Kubernetes MCP Server
About
Kai provides a bridge between large language models (LLMs) and your Kubernetes clusters, enabling natural language interaction with Kubernetes resources. The server exposes a comprehensive set of tools for managing clusters, namespaces, pods, deployments, services, and other Kubernetes resources
Details
- License
- MIT
Explore
- Create, list, get, delete, and stream pod logs
- Manage Deployments, Jobs, and CronJobs
- Create, update, and delete Services and Ingresses with TLS
- Manage ConfigMaps, Secrets, and Namespaces
- Apply or delete raw YAML/JSON manifests, including CRDs
- List, get, cordon, uncordon, and drain nodes; cluster health metrics
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
Kubernetes MCP ServerCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
- [x] ConfigMaps - Configuration management (create, get, list, update, delete)
- [x] Secrets - Secret management (create, get, list, update, delete)
- [x] Namespaces - Namespace management (create, get, list, delete)
By default, Kai uses ~/.kube/config. You can specify a different kubeconfig:
kai -kubeconfig=/path/to/custom/kubeconfig -context=my-cluster
When deploying Kai inside a Kubernetes cluster, use the -in-cluster flag to automatically use the pod's service account credentials:
kai -in-cluster -transport=streamable-http -sse-addr=:8080
The recommended way to run Kai in-cluster is with kmcp (from kagent), which manages MCP servers as MCPServer resources:
apiVersion: kagent.dev/v1alpha1
kind: MCPServer
metadata:
name: kai
spec:
transportType: http
httpTransport:
targetPort: 8080
path: /mcp
deployment:
image: cyclon/kai:v1.0.0
port: 8080
cmd: /kai
args: ["-in-cluster", "-transport=streamable-http", "-sse-addr=:8080"]
serviceAccountName: kai
kmcp creates the Deployment and Service for you. The service account needs RBAC for the resources Kai manages — broad get/list/watch, plus create/update/delete where you use mutating tools. See the kmcp deploy guide.
Runnable example: deploy/kagent/kai.example.yaml (test-only — grants cluster-admin; scope down for real use).
Once configured, you can interact with your cluster using natural language:
- "List all pods in the default namespace"
- "Create a deployment named nginx with 3 replicas using the nginx:latest image"
- "Show me the logs for pod my-app"
- "Delete the service named backend"
- "Create a cronjob that runs every 5 minutes"
- "Create an ingress for my-app with TLS enabled"
- "Port forward service nginx on port 8080:80"
- "Apply this manifest: <paste YAML>"
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"kubernetes mcp server": {
"kai": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"pull",
"cyclon/kai:v1.0.0"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"kai": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"pull",
"cyclon/kai:v1.0.0"
]
}
}A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for managing Kubernetes clusters from MCP-compatible clients like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Continue.
Overview
Kai exposes Kubernetes operations as MCP tools, letting an LLM client manage your cluster through natural language — workloads, networking, config, storage, RBAC, custom resources, and raw manifests.
Features
Core Workloads
- [x] Pods - Create, list, get, delete, and stream logs - [x] Deployments - Create, list, describe, and update - [x] Jobs - Batch workload management (create, get, list, delete) - [x] CronJobs - Scheduled batch workloads (create, get, list, delete)Networking
- [x] Services - Create, get, list, and delete - [x] Ingress - HTTP/HTTPS routing, TLS configuration (create, get, list, update, delete)Configuration
- [x] ConfigMaps - Configuration management (create, get, list, update, delete) - [x] Secrets - Secret management (create, get, list, update, delete) - [x] Namespaces - Namespace management (create, get, list, delete)Cluster Operations
- [x] Context Management - Switch contexts, list contexts, rename, delete - [x] Nodes - Node monitoring, cordoning, and draining (list, get, cordon, uncordon, drain) - [x] Cluster Health - Cluster status and resource metrics (cluster health, node/pod metrics)Storage
- [x] Persistent Volumes - PV management (list, get, delete) and PVC management (create, list, get, delete) - [x] Storage Classes - Storage class operations (list, get)Security
- [x] RBAC - Roles, RoleBindings, ClusterRoles, ClusterRoleBindings, and ServiceAccounts (list, get)Utilities
- [x] Port Forwarding - Forward ports to pods and services (start, stop, list sessions)Advanced
- [x] Apply/Delete Manifests - Apply or delete raw YAML/JSON, multi-document and any kind including CRDs (apply_yaml, delete_yaml) - [x] Custom Resources - CRD and custom resource operations (list/get CRDs, list/get/delete custom resources) - [x] Events - Event listing and filtering (by namespace, type, involved object) - [x] API Discovery - API resource exploration (list_api_resources)Requirements
The server connects to your current kubectl context by default. Ensure you have access to a Kubernetes cluster configured for kubectl (e.g., minikube, Rancher Desktop, kind, EKS, GKE, AKS).
Installation
go install github.com/basebandit/kai/cmd/kai@latest
Container image
A multi-arch image (linux/amd64, linux/arm64) is published on Docker Hub:
docker pull cyclon/kai:v1.0.0
docker run --rm cyclon/kai:v1.0.0 -version
CLI Options
kai [options]
Options:
-kubeconfig string Path to kubeconfig file (default "~/.kube/config")
-context string Name for the loaded context (default "local")
-in-cluster Use in-cluster config (when running inside a pod)
-transport string stdio (default), streamable-http, or sse-legacy
-sse-addr string HTTP listen address for streamable-http/sse-legacy (default ":8080")
-tls-cert string Path to TLS certificate (enables HTTPS)
-tls-key string Path to TLS private key (enables HTTPS)
-request-timeout duration Timeout for Kubernetes API requests (default 30s)
-metrics Expose Prometheus metrics at /metrics (default true)
-log-format string json (default) or text
-log-level string debug, info, warn, error (default "info")
-version Show version information
Logs are written to stderr in structured JSON format by default, making them easy to parse:
{"time":"2024-01-15T10:30:00Z","level":"INFO","msg":"kubeconfig loaded","path":"/home/user/.kube/config","context":"local"}
{"time":"2024-01-15T10:30:00Z","level":"INFO","msg":"starting server","transport":"stdio"}
Configuration
Claude Desktop
Edit your Claude Desktop configuration:
```sh
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