New Relic MCP Server

A Go-native MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the New Relic observability platform, providing comprehensive access to APM, infrastructure, logs, traces, alerts, dashboards, synthetics, workflows, notifications, service levels, tags, entities, and workloads — all through a single GraphQL endpoint.

Overview

• 55 registered MCP tools covering the full NerdGraph API surface
• Safety-first design: every tool carries EnforcerProfile metadata (risk, impact, resource cost, PII flag, idempotency) for automated policy enforcement via MCP Bridge
• Write protection: all mutation tools gated behind a -write-enabled flag; disabled by default
• Multi-region: US and EU data center support (NEWRELIC_REGION=us|eu)
• TDD-built: 80%+ test coverage across all tools

Registries

This server is published on the following MCP registries:

• Smithery: karldane/newrelic-mcp
• MCP Registry: io.github.karldane/newrelic-mcp

API Architecture

All tools communicate with a single NerdGraph endpoint:

Internal query helpers determine the response-scope:

Tools

NRQL Querying

APM & Applications

Alert Policies & Conditions

Synthetic Monitoring

Dashboards

Logs

Infrastructure

Alert Workflows (aiWorkflows)

Notification Channels & Destinations (aiNotifications)

Service Levels

Tag Management (tagging)

Entity Operations

Cross-Account NRQL

Workloads

NerdGraph Reference

All tools access the New Relic NerdGraph API. The following NerdGraph query/mutation names are used:

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go 1.22 or later
• New Relic account with API access

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/karldane/newrelic-mcp.git
cd newrelic-mcp
make

Build Options

make              # Download deps and build (default)
make deps         # Download dependencies only
make build        # Build binary only (assumes deps exist)
make build-all    # Build for Linux, macOS, and Windows
make test         # Run tests
make clean        # Remove build artifacts
make install      # Install to GOPATH/bin
make help         # Show all options

Configuration

Environment Variables

Obtaining an API Key

1. Log in to your New Relic account
2. Go to API Keys in the account settings
3. Create a User Key (for read-only) or Admin Key (for write operations)
4. Copy the key and set it as NEWRELIC_API_KEY

Usage

Basic Usage (Read-Only)

export NEWRELIC_API_KEY="your-api-key"
./newrelic-mcp

Enable Write Operations

Write operations require the -write-enabled flag:

export NEWRELIC_API_KEY="your-api-key"
./newrelic-mcp -write-enabled

Write tools are disabled by default. When -write-enabled is set, all mutations (create, update, delete, acknowledge) become available. Each write tool carries an EnforcerProfile with ImpactWrite so MCP Bridge operators can enforce policies independently.

Tools List

Query the full tool list via MCP:

{
  "tool": "tools/list"
}

Safety Features

EnforcerProfile Metadata

Every tool declares its safety profile:

This metadata enables automated policy enforcement by MCP Bridge without hardcoding tool lists.

Risk Classification

• Low Risk: Read-only queries, log searches, metric retrieval, listing operations
• Medium Risk: Creating non-destructive resources (alert conditions, service levels, dashboards, channels), acknowledging alerts
• High Risk: Deleting resources (policies, entities, dashboards, workflows, channels)

Write Protection

Write tools are disabled by default and require:

1. Valid New Relic API key with appropriate permissions
2. -write-enabled command-line flag

Examples

Query Application Performance

{
  "tool": "nrql_query",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "SELECT average(duration) FROM Transaction WHERE appName = 'MyApp' TIMESERIES SINCE 1 hour ago"
  }
}

List Active Alerts

{
  "tool": "get_alert_violations",
  "arguments": {}
}

Create a Ping Monitor

{
  "tool": "create_ping_monitor",
  "arguments": {
    "name": "My Monitor",
    "uri": "https://example.com/health",
    "locations": "US_EAST_1,US_WEST_1",
    "period": "EVERY_5_MINUTES"
  }
}

Cross-Account NRQL Query

{
  "tool": "cross_account_nrql",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "SELECT count(*) FROM Transaction",
    "account_ids": "1234567,7654321"
  }
}

Architecture

The server wraps the New Relic GraphQL client and registers each tool through the MCP Framework. The tools map 1:1 to NerdGraph operations — no REST API calls are made.

Client (MCP Host)
    │
    ▼
newrelic-mcp (MCP Server)
    │
    ├── actorGraphQuery  →  actor.*  (entities, entitySearch, cross-account NRQL)
    ├── nerdGraphQuery   →  actor.account.*  (alerts, workflows, notifications, workloads)
    ├── rawGraphQuery    →  mutation results
    └── executeNRQL      →  actor.account.nrql  (NRQL query tools)
         │
         ▼
New Relic NerdGraph (api.newrelic.com/graphql)

Testing

go test ./newrelic -v

Tests cover:

• Happy path (mock NerdGraph responses)
• Empty/no-results responses
• Missing required parameters
• Write-enabled / write-disabled gating
• API error responses
• Unexpected response format

License

This project is licensed under the Functional Source License, Version 1.1, ALv2 Future License.

Copyright 2026 Karl Dane

See LICENSE file for full terms.

References

• MCP Framework — Base framework with EnforcerProfile support
• New Relic NerdGraph API
• NRQL Reference
• New Relic API Explorer — Interactive GraphQL playground

Tool Inventory

The server registers 55 tools total:

• 6 NRQL / APM / Trace tools: nrql_query, list_applications, get_apm_metrics, get_application_metrics, query_traces, get_transaction_traces, get_trace_details
• 10 Alert tools: list_alerts, get_alert_policy, get_alert_conditions, get_alert_violations, list_nrql_alert_conditions, create_alert_policy, update_alert_policy, delete_alert_policy, create_alert_condition, acknowledge_alert_violation
• 5 Synthetic Monitoring tools: list_synthetic_monitors, get_synthetic_monitor, list_private_locations, create_ping_monitor, delete_synthetic_monitor
• 7 Dashboard tools: list_dashboards, get_dashboard, get_dashboard_data, create_dashboard, update_dashboard, delete_dashboard, add_dashboard_widget
• 2 Log tools: search_logs, tail_logs
• 1 Infrastructure tool: get_infrastructure_metrics
• 5 Workflow tools: list_workflows, get_workflow, create_workflow, update_workflow, delete_workflow
• 5 Notification tools: list_notification_channels, list_destinations, create_slack_channel, create_email_channel, delete_notification_channel
• 3 Service Level tools: list_service_levels, create_service_level, update_service_level
• 4 Tag tools: get_entity_tags, add_entity_tags, remove_entity_tags, replace_entity_tags
• 2 Entity tools: search_entities, delete_entity
• 1 Cross-account NRQL tool: cross_account_nrql
• 2 Workload tools: list_workloads, get_workload