EspoCRM Assistant

Constrained EspoCRM access for issue #28. The assistant-visible MCP server can read records and prepare signed change sets; it cannot apply or delete anything. See the evaluation for the build-vs-wrap decision and security boundary.

This service requires an existing EspoCRM deployment. It does not install, enable, migrate, or administer EspoCRM. The Keep Platform or another GitOps repository should consume a published image from this repository and provide Kubernetes deployment configuration, secrets, probes, ingress, and operator runbooks.

Local Development

python -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
export ESPOCRM_URL=https://crm.example.com
export ESPOCRM_READ_API_KEY=...
thekeep-espocrm-mcp

Run the dependency-free tests with:

PYTHONPATH=src python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

Related MCP server: DB MCP Gateway

Runtime Modes

The stdio MCP entrypoint is for local evaluation:

thekeep-espocrm-mcp

Run streamable HTTP MCP for an internal gateway:

export ESPOCRM_MCP_HOST=0.0.0.0
export ESPOCRM_MCP_PORT=8080
export ESPOCRM_MCP_PATH=/mcp
thekeep-espocrm-mcp-http

Do not expose the streamable HTTP endpoint directly to the internet. Production should keep it internal and place OAuth/OIDC and per-user authorization in front of it through the platform MCP gateway tracked by #54.

The container default command is the service HTTP entrypoint:

thekeep-espocrm-http

It exposes:

• GET /healthz

• authenticated POST /crm/* read and prepare endpoints using ESPOCRM_ASSISTANT_TOKEN

• authenticated POST /approval/apply-change using ESPOCRM_ASSISTANT_APPLY_TOKEN

Apply a reviewed change set outside the assistant, either locally:

thekeep-espocrm-apply change.json \
  --approve-sha256 <sha256> \
  --approved-by <human-identity>

or through the deployed approval endpoint:

curl -fsS http://espocrm-assistant.espocrm.svc.cluster.local:8090/approval/apply-change \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ESPOCRM_ASSISTANT_APPLY_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data @approved-change.json

approved-change.json must contain change, approved_sha256, and approved_by. The approval endpoint uses separate write credentials and is not registered as an MCP tool.

Use separate read-only and write-capable Espo API users. The executor reads ESPOCRM_WRITE_API_KEY; optional HMAC secrets use the same READ_/WRITE_ prefix. The deployed approval endpoint additionally requires ESPOCRM_ASSISTANT_APPLY_TOKEN and writes audit records to ESPOCRM_ASSISTANT_AUDIT_LOG. Writes require source attribution; Opportunity writes also require reciprocal signal evidence or an explicit human override. The executor rejects stale updates, adds an Espo Note, and appends a mode-0600 audit record.

Configuration

Use a least-privilege EspoCRM API user for reads and a separate write-capable API user for the approval executor. Do not reuse admin credentials.

Image Publishing

The CI workflow tests the package and builds the container image on every pull request. Pushes to main and v* tags publish to GHCR by default:

ghcr.io/the-keep-studios/espocrm-assistant:sha-<git-sha>
ghcr.io/the-keep-studios/espocrm-assistant:vX.Y.Z

The workflow also publishes latest on main for convenience, but downstream GitOps deployments should pin a sha-* tag, release tag, or digest.

The OCI registry is replaceable. Set these repository variables/secrets before running the workflow if publishing somewhere other than GHCR:

• variable OCI_REGISTRY: registry hostname, for example registry.example.com

• variable OCI_IMAGE: full image name, for example registry.example.com/thekeep/espocrm-assistant

• variable OCI_USERNAME: registry username when it differs from the GitHub actor

• secret OCI_PASSWORD: registry password or token

For non-GitHub installs, build or mirror the image with standard OCI tooling and update the consuming platform manifest to that immutable tag or digest.