Network Operator MCP

network-operator-mcp lets an agent operate network-device management interfaces while keeping device credentials inside the MCP server.

The server supports these device backends:

• ssh-terminal: a persistent SSH PTY for interactive network CLIs.

• ssh-exec: one standard SSH exec request per tool call.

• http-tplink-switch: TP-Link switch WebUI APIs.

• http-zte-be7200: ZTE BE7200 Pro+ WebUI APIs.

• http-mellanox-onyx: Mellanox Onyx WebUI APIs.

The server does not interpret commands, prompts, or API responses. It transports requests and responses between the agent and the selected device.

Tested devices

Related MCP server: SSH MCP Server

Configuration

backends:
  ssh-terminal:
    connect_timeout_seconds: 15
    default_quiet_timeout_ms: 1000
    default_deadline_ms: 15000
    default_response_limit_bytes: 200000
    max_sessions: 10
    session_idle_ttl_seconds: 600
    max_session_lifetime_seconds: 3600
  ssh-exec:
    connect_timeout_seconds: 15
    default_command_timeout_seconds: 60
  http:
    connect_timeout_seconds: 10
    default_request_timeout_seconds: 30
    max_response_bytes: 2000000

accounts:
  ssh-operator:
    username: netadmin
    password: plaintext-password

  web-operator:
    username: webadmin
    password: plaintext-password

  zte-password:
    password: plaintext-password

devices:
  example-huawei:
    type: ssh-terminal
    host: 192.0.2.10
    account: ssh-operator

  example-tplink:
    type: http-tplink-switch
    host: 192.0.2.20
    account: web-operator

  example-zte:
    type: http-zte-be7200
    host: 192.0.2.30
    account: zte-password

  example-onyx:
    type: http-mellanox-onyx
    host: 192.0.2.40
    account: web-operator
    verify_tls: false

Accounts can be shared by multiple devices. SSH accounts may use password, an inline private_key, and an optional private_key_passphrase. The ZTE backend accepts a password-only account because that product has a fixed WebUI username.

HTTP defaults to port 80, except for http-mellanox-onyx, which defaults to HTTPS port 443. Set scheme, port, and verify_tls on a device when its setup differs from those defaults. The complete placeholder configuration is in config/devices.example.yaml.

MCP tools

HTTP requests

http_request accepts a configured device, an HTTP method, and a device-relative path. Optional arguments are query, headers, body, body_base64, form, and timeout_seconds. Supply at most one of body, body_base64, and form.

The MCP server manages credentials, cookies, and device tokens. Callers cannot supply credential-bearing headers, and sensitive authentication headers are not returned. Redirects from agent requests are returned to the agent instead of being followed automatically. Text responses are returned directly; binary responses use base64 and set body_encoding to base64.

Example:

{
  "device": "example-zte",
  "method": "POST",
  "path": "/?_type=vueData&_tag=vuecfg_data",
  "form": {
    "IF_ACTION": "Get"
  }
}

SSH terminals

Each terminal has a background reader that appends device output to a temporary transcript. Carry initial_output.next_cursor into the first exchange, then carry each returned next_cursor forward. A quiet timeout means only that no new bytes arrived during that interval; it does not prove that a command completed.

An MCP server restart necessarily closes active SSH connections and discards their transcripts. Call open_session again for the device and continue with the new initial cursor.

State

SSH terminals are keyed by device name and are not owned by an MCP client session. The tools do not expose or accept a terminal session identifier. Streamable HTTP transport is also stateless, so restarting the MCP server does not leave the client holding an obsolete MCP session identifier.

Running the server

Validate a configuration:

network-operator-mcp --config config/devices.local.yaml validate-config

Run over stdio:

network-operator-mcp --config config/devices.local.yaml serve

Run with Streamable HTTP:

network-operator-mcp --config config/devices.local.yaml serve \
  --transport streamable-http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

The server also supports the sse transport.

Security notes

• Protect configuration files because they contain plaintext credentials.

• SSH server host keys are not verified.

• Keep TLS verification enabled when a device has a trusted certificate. Use verify_tls: false only for devices whose WebUI certificate cannot be validated.

• Expose the MCP transport only to trusted agents and users. HTTP API calls can change device configuration.