What can you do with this server?

The Ansible MCP Server enables AI assistants to manage infrastructure as code with the following capabilities: * Ansible Operations: * Run playbooks with customizable parameters (inventory, extra vars, tags, limits) * List inventory hosts and groups * Check playbook syntax * Preview playbook tasks * Execute ad-hoc commands * Encrypt/decrypt with Ansible Vault * Create dynamic AWS inventory * AWS Management: * EC2 instances (list, create, start, stop, terminate) * S3 buckets and objects * VPC networks * CloudFormation stacks * IAM roles and policies * RDS database instances * Route53 DNS records and zones * Elastic Load Balancers * Lambda functions * Terraform Support: * Execute commands (init, plan, apply, destroy, output) * LocalStack Integration: * Test AWS operations locally without real credentials

Which integrations are available for this server?

Allows AI assistants to execute Ansible playbooks, view and manage inventory, validate playbook syntax, and preview tasks that would be executed by a playbook. Serves as the runtime environment for the MCP server, allowing the Ansible integration to operate.

How do I use Ansible MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Ansible MCP Server check the syntax of my webserver playbook" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

MCP SysOperator

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Infrastructure as Code operations. This server allows AI assistants to interact with Ansible and Terraform, execute playbooks and Terraform plans, manage cloud resources, and perform other infrastructure operations directly.
(Project previously known as mcp-ansible)

Demo Projects

All code in demos generated using Claude 3.7 Sonnet (via OpenRouter), Cline, and SysOperator

AWS LAMP Stack - All Ansible code to deploy example LAMP stack in AWS
AWS Terraform LAMP - Terraform and Ansible code to reply a LAMP stack

Related MCP server: Ansible MCP Server

Features

Run Ansible Playbooks: Execute Ansible playbooks with support for parameters like inventory, extra vars, tags, and limits
List Inventory: View hosts and groups from an Ansible inventory file
Check Syntax: Validate Ansible playbook syntax without execution
List Tasks: Preview tasks that would be executed by a playbook
Access Default Inventory: Access the default Ansible inventory file via resource API
AWS Integration: Manage AWS resources (EC2, S3, VPC, CloudFormation, etc.)
Terraform Support: Execute Terraform commands (init, plan, apply, destroy, output, etc.)
tflocal Integration: Test Terraform configurations with LocalStack for local cloud development
LocalStack Support: Test AWS operations locally using LocalStack without real AWS credentials

Requirements

Node.js 18 or higher
npm or yarn
Ansible installed and in PATH
@modelcontextprotocol/sdk (installed automatically)
For AWS operations: AWS CLI and valid credentials
For LocalStack: LocalStack installed and running, awslocal CLI

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/tarnover/mcp-sysoperator.git
cd mcp-sysoperator

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Build the server

npm run build

4. Configure MCP settings

Add the Ansible MCP server to your MCP settings configuration file.

For VSCode with Claude extension:

Edit the file at ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

For Claude Desktop app:

macOS: Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: Edit ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sysoperator": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-sysoperator/build/index.js"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Make sure to replace /absolute/path/to/mcp-sysoperator with the actual path to your installation.

Usage Examples

Once installed and configured, the MCP server provides the following tools to the AI assistant:

1. Run a Playbook

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>run_playbook</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "playbook": "/path/to/your/playbook.yml",
  "inventory": "/path/to/inventory.ini",
  "extraVars": {
    "var1": "value1",
    "var2": "value2"
  },
  "tags": "setup,configure",
  "limit": "webservers"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

2. List Inventory

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>list_inventory</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "inventory": "/path/to/inventory.ini"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

3. Check Playbook Syntax

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>check_syntax</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "playbook": "/path/to/your/playbook.yml"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

4. List Tasks in a Playbook

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>list_tasks</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "playbook": "/path/to/your/playbook.yml"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

5. Access Default Inventory Resource

<access_mcp_resource>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<uri>sysoperator://inventory/default</uri>
</access_mcp_resource>

6. AWS S3 Operations

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>aws_s3</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "action": "list_buckets",
  "region": "us-east-1"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

7. Terraform Init and Plan

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>terraform</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "action": "init",
  "workingDir": "/path/to/terraform/project"
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>terraform</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "action": "plan",
  "workingDir": "/path/to/terraform/project",
  "vars": {
    "instance_type": "t2.micro",
    "region": "us-west-2"
  }
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

8. Terraform Apply

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>terraform</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "action": "apply",
  "workingDir": "/path/to/terraform/project",
  "autoApprove": true,
  "vars": {
    "instance_type": "t2.micro",
    "region": "us-west-2"
  }
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

9. Terraform with LocalStack (tflocal)

<use_mcp_tool>
<server_name>sysoperator</server_name>
<tool_name>terraform</tool_name>
<arguments>
{
  "action": "apply",
  "workingDir": "/path/to/terraform/project",
  "useLocalstack": true,
  "autoApprove": true,
  "vars": {
    "instance_type": "t2.micro",
    "region": "us-west-2"
  }
}
</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

LocalStack Integration

This project includes integration with LocalStack for testing AWS operations locally without real AWS credentials. The LocalStack integration allows you to:

Test Ansible playbooks that use AWS services locally
Develop and test AWS operations without incurring AWS costs
Run tests without requiring real AWS credentials
Validate your infrastructure code before deploying to real AWS

Using LocalStack

See the LocalStack README for detailed instructions on using the LocalStack integration.

Quick start:

# Install LocalStack and awslocal CLI
pip install localstack awscli-local

# Start LocalStack
localstack start

# Run the sample playbook
node localstack/run_sample_playbook.mjs

Development

Project Structure

mcp-sysoperator/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts                  # Main entry point
│   └── ansible-mcp-server/       # Will be renamed in filesystem in future updates
│       ├── index.ts              # MCP SysOperator server implementation
│       ├── common/               # Common utilities and types
│       │   ├── errors.ts         # Error definitions
│       │   ├── types.ts          # Type and schema definitions
│       │   ├── utils.ts          # Utility functions
│       │   └── version.ts        # Version information
│       └── operations/           # Operation handlers
│           ├── ad_hoc.ts         # Ansible ad-hoc commands
│           ├── aws.ts            # AWS operations
│           ├── inventory.ts      # Ansible inventory operations
│           ├── playbooks.ts      # Ansible playbook operations
│           ├── terraform.ts      # Terraform operations
│           └── vault.ts          # Ansible vault operations
├── localstack/                   # LocalStack integration
│   ├── README.md                 # LocalStack documentation
│   ├── sample_playbook.yml       # Sample playbook for LocalStack
│   ├── inventory.ini             # Sample inventory for LocalStack
│   ├── run_sample_playbook.mjs   # Script to run sample playbook
│   └── utils.localstack.ts       # Modified utils for LocalStack
├── package.json                  # Project configuration and dependencies
├── tsconfig.json                 # TypeScript configuration
└── README.md                     # Documentation

Adding New Features

To add new capabilities to the MCP server:

Modify src/ansible-mcp-server/index.ts (future: src/sysoperator/index.ts)
Add your new tool in the setupToolHandlers method
Implement a handler function for your tool in the appropriate operations file
Add the schema definition in common/types.ts
Rebuild with npm run build

⚠️ Disclaimer

SysOperator is currently in active development and undergoing extensive testing. It is not recommended for use in production environments at this time. The software may experience breaking changes, incomplete features, or unexpected behavior.

Use at your own risk.