z/OS FTP MCP Server
# z/OS FTP MCP Server
[](https://pypi.org/project/zos-ftp-mcp/)
[](https://pepy.tech/projects/zos-ftp-mcp)
[](https://pypi.org/project/zos-ftp-mcp/)
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with z/OS mainframe systems via FTP.
## Features
- List datasets from mainframe catalog with pattern matching
- Download datasets in binary and text formats with encoding conversion
- Download members from partitioned datasets (PDS) with parallel support
- Submit and monitor JCL jobs
- Advanced text processing: encoding conversion, line ending control, trailing spaces handling
- Configurable write protection for safe production use
- Connection management via environment variables
## Installation
### For MCP Server Usage
No installation needed! The MCP configuration with `uvx` will automatically download and run the package.
### For Python Library Usage
```bash
pip install zos-ftp-mcp
```
## Configuration
Set environment variables for connection:
```bash
export ZFTP_HOST="your-mainframe-host"
export ZFTP_PORT="21"
export ZFTP_USER="your-username"
export ZFTP_PASSWORD="your-password"
export ZFTP_TIMEOUT="600.0"
export ZFTP_DOWNLOAD_PATH="/path/to/downloads"
export ZFTP_DEBUG="false" # Set to "true" for detailed FTP protocol logging
export ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE="false" # Set to "true" to enable upload/submit operations
```
### Advanced Text Processing
Control how text files are downloaded from EBCDIC mainframe to ASCII/UTF-8:
```bash
# Character encoding conversion (EBCDIC to ASCII/UTF-8)
export ZFTP_DEFAULT_ENCODING="IBM-037,UTF-8" # US/Canada EBCDIC to UTF-8
# Other options: IBM-1047,UTF-8 (Latin-1), IBM-285,UTF-8 (UK)
# Line ending format
export ZFTP_DEFAULT_LINE_ENDING="LF" # Unix/Linux style
# Options: CRLF (Windows), LF (Unix), CR (old Mac), NONE
# Preserve trailing spaces in fixed-length records
export ZFTP_PRESERVE_TRAILING_SPACES="false" # Strip trailing spaces
# Set to "true" to keep 80-character fixed-length records intact
```
**When to use these settings:**
- **Encoding**: Essential for proper character conversion (JCL, COBOL, logs)
- **Line endings**: Cross-platform compatibility, version control (Git)
- **Trailing spaces**: Keep "false" for most text files, "true" for fixed-format data
### Write Operations
By default, the MCP server is **read-only** for safety. To enable write operations:
```bash
export ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE="true"
```
When enabled, you can:
- Upload files to mainframe datasets (`upload_dataset`)
- Submit JCL jobs (`submit_job`)
Use with caution in production environments. Read-only operations (list, download, monitor jobs) are always available.
## Usage
### As MCP Server
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"zos-ftp-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["zos-ftp-mcp"],
"env": {
"ZFTP_HOST": "your-mainframe-host",
"ZFTP_USER": "your-username",
"ZFTP_PASSWORD": "your-password",
"ZFTP_DOWNLOAD_PATH": "/path/to/downloads"
}
}
}
}
```
### Direct Command Line
```bash
zos-ftp-mcp
```
## Tools Available
### Dataset Operations
- `list_catalog(pattern, limit, offset)` - List datasets matching pattern with pagination
- `download_binary(source_dataset, target_file)` - Download dataset in binary mode
- `download_text(source_dataset, target_file, encoding, line_ending, preserve_trailing_spaces)` - Download with text processing
- `download_pds_members(dataset, target_dir, members, encoding, line_ending, ...)` - Download PDS members with advanced options
- `upload_dataset(source_file, target_dataset, binary, lrecl, blksize, recfm, space)` - Upload file to dataset (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
- `get_vsam_info(dataset, limit, offset)` - Get VSAM dataset information with pagination (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
- `get_gdg_info(gdg_base, limit, offset)` - Get GDG base attributes and generations with pagination (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
### Job Operations
- `submit_job(jcl, jobname)` - Submit JCL job (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
- `list_jes_jobs(jobmask, owner, status, limit, offset)` - List jobs with filtering and pagination
- `get_job_info(jobid)` - Get job details
- `download_job_spool(jobid, target_file)` - Download job output with return code extraction
### Connection Management
- `get_connection_info()` - Show current connection settings
## Sample Usage Prompts
Once configured, you can use these prompts:
### Dataset Discovery
"List all datasets starting with SYS1 to explore system datasets"
"Show me all user datasets matching MYUSER.* pattern"
### Data Download
"Download the dataset MYUSER.COBOL.SOURCE to my local downloads folder with UTF-8 encoding"
"Download all members from the PDS MYUSER.COBOL.COPYLIB to a local directory"
### Data Upload (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
"Upload my local file test.jcl to dataset MYUSER.JCL.TEST with lrecl=80 and recfm=FB"
"Upload local file member.cbl to PDS member MYUSER.COBOL.SOURCE(TESTPGM)"
### Job Operations
"Submit this JCL job and wait for completion" (requires ZFTP_ALLOW_WRITE=true)
"List all my jobs that are in OUTPUT status"
"Download the spool output for job JOB12345 and show me the return code"
### Connection Management
"Show me the current FTP connection settings"
## Dependencies
- [mcp](https://pypi.org/project/mcp/) - Model Context Protocol
- Python 3.10+ standard library (ftplib, pathlib, etc.)
## Advanced Features
### Pagination Support
To avoid overwhelming context windows with large result sets, several tools support pagination:
**Tools with pagination:**
- `list_catalog` - Paginate through datasets
- `list_jes_jobs` - Paginate through jobs
- `get_vsam_info` - Paginate through VSAM datasets
- `get_gdg_info` - Paginate through GDG generations
**Usage:**
```python
# Get first 50 datasets
list_catalog('USER.*', limit=50)
# Get next 50 datasets
list_catalog('USER.*', limit=50, offset=50)
# Get first 20 jobs
list_jes_jobs(status='OUTPUT', limit=20)
# Get first 10 GDG generations
get_gdg_info('AWS.M2.CARDDEMO.TRANSACT.BKUP', limit=10)
```
**Response includes:**
- `count` - Number of items returned in this page
- `total` - Total number of items available
- `offset` - Current offset
- `has_more` - True if more items are available
### JESINTERFACELEVEL Limitations
The server automatically detects your mainframe's JES interface level. With **JESINTERFACELEVEL=1** (common in older systems):
**Job Submission:**
- Jobname in JCL must be `userid + exactly one character`
- Example: If userid is `USER123`, jobname must be `USER123J`
- The server validates this automatically and provides clear error messages
**Job Listing:**
- Server-side filtering may not work
- Client-side filtering is applied automatically
- Jobs may be purged quickly from spool
**Workaround:** The server handles these limitations transparently. Just be aware that job retrieval may fail if jobs are purged quickly.
### Parallel PDS Downloads
Download PDS members faster using multiple FTP connections:
```python
# Sequential (default)
download_pds_members(dataset, target_dir, members, ftp_threads=1)
# Parallel (2-16 threads)
download_pds_members(dataset, target_dir, members, ftp_threads=4)
```
Parallel downloads are significantly faster for large PDSs (>10 members).
### Per-Operation Overrides
While defaults are set via environment variables, you can override them per operation:
```python
# Use different line ending for specific file
download_text(dataset, target_file, line_ending='CRLF')
# Preserve trailing spaces for fixed-format data
download_text(dataset, target_file, preserve_trailing_spaces=True)
# Use different encoding
download_pds_members(dataset, target_dir, members, encoding='IBM-1047,UTF-8')
```
## License
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
TDQS
Scored across 8 tools
Each tool targets a distinct operation: downloading datasets in binary or text, downloading job spool, downloading PDS members, listing datasets or jobs, and retrieving connection or job info. There is no ambiguity between tools.
All tool names follow a consistent verb_noun pattern using snake_case (e.g., download_binary, list_catalog). The verbs are imperative and clearly describe the action, and the nouns specify the resource.
With 8 tools, the server covers the main operations for interacting with a mainframe via FTP (listing catalogs and jobs, downloading datasets in two formats, job spool, and PDS members, plus connection info). The count is well-scoped and not excessive.
The tool set is heavily read-oriented, missing upload operations (e.g., upload_binary, upload_text), the ability to list PDS members, and job management tools like submit or delete. These gaps significantly limit the server's usefulness for full FTP workflows.