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New Relic MCP Server

by piekstra
README.md
# New Relic MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides programmatic access to New Relic APIs, enabling AI assistants and other tools to interact with New Relic monitoring and observability data.

> **See also:** [newrelic-cli](https://github.com/piekstra/newrelic-cli) - Command-line interface with the same New Relic functionality.

## Features

- **APM Application Management**: List and retrieve application details, metrics, and metric data
- **NRQL Queries**: Execute NRQL queries via NerdGraph
- **Log Parsing Rules**: Intelligently create, manage, and test GROK patterns for log parsing
- **Alert Policies**: List and manage alert policies
- **Synthetic Monitoring**: Access synthetic monitor information
- **Dashboards**: List and retrieve dashboard configurations
- **Entity Search**: Search across all New Relic entities
- **Infrastructure**: Monitor servers and infrastructure components
- **Deployments**: Track and create application deployments
- **User Management**: List and manage users
- **NerdGraph**: Execute custom GraphQL queries

## Installation

### Option 1: Install from PyPI (Recommended)

```bash
pip install newrelic-mcp-server
```

### Option 2: Install from Source

```bash
# Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/piekstra/newrelic-mcp-server.git
cd newrelic-mcp-server

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .
```

## Configuration

### Secure Credential Setup (Recommended for macOS)

For enhanced security on macOS, use the built-in keychain storage instead of environment variables:

```bash
# Run the secure setup wizard
newrelic-mcp-setup

# Or set up manually with Python
python -m newrelic_mcp.credentials
```

This will securely store your API key and account ID in the macOS Keychain, eliminating the need to store sensitive credentials in plain text files.

### Environment Variables (Alternative)

If you prefer environment variables or are not on macOS, you can use:

```bash
# Required
export NEWRELIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"  # Your New Relic User API key

# Optional
export NEWRELIC_REGION="US"  # or "EU" (default: "US")
export NEWRELIC_ACCOUNT_ID="your-account-id"  # Required for some operations
```

**Note:** The server will automatically prefer keychain storage over environment variables when both are available.

### Getting Your API Key

1. Log in to New Relic
2. Navigate to the [API Keys page](https://one.newrelic.com/api-keys)
3. Create a new User API key (starts with `NRAK`)
4. Copy the key and set it as the `NEWRELIC_API_KEY` environment variable

## Usage

### With Claude Desktop

#### Option 1: Using Secure Keychain (Recommended for macOS)

After setting up credentials with `newrelic-mcp-setup`, add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration (`claude_desktop_config.json`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "newrelic": {
      "command": "newrelic-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NEWRELIC_REGION": "US"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

#### Option 2: Using Environment Variables (Less Secure)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "newrelic": {
      "command": "newrelic-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NEWRELIC_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "NEWRELIC_REGION": "US",
        "NEWRELIC_ACCOUNT_ID": "your-account-id"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**Security Note:** Option 1 is strongly recommended as it keeps your sensitive API key out of configuration files.

### With Other MCP Clients

```bash
# Start the server directly
newrelic-mcp-server

# Or run as a module
python -m newrelic_mcp
```

## Available Tools

### Application Management

- `list_applications` - List all APM applications
- `get_application` - Get details for a specific application
- `get_application_metrics` - Get available metrics for an application
- `get_application_metric_data` - Get metric data with time range filtering

### Querying

- `query_nrql` - Execute NRQL queries for data analysis
- `nerdgraph_query` - Execute custom NerdGraph GraphQL queries

### Monitoring

- `list_alert_policies` - List all alert policies
- `get_alert_policy` - Get specific alert policy details
- `list_synthetic_monitors` - List synthetic monitors
- `get_synthetic_monitor` - Get synthetic monitor details

### Dashboards & Visualization

- `list_dashboards` - List all dashboards
- `get_dashboard` - Get dashboard configuration and widgets

### Infrastructure

- `list_servers` - List monitored servers
- `get_server` - Get server details
- `search_entities` - Search across all entity types

### Deployment Tracking

- `list_deployments` - List application deployments
- `create_deployment` - Record new deployments

### User Management

- `list_users` - List account users
- `get_user` - Get user details

### Log Parsing Rules

- `list_log_parsing_rules` - List all log parsing rules for an account
- `create_log_parsing_rule` - Create a new log parsing rule with GROK pattern and NRQL filter
- `update_log_parsing_rule` - Update an existing log parsing rule
- `delete_log_parsing_rule` - Delete a log parsing rule
- `test_log_parsing_rule` - Test a GROK pattern against sample logs (generates pattern if not provided)
- `generate_log_parsing_rule` - Intelligently generate GROK patterns from log samples or NRQL queries

### Credential Management

- `manage_credentials` - Securely manage API credentials in keychain
  - `action="status"` - Show current credential storage status
  - `action="store"` - Store new credentials securely (requires `api_key` parameter)
  - `action="delete"` - Remove all stored credentials

## Examples

### Query Application Performance

```python
# List all applications
await list_applications()

# Get specific application metrics
await get_application_metric_data(
    app_id='123456',
    metric_names=['HttpDispatcher', 'Apdex'],
    from_time='2024-01-01T00:00:00Z',
    to_time='2024-01-02T00:00:00Z'
)
```

### Execute NRQL Query

```python
await query_nrql(
    account_id='1234567',
    nrql='SELECT average(duration) FROM Transaction WHERE appName = "My App" SINCE 1 hour ago'
)
```

### Search Entities

```python
await search_entities(
    query='name LIKE "%production%"',
    limit=50
)
```

### Create Deployment Marker

```python
await create_deployment(
    app_id='123456',
    revision='v2.0.1',
    description='Production deployment',
    user='deploy-bot',
    changelog='Fixed critical bug in payment processing'
)
```

### Log Parsing Rules

#### Generate GROK Pattern from Log Samples

```python
# Generate parsing rule from sample logs (sanitized example)
await generate_log_parsing_rule(
    log_samples=[
        "Updated info for user 12345678-1234-5678-9012-123456789012 (updated 1 rows, expected 1) - updated values: EmailAddress test@example.com, FirstName TestName, LastName TestLast, Active True, EmailConfirmed False"
    ]
)

# Returns generated GROK pattern and NRQL filter:
# {
#   "grok_pattern": "Updated info for user %{UUID:user_id:string} \\(updated %{INT:rows_affected:long} rows, expected %{INT:rows_expected:long}\\) - updated values: EmailAddress %{DATA:email:string}, FirstName %{WORD:first_name:string}, LastName %{WORD:last_name:string}, Active %{WORD:active:string}, EmailConfirmed %{WORD:emailconfirmed:string}",
#   "nrql_pattern": "SELECT * FROM Log WHERE message LIKE 'Updated info for user % (updated % rows, expected %) - updated values: EmailAddress %, FirstName %, LastName %, Active %, EmailConfirmed %'",
#   "suggested_description": "Auto-generated parsing rule for single log sample"
# }
```

#### Create Log Parsing Rule

```python
# Create a new parsing rule using generated patterns
await create_log_parsing_rule(
    description="User update audit log parsing",
    grok="Updated info for user %{UUID:user_id:string} \\(updated %{INT:rows_affected:long} rows, expected %{INT:rows_expected:long}\\) - updated values: EmailAddress %{DATA:email:string}, FirstName %{WORD:first_name:string}, LastName %{WORD:last_name:string}, Active %{WORD:active:string}, EmailConfirmed %{WORD:emailconfirmed:string}",
    nrql="SELECT * FROM Log WHERE message LIKE 'Updated info for user % (updated % rows, expected %) - updated values: EmailAddress %, FirstName %, LastName %, Active %, EmailConfirmed %'",
    enabled=True
)
```

#### Generate from Live Logs

```python
# Generate patterns from logs matching a query
await generate_log_parsing_rule(
    log_query="service = 'user-service' AND message LIKE '%Updated info for user%'",
    time_range="1 day ago",
    field_hints={"user_id": "UUID", "email": "EMAIL"}
)
```

#### Test Parsing Rules

```python
# Test a GROK pattern against samples
await test_log_parsing_rule(
    log_samples=["Updated info for user 12345678-1234-5678-9012-123456789012 (updated 1 rows, expected 1)"],
    grok_pattern="Updated info for user %{UUID:user_id:string} \\(updated %{INT:rows_affected:long} rows, expected %{INT:rows_expected:long}\\)"
)
```

#### Manage Parsing Rules

```python
# List all parsing rules
await list_log_parsing_rules()

# Update a rule
await update_log_parsing_rule(
    rule_id="12345",
    description="Updated user audit log parsing",
    enabled=False
)

# Delete a rule
await delete_log_parsing_rule(rule_id="12345")
```

## Development

```bash
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/piekstra/newrelic-mcp-server.git
cd newrelic-mcp-server

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .[dev]

# Install pre-commit hooks
pre-commit install

# Run the server
newrelic-mcp-server

# Run tests (when available)
pytest

# Format code
black newrelic_mcp

# Lint code
flake8 newrelic_mcp

# Run all pre-commit checks
pre-commit run --all-files
```

## Dependencies

- `fastmcp` - FastMCP framework for building MCP servers
- `httpx` - Async HTTP client for API requests
- `python-dotenv` - Environment variable management (optional)

## API Rate Limits

Be aware of New Relic's API rate limits:
- REST API v2: Subject to rate limiting per account
- NerdGraph: Higher rate limits but still enforced
- Synthetic Monitoring API: 3 requests per second

## Security

- **Use keychain storage on macOS**: Run `newrelic-mcp-setup` to store credentials securely in the system keychain
- Never commit API keys to version control
- Avoid storing sensitive credentials in plain text configuration files
- API keys should have minimal required permissions
- Consider using separate keys for different environments
- The server automatically prioritizes keychain storage over environment variables for enhanced security

## Troubleshooting

### Authentication Errors

- Ensure your API key starts with `NRAK`
- Verify the key has the necessary permissions
- Check if you're using the correct region (US/EU)
- If using keychain storage, verify credentials are stored with `manage_credentials` action="status"
- Try re-running `newrelic-mcp-setup` if keychain access fails

### Rate Limiting

If you encounter rate limit errors:
- Implement exponential backoff in your client code
- Cache frequently accessed data
- Batch operations where possible

### Connection Issues

- Verify network connectivity
- Check firewall rules for API endpoints
- Ensure correct base URLs for your region

### Python Environment

- Ensure Python 3.10+ is installed
- Install dependencies with `pip install -r requirements.txt`
- Check that the script is executable: `chmod +x newrelic_mcp_server.py`

### Command Not Found Issues

If you encounter "command not found" errors after installation:
- Try using the full path to the installed package:
  - Linux/macOS (user install): `~/.local/bin/newrelic-mcp-server`
  - macOS (Python framework): `/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.13/bin/newrelic-mcp-server`
  - System-wide: `/usr/local/bin/newrelic-mcp-server`
- Or add the installation directory to your PATH: `export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"`
- In Claude Desktop config, use the full path if the command isn't found:
  ```json
  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "newrelic": {
        "command": "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.13/bin/newrelic-mcp-server",
        "env": {
          "NEWRELIC_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
          "NEWRELIC_REGION": "US",
          "NEWRELIC_ACCOUNT_ID": "your-account-id"
        }
      }
    }
  }
  ```

## Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

## License

MIT

## Support

For issues and questions:
- GitHub Issues: [Create an issue](https://github.com/piekstra/newrelic-mcp-server/issues)
- New Relic Documentation: [docs.newrelic.com](https://docs.newrelic.com)

TDQS

B3/5.0

Scored across 26 tools

Disambiguation4/5

Most tools have distinct purposes targeting specific New Relic resources like applications, dashboards, or logs, but there is some overlap between 'generate_log_parsing_rule' and 'test_log_parsing_rule' as both involve creating or evaluating parsing rules, which could cause confusion. The descriptions help differentiate them, but the boundaries are not perfectly clear.

Naming Consistency5/5

Tool names follow a highly consistent verb_noun pattern throughout, such as 'list_applications', 'get_application', 'create_deployment', and 'delete_log_parsing_rule'. There are no deviations in style, making it easy to predict and understand the tool functions.

Tool Count3/5

With 26 tools, the count is borderline high for a monitoring and observability server, as it may feel heavy and potentially overwhelming. However, given New Relic's broad domain covering applications, logs, alerts, and more, the number is somewhat justified but could benefit from consolidation.

Completeness4/5

The tool set provides comprehensive coverage for core New Relic operations, including CRUD for log parsing rules, listing and getting various entities, and querying capabilities. Minor gaps exist, such as missing update or delete operations for some resources like dashboards or synthetic monitors, but agents can work around these with available tools.

Maintenance

ActivityStale
ResponsivenessNo issues