K8sCortex — Kubernetes MCP Server

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A production-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives developers, AI agents, and automation pipelines a single, secure, natural-language interface to Kubernetes — across any cloud, any cluster, any team.

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Features

Curated multi-domain toolset across workload, deployment, configuration, observability, jobs, networking, GitOps, cluster admin, and generic read paths
Multi-cluster routing — target any registered cluster with a single cluster parameter
Entra ID OIDC authentication with per-tool RBAC (5-tier role hierarchy)
Structured audit logging — every tool call recorded with caller identity, arguments, and outcome
Dual transport — SSE/HTTP for programmatic clients + stdio for Claude Desktop
Azure Key Vault integration for dynamic credential management with 5-minute TTL cache
Dry-run safety — destructive tools default to simulation mode
Generic read coverage — list/get support for resources outside curated write paths to avoid troubleshooting dead-ends

Install via npx (Fastest)

npx k8scortex-mcp

Or install globally:

npm install -g k8scortex-mcp

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js ≥ 18
A Kubernetes cluster (minikube, Rancher Desktop, or AKS)
kubectl configured with a valid context

Install & Run

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/apatilgtn/k8scortex-mcp.git
cd k8scortex-mcp

# Install
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run (local dev mode — auth bypassed)
DISABLE_AUTH=true PORT=3001 npm run dev

Connect with MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector sse http://localhost:3001/mcp

Connect with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "k8scortex": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["<path-to>/k8scortex-mcp/dist/stdio.js"],
      "env": {
        "DISABLE_AUTH": "true",
        "KUBECONFIG": "~/.kube/config"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Ask: "List all pods in the default namespace".

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Tools

K8sCortex intentionally keeps writes curated and governed, while allowing flexible read access for diagnostics.

| Domain | Tool | Description | |---|---|---| | Workload | list_pods | List pods with status and IP | | Workload | get_pod_logs | Fetch container logs | | Workload | describe_deployment | Full deployment spec | | Workload | list_statefulsets | List StatefulSets with rollout status | | Workload | describe_statefulset | Detailed StatefulSet spec/status | | Workload | list_daemonsets | List DaemonSets with scheduling status | | Workload | describe_daemonset | Detailed DaemonSet spec/status | | Workload | list_nodes | Cluster nodes with Ready status | | Deploy | scale_deployment | Scale replicas (dry-run default) | | Deploy | restart_pod | Delete pod to trigger restart | | Config | get_configmap | Read ConfigMap data | | Config | describe_namespace_quota | Resource quota usage | | Config | list_events | Recent namespace events | | Config | list_persistent_volume_claims | PVC status, bound volume, storage class, capacity | | Config | get_effective_permissions | ServiceAccount SubjectAccessReview matrix | | Generic Read | list_k8s_resources | Generic list for arbitrary resource kinds | | Generic Read | get_k8s_resource | Generic get for arbitrary resource kinds | | Observe | get_hpa_status | HPA metrics and scaling | | Observe | list_warning_events | Warning events for triage | | Observe | get_node_pressure | Node memory/disk/PID pressure | | Multi | list_clusters | All registered clusters | | Multi | get_cluster_info | Node count, versions, architecture |

For the evolving full catalog, see docs/developer-guide.md.

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Managed Risk

The largest functional risk in Kubernetes MCP is dead-end visibility on non-curated resources (for example StatefulSets, DaemonSets, PVCs, or CRDs). KubeNexus addresses this by combining:

Governed writes: high-impact operations remain explicit, role-gated, and often dry-run by default.
Flexible reads: generic read tools cover arbitrary resource kinds for diagnostics.

This keeps the governance posture strong while preserving practical troubleshooting coverage.

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Scope Boundaries (v1)

K8sCortex is designed as a governed platform interface, not an unrestricted Kubernetes super-client.

Generic write for any resource: intentionally out of scope in v1. Writes are curated and role-gated by design.
Pod exec interactive sessions: intentionally out of scope in v1. This requires stronger session controls and command-level auditing that are planned for a later version.

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Architecture

Claude / Prism Agent / CI-CD
        │
        ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│     K8sCortex MCP Server     │
│  OIDC → RBAC → Tool → Audit │
│         │                    │
│   Cluster Store (Key Vault)  │
└──────────┬───────────────────┘
           │
    ┌──────┼──────┐
    ▼      ▼      ▼
   AKS    EKS    GKE

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Security

Authentication: Entra ID OIDC tokens validated on every request
Authorization: Role-based tool access (developer → platform-engineer)
Audit: JSON-structured log per invocation with user, tool, args, status
Network: ClusterIP only — no public endpoint
Credentials: Key Vault with 5-minute TTL cache, no kubeconfigs on disk

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Project Structure

src/
├── index.ts              # Express SSE server
├── stdio.ts              # Stdio entry point (Claude Desktop)
├── auth.ts               # OIDC middleware
├── roles.ts              # RBAC role hierarchy
├── audit.ts              # Audit logger
├── context.ts            # AsyncLocalStorage user context
├── cluster-store.ts      # Dynamic K8s client factory
├── kubernetes.ts         # Client re-export
└── tools/
    ├── workload.ts       # list_pods, get_pod_logs, describe_deployment, list_nodes
    ├── deployment.ts     # scale_deployment, restart_pod
    ├── configuration.ts  # get_configmap, describe_namespace_quota, list_events
    ├── observability.ts  # get_hpa_status, list_warning_events, get_node_pressure
    └── multicluster.ts   # list_clusters, get_cluster_info

kubernetes/               # Production manifests
├── namespace.yaml
├── deployment.yaml
├── service.yaml
├── rbac.yaml
├── network-policy.yaml
├── hpa.yaml
├── secret-provider-class.yaml
└── alerts.yaml           # Prometheus alerting rules

docs/
├── developer-guide.md    # End-user documentation
├── operator-runbook.md   # Platform team operations
├── slos.md               # Service level objectives
└── adrs/                 # Architecture decision records
    ├── ADR-001-tool-taxonomy.md
    ├── ADR-002-idp-integration.md
    ├── ADR-003-role-model.md
    └── ADR-004-credential-management.md

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Documentation

Developer Guide — How to connect, available tools, example queries
Operator Runbook — Deploy, upgrade, rotate credentials, incident response
SLOs — Availability, latency, and alerting targets

Document Files

Word documents are consolidated in docs/docx.
Current files:
K8sCortex_Cloud_Testing_Publishing_Plan.docx
K8sCortex_Project_Plan.docx
K8sCortex_Project_Plan_v3.docx
K8sCortex_Project_Plan_v4.docx

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License

Internal — Platform Engineering

k8scortex-mcp