Ansible Know MCP Server

The Ansible knowledge engine for AI agents — discover collections, understand modules, and generate reusable skills via MCP.

A community proof of concept built with spec-driven AI-assisted development.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  >_  ansible-know-mcp                                          [x]  │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                      │
│  > I need to create an AWS EC2 instance with Ansible                 │
│                                                                      │
│    Let me find the right collection and module.                      │
│                                                                      │
│      * search_collections("aws ec2")                                 │
│        amazon.aws                          12.3M downloads           │
│                                                                      │
│      * get_module_doc("amazon.aws.ec2_instance")                     │
│        name, image_id, instance_type, state, key_name, tags...       │
│                                                                      │
│      → generate_skill("amazon.aws.ec2_instance")                     │
│        Loaded skill: ec2_instance (12 params, 3 examples)            │
│                                                                      │
│    I have everything I need. Instance type, AMI, and name?           │
│                                                                      │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  > t3.micro, Fedora Linux 44, web-server █                           │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

              DISCOVER ──→ LEARN ──→ SKILL ──→ BUILD

What It Does

Ansible Know is the learn layer for AI agents working with Ansible:

• Galaxy collection discovery — search 2000+ collections by keyword, ranked by download count
• Multi-server Galaxy support — query public Galaxy, private Automation Hub, and AAP Gateway in parallel
• Module, role, and plugin documentation — structured parameter specs, examples, and metadata with Galaxy fallback
• Documentation search — find conceptual guides from Ansible's AI-friendly docs, fetch full pages as Markdown
• Collection management — auto-install collections and get collection-level overviews
• Skill generation — create ready-to-use skill packages that teach agents how to use specific modules, roles, and plugins
• Resources and prompts — browse skills, doc sources, and Galaxy servers; pre-built templates for playbook review, module explanation, and role generation

Together with Ansible Devtools MCP (create + test) and AAP MCP (deploy), this enables the full autonomous cycle: learn -> create -> test -> deploy.

 Agent's MCP servers:

 +----------------------------+  +--------------------------+  +--------------+
 | Ansible Know               |  | Ansible Devtools         |  | AAP MCP      |
 | (this project)             |  |                          |  |              |
 |                            |  | CREATE                   |  |              |
 | search_collections         |  | ansible_create_*         |  | controller.* |
 | search_modules             |  | build_ee                 |  | eda.*        |
 | search_plugins             |  | setup_environment        |  | gateway.*    |
 | get_module_doc             |  | environment_info         |  | galaxy.*     |
 | get_plugin_doc             |  |                          |  |              |
 | get_role_doc               |  | TEST                     |  |              |
 | search_standalone_roles    |  |                          |  |              |
 | get_standalone_role_doc    |  |                          |  |              |
 | get_collection_docs        |  | ansible_lint             |  |              |
 | get_collection_manifest    |  | ansible_navigator        |  |              |
 | search_docs                |  |                          |  |              |
 | fetch_doc                  |  | REFERENCE                |  |              |
 | ensure_collection          |  | zen_of_ansible           |  |              |
 | generate_skill             |  |                          |  |              |
 | generate_role_skill        |  |                          |  |              |
 | generate_plugin_skill      |  |                          |  |              |
 | generate_collection_skills |  |                          |  |              |
 | list_skills / get_skill    |  |                          |  |              |
 | package_as_plugin          |  |                          |  |              |
 | package_for_lola           |  |                          |  |              |
 | clear_cache                |  |                          |  |              |
 |                            |  |                          |  |              |
 | LEARN                      |  | CREATE + TEST            |  | DEPLOY       |
 +----------------------------+  +--------------------------+  +--------------+

Installation

Using uvx (recommended):

uvx ansible-know-mcp

Using pip:

pip install ansible-know-mcp

Requirement: ansible-core must be installed in the same Python environment (provides ansible-doc).

Usage

Claude Code

# Project-scoped
claude mcp add ansible-know -- uvx ansible-know-mcp

# Available in all projects
claude mcp add --scope user ansible-know -- uvx ansible-know-mcp

VS Code / Cursor

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "ansible-know": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["ansible-know-mcp"],
      "type": "stdio",
      "env": {
        "ANSIBLE_KNOW_PROJECT_DIR": "${workspaceFolder}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Skill packages default to {project}/skills/. Claude Code injects CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR automatically; set ANSIBLE_KNOW_PROJECT_DIR for other clients. After generate_collection_skills, a managed section in AGENTS.md points host agents at that tree.

Pairing with Ansible Devtools MCP (next-mcp)

know-mcp and next-mcp use different env vars. To share one skills directory, also configure next-mcp's local skill source (extension setting ansibleEnvironments.skillSources, or ANSIBLE_SKILL_SOURCES):

{
  "ansibleEnvironments.skillSources": [
    {
      "id": "know-generated",
      "type": "local",
      "url": "${workspaceFolder}/skills",
      "trust": "community"
    }
  ]
}

Use {id, type, url, trust} — next-mcp's loader expects url (directory path), not path/repo alone. Until next-mcp expands local scan depth past one level, skill_* tools see collection-level SKILL.md files; nested module skills remain available to host agents via the AGENTS.md pointer. See docs/superpowers/specs/2026-08-02-skill-discoverability-alignment.md.

Any MCP client

The server communicates over stdio by default:

uvx ansible-know-mcp

HTTP Transport

Run as a standalone HTTP server for shared/remote access:

# HTTP on default port (8080)
ansible-know-mcp --transport http

# Custom host and port
ansible-know-mcp --transport http --host 10.0.0.1 --port 9090

# Via environment variables (useful for containers)
export ANSIBLE_KNOW_TRANSPORT=http
export ANSIBLE_KNOW_PORT=8080
ansible-know-mcp

Connect from any MCP client using the streamable HTTP URL: http://<host>:8080/mcp

Security: HTTP mode has no built-in authentication. Deploy behind a reverse proxy with authentication/authorization, or use only on trusted networks.

Docker

Build and run from source:

docker build -t ansible-know-mcp .
docker run -p 7860:7860 ansible-know-mcp

Connect from any MCP client using the streamable HTTP URL: http://localhost:7860/mcp

Remote MCP (Hugging Face Spaces)

A public instance is available as a remote MCP server:

Claude Code:

claude mcp add ansible-know --transport http https://know.ansible.ar/mcp

VS Code / Cursor (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "ansible-know": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://know.ansible.ar/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Full stack

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansible-know":     { "command": "uvx", "args": ["ansible-know-mcp"] },
    "ansible-devtools": { "command": "ade", "args": ["mcp"] },
    "aap":              { "command": "aap-mcp-server" }
  }
}

Tools

Discovery

search_docs source= routing:

Published CoP site (citation only, not a fetch_doc URL): https://redhat-cop.github.io/automation-good-practices/

Collection management

Skills

Maintenance

Resources

Prompts

Multi-server Galaxy Support

Ansible Know reads [galaxy_server.*] sections from ansible.cfg (resolved in standard order: ANSIBLE_CONFIG env, ./ansible.cfg, ~/.ansible.cfg, /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg):

# ansible.cfg
[galaxy_server.automation_hub]
url = https://hub.example.com/api/galaxy/
token = my-token

[galaxy_server.public_galaxy]
url = https://galaxy.ansible.com/api/

• Token auth, basic auth, and per-server TLS verification
• search_collections queries all configured servers in parallel, merging results with source attribution
• get_module_doc / get_role_doc Galaxy fallback tries servers in priority order
• Public Galaxy is appended as a final fallback; opt out with ANSIBLE_KNOW_NO_PUBLIC_GALAXY=1
• Per-server env var overrides: ANSIBLE_GALAXY_SERVER_{NAME}_{KEY} (matches ansible-core behavior)
• View configured servers via the galaxy://servers resource

Configuration

Upgrading

Note: uvx caches the installed version and does not auto-upgrade on new releases. To always run the latest version (at the cost of slower startup): claude mcp add ansible-know -- uvx --upgrade ansible-know-mcp

Deployment

Hugging Face Spaces

Deploy as a remote MCP server on Hugging Face Spaces:

1. Create a new Space with SDK: Docker
2. The Space's README.md must include YAML frontmatter:

   ---
   title: Ansible Know MCP
   emoji: "\U0001F4DA"
   sdk: docker
   app_port: 7860
   ---
   

3. Push this repository (or set it as the Space's linked repo)
4. The included Dockerfile builds and starts the server automatically

Note: Free-tier Spaces sleep after inactivity. MCP clients will see connection errors until the Space wakes up (~30-60s cold start). Use a paid Space or a keep-alive ping for production use.

Custom domain (optional):

1. In the Space settings, go to Custom domains
2. Add your domain (e.g., know.ansible.ar)
3. Create a CNAME record pointing to <owner>-<space-name>.hf.space
4. HF provisions a TLS certificate automatically

Environment variables (set in Space settings):

Generic Docker

The Dockerfile works with any container platform (Fly.io, Railway, Cloud Run, etc.):

docker build -t ansible-know-mcp .
docker run -p 8080:7860 ansible-know-mcp

Override defaults with environment variables:

docker run -p 9090:9090 \
  -e ANSIBLE_KNOW_PORT=9090 \
  ansible-know-mcp

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, testing, architecture guidelines, and how to add new MCP tools.

Acknowledgments

The skill generation approach in this project was inspired by AnsibleClaw by Michael Tao — a skill generation framework that converts Ansible modules into portable AI agent skill packages.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later