Signal K MCP Operations

Ask your boat's data a question

MCP Operations & Diagnostics connects a compatible AI assistant to your Signal K server. It gives the assistant nine read-only tools to inspect available data and explain what it finds. Answers depend on the data your server supplies and the paths you allow; a missing value does not prove a sensor has failed.

The plugin cannot change settings, restart services or control the boat. It is a diagnostic aid, not a navigation instrument.

Related MCP server: h7tools-mcp

Get started

1. Install the plugin. Look for MCP Operations & Diagnostics in the Signal K App Store, or use the manual installation guide.

2. Configure access. Set a private MCP key, choose the allowed host and data paths, then enable the plugin. The setup guide walks through this.

3. Connect your AI client. Use a client that supports Streamable HTTP MCP with both headers below, then try one of the questions above.

Endpoint: https://<your-server>/plugins/signalk-mcp-ops/mcp
Authorization: Bearer <Signal K admin token>
X-MCP-Ops-Key: <your MCP key>

Use HTTPS and keep Signal K security enabled. The plugin uses the server's existing connection; no extra port is needed. Clients that require OAuth discovery are not currently supported.

Version and compatibility

Version 1.0.1. Check npm or GitHub releases for published availability. App Store availability depends on indexing; an unpublished build can be tested from its local tarball.

• Automated coverage: Node.js 22 and 24; Signal K integration tests on 2.31.0 and 2.35.1.

• Live candidate validation: all nine tools, authentication rejection, restart, disable/re-enable and key rotation on Signal K 2.31.0 / Node.js 22.23.2 / OpenPlotter Raspberry Pi.

• Known hosting limitation: Signal K 2.31.0 can return a stack trace for malformed JSON before the plugin handles the request. See deployment responsibilities.

See compatibility and validation evidence for the distinction between automated tests and live results.

Can it read server logs?

Not through MCP yet. Signal K exposes recent logs to administrators, and this repository includes a verification command that checks access without printing log contents. See server log access.

Learn more

• Installation and client setup

• Tools, inputs and response formats

• Security and private vulnerability reporting

• Compatibility and validation

• 1.0 acceptance checklist · Release procedure

Development

Requires Node.js 22 or newer.

npm ci --ignore-scripts
npm test
npm run audit:runtime
npm run verify:package

See CONTRIBUTING.md and ARCHITECTURE.md for development details. The icon is included in the npm package and declared through Signal K's appIcon metadata.

MIT licensed. Design references and acknowledgements are in the architecture notes.