chuk-mcp-telnet-client 0.2

MCP Telnet Client

MCP Telnet Client

Overview

The MCP Telnet Client is a Python-based microservice that provides a robust interface for interacting with Telnet servers. It enables applications to establish Telnet connections, execute commands, and maintain persistent sessions across multiple requests.

Project Details

• Version: 0.1.0
• Python Compatibility: Python 3.9+

Features

• Telnet Server Connectivity: Connect to any Telnet server with host and port specification
• Command Execution: Send commands and collect responses in a structured format
• Session Management: Maintain persistent connections with unique session IDs
• Minimal Telnet Negotiation: Handles IAC negotiation with sensible defaults
• Async Server Architecture: Built with asyncio for efficient performance
• Flexible Configuration: Configurable through environment variables and config files
• Comprehensive Validation: Robust input validation using Pydantic models

Dependencies

Core dependencies:

• mcp (>=1.6.0)
• pydantic
• telnetlib (standard library)
• typing (standard library)

Development dependencies:

• pytest

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or higher
• pip
• (Optional) Virtual environment recommended

Install from PyPI

pip install chuk-mcp-telnet-client

Install from Source

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd chuk-mcp-telnet-client

2. Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use `venv\Scripts\activate`

3. Install the package:

pip install .

Development Installation

To set up for development:

pip install .[dev]  # Installs package with development dependencies

Running the Server

Command-Line Interface

chuk-mcp-telnet-client

Programmatic Usage

from chuk_mcp_telnet_client.main import main

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Environment Variables

• NO_BOOTSTRAP: Set to disable component bootstrapping
• Other configuration options can be set in the configuration files

Available Tools

1. Telnet Client

Establishes a connection to a Telnet server and executes commands.

Input:

• host: Host/IP of the Telnet server
• port: Port number (e.g., 8023)
• commands: List of commands to send to the server
• session_id (optional): ID to maintain connection between calls
• close_session (optional): If True, close the session after processing commands

Example:

telnet_client_tool(
    host="example.com",
    port=23,
    commands=["show version", "show interfaces"],
    session_id=None,  # Auto-generated if not provided
    close_session=False
)

Returns:

• Initial banner from the server
• List of command responses
• Session information for maintaining connection

2. Close Telnet Session

Closes a specific Telnet session by ID.

Input:

• session_id: The session ID to close

Example:

telnet_close_session("telnet_example.com_23_1649876543")

Returns:

• Status of the operation (success or failure)
• Descriptive message

3. List Telnet Sessions

Lists all active Telnet sessions.

Input: None

Example:

telnet_list_sessions()

Returns:

• Count of active sessions
• Details for each session (host, port, creation time, age)

Technical Details

Session Management

Sessions are maintained in a global dictionary (TELNET_SESSIONS) with the following structure:

• Key: Unique session ID
• Value: Dictionary containing:
  • telnet: Telnet connection object
  • host: Server hostname/IP
  • port: Server port number
  • created_at: Session creation timestamp

Telnet Option Negotiation

The client implements minimal Telnet option negotiation that:

• Responds with WONT to DO requests
• Responds with DONT to WILL requests

This approach ensures compatibility with most Telnet servers while avoiding complex negotiation.

Development

Code Structure

• main.py: Application entry point
• models.py: Pydantic models for input/output validation
• server/: Server implementation components

Running Tests

pytest

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License