDE_CODE_SETUP.md for configuration

• New CHANGELOG.md with full version history

Security Model

servers.json only keeps non-sensitive metadata. Secrets live in Windows Credential Manager under targets like:

• ssh-mcp:<alias>:password

• ssh-mcp:<alias>:key_passphrase

Host Key Policy

• strict: default, rejects unknown host keys (production)

• auto_add: accepts unknown host keys (lab only)

Network Devices

Supported device types:

• cisco - Cisco IOS/IOS-XE

• cisco_xr - Cisco IOS-XR

• mikrotik - MikroTik RouterOS

• fortigate - FortiGate FortiOS

• juniper - Juniper JunOS

• generic - Linux/Unix (default)

Example: Cisco backup

# Save once
ssh_save_server(
    alias='cisco-core',
    host='10.0.0.1',
    username='admin',
    password='...',
    device_type='cisco',
    auto_connect=True
)

# Connect
ssh_connect(alias='cisco-core')

# Backup config
ssh_backup_config(alias='cisco-core', device_type='cisco')
# Saved to: backups/cisco-core/cisco-core_2026-05-31_14-30-00.txt

# Execute commands
ssh_exec_network(
    alias='cisco-core',
    commands=['show version', 'show ip interface brief'],
    device_type='cisco'
)

# Push config
ssh_push_config(
    alias='cisco-core',
    config='''
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 description Uplink to Core
 ip address 10.0.1.1 255.255.255.0
 no shutdown
''',
    device_type='cisco',
    save_config=True
)

Usage with Claude Code

See CLAUDE_CODE_USAGE.md for detailed examples.

TL;DR:

1. Save: ssh_save_server(alias='vps', host='192.168.10.1', username='sassogba', password='...')
2. Connect: ssh_connect(alias='vps')
3. Execute: ssh_exec(alias='vps', command='df -h')

18 Tools Available

Connection Management

• ssh_connect - Establish persistent SSH connection (smart mode: just provide alias)

• ssh_disconnect - Close connection and tunnels

• ssh_list - List active connections with status

Persistent Configuration

• ssh_save_server - Save server to servers.json (secrets in Credential Manager)

• ssh_remove_server - Remove saved server

• ssh_list_servers - List all saved servers

Linux/Unix Execution

• ssh_exec - Execute shell command

• ssh_exec_sudo - Execute with sudo (auto password injection)

Network Device Execution

• ssh_exec_network - Execute commands on network devices (handles pagination, prompts)

• ssh_push_config - Deploy configuration block

• ssh_backup_config - Backup running config to local file

• ssh_restore_config - Restore config from backup file

• ssh_diff_config - Compare configs (git-style diff)

SFTP

• ssh_upload - Upload file to remote server

• ssh_download - Download file from remote server

• ssh_list_remote - List remote directory contents

Tunnels

• ssh_tunnel - Create persistent SSH tunnel (port forwarding)

• ssh_close_tunnel - Close tunnel by label

Architecture

• SSHPool: Thread-safe connection pool with automatic reconnection

• SSHConnection: Per-connection state with RLock for thread safety

• ThreadPoolExecutor: Async/await wrapper for Paramiko (which is synchronous)

• Rate limiter: 100ms minimum between commands to prevent device saturation

• Timeout handling: Multiple levels (per-command, total, absolute) with proper error propagation

Requirements

paramiko>=3.0.0
mcp>=1.0.0
pywin32>=306

Install with:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Run Tests

python -m pytest tests -v

Documentation

• CLAUDE_CODE_USAGE.md - Usage examples for Claude Code

• CLAUDE_CODE_SETUP.md - Configuration guide

• CHANGELOG.md - Version history and migration guide

License

MIT