Papertrail MCP

A focused, read-only Model Context Protocol server for searching migrated Papertrail logs through the SolarWinds Observability API. It runs locally over stdio and works with Amp, Claude Code, Codex, and other stdio-capable MCP clients.

Tools

• papertrail_list_environments lists complete credential profiles without exposing API tokens or origins.

• papertrail_get performs one bearer-authenticated GET request to /v1/logs for a selected profile.

The server does not expose writes, other SolarWinds Observability endpoints, relative-time parsing, filter composition, terminal formatting, or live-tail polling. Tool output is limited to 2,000 lines or 50 KiB.

Related MCP server: quickwit-mcp

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or newer.

• A SolarWinds Observability API Access token and regional public API origin for each Papertrail environment.

Configure profiles with environment variables:

export PAPERTRAIL_QA_API_TOKEN="your-qa-api-access-token"
export PAPERTRAIL_QA_API_BASE_URL="https://api.eu-01.cloud.solarwinds.com"

export PAPERTRAIL_STAGING_API_TOKEN="your-staging-api-access-token"
export PAPERTRAIL_STAGING_API_BASE_URL="https://api.na-02.cloud.solarwinds.com"

export PAPERTRAIL_PROD_API_TOKEN="your-prod-api-access-token"
export PAPERTRAIL_PROD_API_BASE_URL="https://api.na-01.cloud.solarwinds.com"

The segment between PAPERTRAIL_ and the suffix becomes the lower-case profile name. Each profile needs both _API_TOKEN and _API_BASE_URL. The base URL must be a bare HTTPS origin for the account's SolarWinds Observability region, not a log-ingestion endpoint. The default profile is prod.

SolarWinds Observability API Access tokens currently have broader account access than this server exposes. Use a distinct token per environment where possible, store tokens as secrets, and never commit them to source control.

Run the published package with:

npx -y @andreimaxim/papertrail-mcp

The process communicates over stdio, so running it directly waits for an MCP client and may appear idle.

Amp

The distributable using-papertrail skill starts the MCP server only when Papertrail work loads the skill. Copy it into a project's skill directory:

mkdir -p .agents/skills/using-papertrail
cp skill/using-papertrail/SKILL.md .agents/skills/using-papertrail/SKILL.md

In Amp, add the corresponding variables under personal, project, or workspace Secrets & Env Vars, storing each _API_TOKEN value as a secret. The bundled skill forwards conventional qa, staging, and prod profiles. Add another variable pair to its mcpServers.papertrail.env map when using a custom profile name.

Amp discovers the skill, launches the MCP process, and keeps its two tools hidden until the skill is loaded. The previous amp.papertrail.* settings are not read by this portable server.

Claude Code

Register the server at user scope:

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio papertrail -- \
  npx -y @andreimaxim/papertrail-mcp

Launch Claude Code with the desired PAPERTRAIL_<ENVIRONMENT>_API_TOKEN and PAPERTRAIL_<ENVIRONMENT>_API_BASE_URL variables available. A project .mcp.json can declare the equivalent command while referring to securely managed environment variables.

Codex

Add the server to ~/.codex/config.toml or a trusted project's .codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.papertrail]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@andreimaxim/papertrail-mcp"]
env_vars = [
  "PAPERTRAIL_PROD_API_TOKEN",
  "PAPERTRAIL_PROD_API_BASE_URL",
]
enabled_tools = ["papertrail_list_environments", "papertrail_get"]

Add both variable names for every additional profile that Codex should forward.

Development

npm install
npm run check
npm pack --dry-run

Repository layout:

• src/papertrail.ts: profile discovery, URL validation, HTTP transport, redirect safety, and bounded output.

• src/server.ts: MCP schemas, read-only annotations, and tool handlers.

• src/index.ts: stdio executable.

• test/: client and MCP protocol tests.

• skill/using-papertrail/: optional Amp skill.