rainbird-mcp

What it does

Exposes your Rain Bird controller to any MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, etc.) so you can ask things like "is the sprinkler running?", "run zone 3 for 10 minutes", or "set a 2-day rain delay" in natural language.

It speaks the controller's local encrypted SIP-command protocol via pyrainbird — the same protocol the Rain Bird mobile app uses on your LAN.

Related MCP server: Bosch Smart Home Camera MCP Server

Tools

Requirements

• Python 3.12+

• uv

• A Rain Bird controller with an LNK/LNK2 WiFi module on the same reachable network

• The controller's device password (see below)

Install

git clone https://github.com/rudy325/rainbird-mcp.git
cd rainbird-mcp
uv sync

Configure

The password is the controller's device password — set/shown in the Rain Bird app under the controller's settings. It is not your WiFi password and not your Rain Bird account login. If you don't know it, remove and re-add the WiFi module in the app to set a new one (this keeps your zones and schedules).

Single controller:

export RAINBIRD_HOST=192.168.1.50
export RAINBIRD_PASSWORD=your-device-password

Multiple controllers (each tool then takes an optional controller argument, required when more than one is configured):

export RAINBIRD_CONTROLLERS='{"front":{"host":"192.168.1.50","password":"pw1"},
                              "back":{"host":"192.168.1.51","password":"pw2"}}'

See .env.example for all variables.

Register with Claude Code

claude mcp add rainbird \
  --env RAINBIRD_HOST=192.168.1.50 \
  --env RAINBIRD_PASSWORD=your-device-password \
  -- uv --directory /path/to/rainbird-mcp run server.py

Or with Claude Desktop, in claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rainbird": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/rainbird-mcp", "run", "server.py"],
      "env": {
        "RAINBIRD_HOST": "192.168.1.50",
        "RAINBIRD_PASSWORD": "your-device-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use with other clients (OpenAI, local models, etc.)

This is a standard MCP server — it speaks the open protocol over stdio and doesn't care which model or client drives it. Anything that supports MCP works:

• OpenAI — the Agents SDK and Responses API accept MCP servers. Point them at: command: "uv", args: ["--directory", "/path/to/rainbird-mcp", "run", "server.py"], with RAINBIRD_HOST / RAINBIRD_PASSWORD in the environment.

• Local / open-source models — via any MCP-capable client (Cline, Continue, LibreChat, Open WebUI, Goose, Zed, Cursor) running Ollama, Llama, Qwen, etc.

• Any other MCP client — same stdio command as the Claude examples above.

The only requirement is a model that's competent at tool/function calling; the large hosted models and stronger local ones (Llama 3.1+, Qwen 2.5+) handle it well.

Transport (HTTP vs HTTPS)

Newer LNK modules (certificate CN fw-cc20.rainbird.com) serve the SIP endpoint over HTTPS on port 443 and refuse port 80, with a self-signed Rain Bird certificate. Older modules are plain HTTP on 80. pyrainbird hardcodes http://, so this server probes 443 then 80 per host and rewrites the client URL accordingly. Certificate verification is disabled — the device is LAN-local, addressed by IP, and its certificate is self-signed by Rain Bird, so verification cannot succeed.

Skip the probe by forcing it: RAINBIRD_SCHEME=https (or http).

Notes & gotchas

• One connection at a time. The LNK module accepts a single connection; expect slow or failed calls if the Rain Bird mobile app is open against the same controller.

• WiFi quality matters. The module is 2.4 GHz WiFi 4, 1×1. A weak signal shows up as intermittent timeouts, not clean errors. Check RSSI / TX retries in your AP if calls are flaky.

• run_program uses the ManuallyRunProgramRequest SIP command; some firmware revisions NACK it. If it fails, drive zones individually with start_zone.

• The controller clock drifts and has no NTP. sync_clock is worth running occasionally.

• Isolated IoT VLANs (UniFi and similar). If the controller is on an isolated VLAN, the router's isolation feature typically drops the controller's replies to your LAN, which no user "allow" rule reliably overrides. Disabling isolation on that network (and optionally re-adding your own outbound-only block rule) is what actually restores access.

How it fits together

MCP client ──stdio──> server.py ──pyrainbird──> HTTP(S) /stick ──> LNK WiFi module ──> controller

Credits

• pyrainbird — the protocol implementation.

• Model Context Protocol — the server framework.

License

MIT. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rain Bird Corporation. "Rain Bird" is a trademark of Rain Bird Corporation.