What is Kubernetes

MCP Server Kubernetes is a server designed to connect and manage Kubernetes clusters. It supports multiple kubeconfig sources and interacts with the Kubernetes API, allowing users to perform various operations using a unified interface.

Use cases

It can be used to manage Kubernetes resources, scale deployments, port-forward services, and execute Helm operations. Ideal for users who need to interact with Kubernetes clusters using CLI or chat clients.

How to use

To use the server, install it via npm and run it using commands defined in the configuration file. It automatically connects to the current kubectl context, provided that kubectl is installed and correctly configured to access a Kubernetes cluster.

Key features

Key features include unified kubectl API operations (e.g., get, list, create resources), advanced operations with Helm, a non-destructive mode for safe access, and support for multiple authentication methods for connecting to clusters.

Where to use

You can use it in development environments, CI/CD pipelines, and in conjunction with CLI clients like mcp-chat or GUI tools for Kubernetes management, making it suitable for both local and cloud-based Kubernetes infrastructures.

MCP Server Kubernetes

MCP Server that can connect to a Kubernetes cluster and manage it. Supports loading kubeconfig from multiple sources in priority order.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f25f8f4e-4d04-479b-9ae0-5dac452dd2ed

Usage with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-kubernetes"
      ]
    }
  }
}

By default, the server loads kubeconfig from ~/.kube/config. For additional authentication options (environment variables, custom paths, etc.), see ADVANCED_README.md.

The server will automatically connect to your current kubectl context. Make sure you have:

1. kubectl installed and in your PATH
2. A valid kubeconfig file with contexts configured
3. Access to a Kubernetes cluster configured for kubectl (e.g. minikube, Rancher Desktop, GKE, etc.)
4. Helm v3 installed and in your PATH (no Tiller required). Optional if you don’t plan to use Helm.

You can verify your connection by asking Claude to list your pods or create a test deployment.

If you have errors open up a standard terminal and run kubectl get pods to see if you can connect to your cluster without credentials issues.

Usage with mcp-chat

mcp-chat is a CLI chat client for MCP servers. You can use it to interact with the Kubernetes server.

npx mcp-chat --server "npx mcp-server-kubernetes"

Alternatively, pass it your existing Claude Desktop configuration file from above (Linux should pass the correct path to config):

Mac:

npx mcp-chat --config "~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"

Windows:

npx mcp-chat --config "%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json"

Features

• [x] Connect to a Kubernetes cluster
• [x] Unified kubectl API for managing resources
  • Get or list resources with kubectl_get
  • Describe resources with kubectl_describe
  • List resources with kubectl_list
  • Create resources with kubectl_create
  • Apply YAML manifests with kubectl_apply
  • Delete resources with kubectl_delete
  • Get logs with kubectl_logs
  • Manage kubectl contexts with kubectl_context
  • Explain Kubernetes resources with explain_resource
  • List API resources with list_api_resources
  • Scale resources with kubectl_scale
  • Update field(s) of a resource with kubectl_patch
  • Manage deployment rollouts with kubectl_rollout
  • Execute any kubectl command with kubectl_generic
• [x] Advanced operations
  • Scale deployments with kubectl_scale (replaces legacy scale_deployment)
  • Port forward to pods and services with port_forward
  • Run Helm operations
    • Install, upgrade, and uninstall charts
    • Support for custom values, repositories, and versions
• [x] Non-destructive mode for read and create/update-only access to clusters

Local Development

Make sure that you have bun installed. Clone the repo & install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/Flux159/mcp-server-kubernetes.git
cd mcp-server-kubernetes
bun install

Development Workflow

1. Start the server in development mode (watches for file changes):

bun run dev

2. Run unit tests:

bun run test

3. Build the project:

bun run build

4. Local Testing with Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js
# Follow further instructions on terminal for Inspector link

5. Local testing with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-kubernetes": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/your/mcp-server-kubernetes/dist/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

6. Local testing with mcp-chat

bun run chat

Contributing

See the CONTRIBUTING.md file for details.

Advanced

Non-Destructive Mode

You can run the server in a non-destructive mode that disables all destructive operations (delete pods, delete deployments, delete namespaces, etc.):

ALLOW_ONLY_NON_DESTRUCTIVE_TOOLS=true npx mcp-server-kubernetes

For Claude Desktop configuration with non-destructive mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubernetes-readonly": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-kubernetes"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALLOW_ONLY_NON_DESTRUCTIVE_TOOLS": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Commands Available in Non-Destructive Mode

All read-only and resource creation/update operations remain available:

• Resource Information: kubectl_get, kubectl_describe, kubectl_list, kubectl_logs, explain_resource, list_api_resources
• Resource Creation/Modification: kubectl_apply, kubectl_create, kubectl_scale, kubectl_patch, kubectl_rollout
• Helm Operations: install_helm_chart, upgrade_helm_chart
• Connectivity: port_forward, stop_port_forward
• Context Management: kubectl_context

Commands Disabled in Non-Destructive Mode

The following destructive operations are disabled:

• kubectl_delete: Deleting any Kubernetes resources
• uninstall_helm_chart: Uninstalling Helm charts
• cleanup: Cleanup of managed resources
• kubectl_generic: General kubectl command access (may include destructive operations)

For additional advanced features, see the ADVANCED_README.md.

Architecture

See this DeepWiki link for a more indepth architecture overview created by Devin.

This section describes the high-level architecture of the MCP Kubernetes server.

Request Flow

The sequence diagram below illustrates how requests flow through the system:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client
    participant Transport as Transport Layer
    participant Server as MCP Server
    participant Filter as Tool Filter
    participant Handler as Request Handler
    participant K8sManager as KubernetesManager
    participant K8s as Kubernetes API

    Note over Transport: StdioTransport or<br>SSE Transport

    Client->>Transport: Send Request
    Transport->>Server: Forward Request

    alt Tools Request
        Server->>Filter: Filter available tools
        Note over Filter: Remove destructive tools<br>if in non-destructive mode
        Filter->>Handler: Route to tools handler

        alt kubectl operations
            Handler->>K8sManager: Execute kubectl operation
            K8sManager->>K8s: Make API call
        else Helm operations
            Handler->>K8sManager: Execute Helm operation
            K8sManager->>K8s: Make API call
        else Port Forward operations
            Handler->>K8sManager: Set up port forwarding
            K8sManager->>K8s: Make API call
        end

        K8s-->>K8sManager: Return result
        K8sManager-->>Handler: Process response
        Handler-->>Server: Return tool result
    else Resource Request
        Server->>Handler: Route to resource handler
        Handler->>K8sManager: Get resource data
        K8sManager->>K8s: Query API
        K8s-->>K8sManager: Return data
        K8sManager-->>Handler: Format response
        Handler-->>Server: Return resource data
    end

    Server-->>Transport: Send Response
    Transport-->>Client: Return Final Response

See this DeepWiki link for a more indepth architecture overview created by Devin.

Publishing new release

Go to the releases page, click on “Draft New Release”, click “Choose a tag” and create a new tag by typing out a new version number using “v{major}.{minor}.{patch}” semver format. Then, write a release title “Release v{major}.{minor}.{patch}” and description / changelog if necessary and click “Publish Release”.

This will create a new tag which will trigger a new release build via the cd.yml workflow. Once successful, the new release will be published to npm. Note that there is no need to update the package.json version manually, as the workflow will automatically update the version number in the package.json file & push a commit to main.

Not planned

Adding clusters to kubectx.