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Deadline MCP Server

by officefiction
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Python
Remote

Deadline MCP Server

AI access to a Thinkbox Deadline 10 render farm via its Web Service REST API, exposed as Model Context Protocol tools. Works with Hermes, Claude, and any MCP-compatible client.

  • 18 tools — 9 read + 9 write (see Tools)

  • Self-contained — own venv, no host dependencies beyond Python 3.10+

  • Env-configured — no secrets in the repo

Requirements

Requirement

Detail

Python

3.10+

Deadline Web Service

deadlinewebservice running, default port 8081

Network

The target machine must reach the Web Service (same host, LAN, or tailnet)

Credentials

A Deadline user account (username + password — not email)

Related MCP server: fxhoudinimcp

Install

git clone https://github.com/officefiction/deadline-mcp-server.git
cd deadline-mcp-server
./install.sh

install.sh creates a venv/, installs mcp + httpx, and self-tests the tool registry. Expected output ends with:

tools (18): deadline_complete_job, deadline_delete_job, ...

Version pin: the server targets the MCP 1.x Python SDK (mcp>=1.28,<2). MCP 2.x moved FastMCP — do not upgrade past 2.x without testing.

Configure

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env:
#   DEADLINE_WS_URL=http://localhost:8081   (or your host)
#   DEADLINE_WS_USER=<deadline username>
#   DEADLINE_WS_PASS=<deadline password>
chmod 600 .env

Variable

Required

Default

Description

DEADLINE_WS_URL

no

http://localhost:8081

Base URL of the Deadline Web Service

DEADLINE_WS_USER

yes

—

Deadline user account (not email)

DEADLINE_WS_PASS

yes

—

Deadline account password

DEADLINE_MCP_READONLY

no

false

true = read-only tools only (no job mutations)

Register in Hermes

Add this block to ~/.hermes/config.yaml (path must match where you cloned):

mcp_servers:
  deadline:
    command: "/opt/deadline-mcp-server/venv/bin/python"
    args: ["/opt/deadline-mcp-server/server.py"]
    env:
      DEADLINE_WS_URL: "${DEADLINE_WS_URL}"
      DEADLINE_WS_USER: "${DEADLINE_WS_USER}"
      DEADLINE_WS_PASS: "${DEADLINE_WS_PASS}"
    enabled: true
    timeout: 120
    connect_timeout: 60

Then put the three DEADLINE_WS_* values in the profile's .env (chmod 600), restart the gateway, and verify:

hermes mcp test deadline   # expect 18 tools discovered

Register in other MCP clients

Point any MCP client at the stdio server:

{
  "command": "/opt/deadline-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
  "args": ["/opt/deadline-mcp-server/server.py"],
  "env": {
    "DEADLINE_WS_URL": "http://localhost:8081",
    "DEADLINE_WS_USER": "...",
    "DEADLINE_WS_PASS": "..."
  }
}

Tools

Read (always available)

Tool

Description

deadline_farm_status

Overall farm snapshot: workers, jobs by state, groups, pools

deadline_list_jobs

List jobs, filter by state / user

deadline_get_job

One job by ID

deadline_job_tasks

Tasks (chunks) of a job, per-task status

deadline_job_reports

Job reports / render logs

deadline_list_workers

Farm workers (slaves) with status + heartbeat

deadline_list_users

Repository users

deadline_list_groups

Worker groups

deadline_list_pools

Job pools

Write (disabled with DEADLINE_MCP_READONLY=true)

Tool

Description

deadline_suspend_job

Stop new tasks from starting

deadline_resume_job

Resume a suspended job

deadline_requeue_job

Re-run a job's tasks

deadline_complete_job

Mark a job completed

deadline_fail_job

Mark a job failed

deadline_pend_job

Hold a job until released

deadline_release_pending_job

Release a pended job to the queue

deadline_set_job_priority

Change a job's priority

deadline_delete_job

Delete a job

Job states

State

Meaning

0

Unknown

1

Active

2

Suspended

3

Completed

4

Failed

5

Deleted

6

Pending

Architecture

MCP client (Hermes / Claude / ...)
        │  stdio (JSON-RPC)
        ▼
server.py  (FastMCP, mcp<2)
        │  HTTP Basic auth
        ▼
Deadline Web Service  (deadlinewebservice, :8081)
        │  REST
        ▼
Deadline repository  (render farm)

Key API facts (this server handles them automatically):

  • Workers are served under /api/slaves (not /api/workers)

  • Job state lives in the top-level Stat field

  • Auth is a Deadline user account — the Web Service returns 401 without it

Development

# Regenerate/refresh docs against the live tool registry
python3 scripts/deadline_mcp_docs.py --outline   # (internal tooling, not in this repo)

License

Internal tooling for the Office Fiction project. MIT.

This server cannot be deployed

One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

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