What is Mcp Server Scrapli

mcp-server-scrapli is a basic MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server designed to interact with network devices using Scrapli, a connection framework known for its asynchronous capabilities.

Use cases

Use cases for mcp-server-scrapli include SSH access to network devices, integration with automation tools, and serving as a backend for MCP clients in network monitoring and management applications.

How to use

To use mcp-server-scrapli, install the required package ‘uv’ using pip, clone the repository, install dependencies with ‘uv sync’, activate the virtual environment, configure your device credentials in the .env file, and run the server using ‘uv run main.py’.

Key features

Key features of mcp-server-scrapli include support for asynchronous communication, compatibility with MCP clients like Claude Desktop, and the ability to customize server host and port settings.

Where to use

mcp-server-scrapli is primarily used in network management and automation environments where interaction with network devices is required, particularly in Linux and MacOS systems.

MCP Server Scrapli

A basic MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server to interact with network devices using Scrapli.

🚀 What’s this?

This project is a proof of concept to demonstrate the use of an MCP server by compatible MCP clients (like Claude Desktop) to SSH into network devices. Scrapli was chosen as the connection framework for it’s async capabilities.

🔧 How to install

Note: Scrapli is not compatible with Windows operating systems, so this MCP server can only be installed on Linux/MacOS. This guide is for Linux systems only.

This project uses UV for package management.You can install it using pip:

pip install uv

Alternatively, you can download the installation script using cURL:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

After UV has been installed, clone this repo and install the dependencies using uv sync:

git clone https://git.mikelmaeso.com/mmaeso/mcp-server-scrapli.git
cd mcp-server-scrapli
uv sync

🔧 Starting the server

Activate the virtualenv with:

source .venv/bin/activate

Rename the .env.example file to .env and set your device username and password. Finally, run the server with:

uv run main.py

By default, the server will listen on 0.0.0.0 and port 8080, but you can change this behaviour using the ---host and --port flags, respectively:

uv run main.py --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8081

🔧 Using with Claude Desktop

As of April 2025, Claude Desktop can only use stdio based MCP servers. If you’re using Claude Desktop on Windows, the only way to connect it to this MCP server is using an MCP SSE Gateway, like mcp-server-and-gw. Follow the installation instructions and add the following configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Claude Gateway Example": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-and-gw", "http://<hostname-of-mcp-server>:<port>/"
      ]
    }
  }
}