kiali-mcp-server 0.1.0

Kiali MCP Server (Model Context Protocol) with special support for OpenShift

Kiali MCP Server

Kiali MCP Server is a thin extension of the upstream Kubernetes MCP Server. It adds Kiali-specific tooling while keeping the same core behavior and configuration.

• Based on kubernetes-mcp-server (native Go MCP server for Kubernetes/OpenShift)
• For the full set of tools and behavior adopted from upstream, see the upstream README: openshift/openshift-mcp-server README

✨ Features | 🚀 Getting Started | 🎥 Demos | ⚙️ Configuration | 🛠️ Tools | 🧑‍💻 Development

✨ Features

• ✅ Istio Objects:
  • validations_list: Lists Istio object validations aggregated by namespace and cluster from a Kiali instance.

🚀 Getting Started

Requirements

• Access to a Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster (kubeconfig or in-cluster service account)
• A reachable Kiali server URL

Cursor

Install the Kubernetes MCP server extension in Cursor by pressing the following link:

Alternatively, you can install the extension manually by editing the mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kiali-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "kiali-mcp-server@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Note: You must specify the Kiali endpoint if the MCP cannot detect it.You must also specify whether it should skip TLS.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kiali-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "kiali-mcp-server@latest",
        "--kiali-server-url",
        "https://kiali-istio-system.apps-crc.testing/",
        "--kiali-insecure"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Kiali MCP Server reuses the same configuration and flags as the upstream Kubernetes MCP Server. In addition, it adds the following Kiali-specific flags:

• --kiali-server-url string: URL of the Kiali server (e.g. "https://kiali-istio-system.apps-crc.testing/")
• --kiali-insecure: Skip TLS verification when connecting to the Kiali server

By default, only Kiali tools are exposed. If you want to see all of them, including the Kubernetes ones, use this configuration

• --toolsets: core,config,helm,kiali

You can run the server via npx, uvx, or the compiled binary. Example using npx:

npx -y kiali-mcp-server@latest \
  --kiali-server-url "https://kiali-istio-system.apps-crc.testing/" \
  --kiali-insecure

Or using the binary after building:

./kiali-mcp-server \
  --kiali-server-url "https://kiali-istio-system.apps-crc.testing/" \
  --kiali-insecure

Refer to the upstream README for the rest of the flags and features (ports, auth, read-only, list output, etc.): openshift/openshift-mcp-server README

🛠️ Tools and Functionalities

The Kiali MCP server supports enabling or disabling specific groups of tools and functionalities (tools, resources, prompts, and so on) via the --toolsets command-line flag or toolsets configuration option. This allows you to control which Kubernetes functionalities are available to your AI tools. Enabling only the toolsets you need can help reduce the context size and improve the LLM's tool selection accuracy.

Available Toolsets

The following sets of tools are available (only Kiali by default):

Toolset	Description
config	View and manage the current local Kubernetes configuration (kubeconfig)
core	Most common tools for Kubernetes management (Pods, Generic Resources, Events, etc.)
helm	Tools for managing Helm charts and releases
kiali	View and manage resources in your Mesh

Tools

kiali

• valdiation_list - List all the validations in the current cluster from all namespaces
  • namespace (string) - Optional Namespace to retrieve the namespaced resources from (ignored in case of cluster scoped resources). If not provided, will list resources from all namespaces

🎥 Demos

In this video, we explore how the Mesh Control Plane (MCP) in Kubernetes/OpenShift works together with Kiali to validate Istio configuration objects directly in your editor (Cursor).

🧑‍💻 Development

Running with mcp-inspector

Compile the project and run the Kiali MCP server with mcp-inspector to inspect the MCP server.

# Compile the project
make build
# Run the Kubernetes MCP server with mcp-inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector@latest $(pwd)/kiali-mcp-server --kiali-server-url "https://kiali-istio-system.apps-crc.testing/" --kiali-insecure