Oxidized MCP Server

Oxidized MCP Server is a Python-based Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI assistants access to Oxidized, the network device configuration backup tool. It talks to the oxidized-web REST API to list devices, check backup health, read and search device configurations, browse and diff configuration history, and queue backups. It supports read-only mode, tag-based tool filtering, and bearer token authentication for HTTP transports.

Features

Core Features

• List and filter managed devices by group, model and last backup status
• Find devices by partial name, full name (group/name) or IP address
• Summarise backup health: failures, devices never backed up and stale backups
• Read the latest backed-up configuration of any device, paged for large configs
• Search all configurations for a regular expression or literal text, with matching lines and context

Configuration History

• List the stored configuration versions of a device (git output)
• Read a device's configuration as it was at any version (full oid or short prefix)
• Diff two versions, or just see the most recent change, as a unified diff

Operations

• Queue an immediate backup of a device, optionally with a commit message and author
• Reload the node list from its source (router.db, SQL, HTTP, ...)
• Read-only mode hides every operation for safe monitoring

Advanced Capabilities

• Node vars (often device credentials) are redacted in tool output by default
• HTTP Basic auth for oxidized-web behind a reverse proxy
• Rate limiting, SSL/TLS verification and configurable timeouts
• Tag-based tool filtering and an optional tool-search transform
• Bearer token authentication for HTTP transports

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or higher
• A running Oxidized instance with oxidized-web enabled
• For version history and diffs: the Oxidized git (or gitcrypt) output

Quick Install from PyPI

The easiest way to get started is to install from PyPI:

# Using UV (recommended)
uvx oxidized-mcp

# Or using pip
pip install oxidized-mcp

Remember to configure the environment variables for your Oxidized instance before running the server:

# Create environment configuration
export OXIDIZED_URL=http://localhost:8888

For more details, visit: https://pypi.org/project/oxidized-mcp/

Install from Source

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/mhajder/oxidized-mcp.git
cd oxidized-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

# Using UV (recommended)
uv sync

# Or using pip
pip install -e .

3. Configure environment variables:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Oxidized URL (and Basic auth credentials if needed)

4. Run the server:

# Using UV (recommended)
uv run oxidized-mcp

# Or using the installed command directly
oxidized-mcp

Development Setup

For development with additional tools:

# Clone and install with development dependencies
git clone https://github.com/mhajder/oxidized-mcp.git
cd oxidized-mcp
uv sync --group dev

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=src/

# Run linting and formatting
uv run ruff check .
uv run ruff format .

# Run type checking
uv run ty check .

# Setup prek hooks
uv run prek install

Configuration

Environment Variables

# Oxidized Connection Details
# Base URL of oxidized-web (include the url_prefix if one is configured)
OXIDIZED_URL=http://localhost:8888

# Optional HTTP Basic auth, e.g. for a reverse proxy in front of oxidized-web
# OXIDIZED_USERNAME=
# OXIDIZED_PASSWORD=

# SSL Configuration
OXIDIZED_VERIFY_SSL=true
OXIDIZED_TIMEOUT=30
# Timeout for search_configs (oxidized-web reads every configuration)
OXIDIZED_SEARCH_TIMEOUT=300

# Redact node vars (often device credentials) in tool output
OXIDIZED_REDACT_NODE_VARS=true

# Read-Only Mode
# Set READ_ONLY_MODE true to disable operations (trigger_node_backup, reload_nodes)
READ_ONLY_MODE=false

# Disabled Tags
# Comma-separated list of tags to disable tools for (empty by default)
# Example: OXIDIZED_DISABLED_TAGS=search,diff
OXIDIZED_DISABLED_TAGS=

# Logging Configuration
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

# Rate Limiting (requests per minute)
# Set RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED true to enable rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=false
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=60
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES=1

# Tool Search Transform (Optional)
# Set TOOL_SEARCH_ENABLED true to replace full tool listings with search_tools + call_tool
TOOL_SEARCH_ENABLED=false
# Search strategy: bm25 (natural language) or regex (pattern match)
TOOL_SEARCH_STRATEGY=bm25
# Maximum number of tools returned by search_tools
TOOL_SEARCH_MAX_RESULTS=5

# Sentry Error Tracking (Optional)
# Set SENTRY_DSN to enable error tracking and performance monitoring
# SENTRY_DSN=https://your-key@o12345.ingest.us.sentry.io/6789
# Optional Sentry configuration
# SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE=1.0
# SENTRY_SEND_DEFAULT_PII=false
# SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production
# SENTRY_RELEASE=1.2.3
# SENTRY_PROFILE_SESSION_SAMPLE_RATE=1.0
# SENTRY_PROFILE_LIFECYCLE=trace
# SENTRY_ENABLE_LOGS=true

# MCP Transport Configuration
# Transport type: 'stdio' (default), 'sse' (Server-Sent Events), or 'http' (HTTP Streamable)
# MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio

# HTTP Transport Settings (used when MCP_TRANSPORT=sse or MCP_TRANSPORT=http)
# Host to bind the HTTP server (default: 127.0.0.1)
# MCP_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1
# Port to bind the HTTP server (default: 8000)
# MCP_HTTP_PORT=8000
# Optional bearer token for authentication (leave empty for no auth)
# MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN=

Sentry Error Tracking & Monitoring (Optional)

The server optionally supports Sentry for error tracking, performance monitoring, and debugging. Sentry integration is completely optional and only initialized if configured.

Installation

To enable Sentry monitoring, install the optional dependency:

# Using UV (recommended)
uv sync --extra sentry

Configuration

Enable Sentry by setting the SENTRY_DSN environment variable in your .env file:

# Required: Sentry DSN for your project
SENTRY_DSN=https://your-key@o12345.ingest.us.sentry.io/6789

# Optional: Performance monitoring sample rate (0.0-1.0, default: 1.0)
SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE=1.0

# Optional: Include personally identifiable information (default: false).
# Keep it off: with the MCP integration it records tool results, which are
# full device configurations including secrets.
SENTRY_SEND_DEFAULT_PII=false

# Optional: Environment name (e.g., "production", "staging")
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production

# Optional: Release version (auto-detected from package if not set)
SENTRY_RELEASE=1.2.2

# Optional: Profiling - continuous profiling sample rate (0.0-1.0, default: 1.0)
SENTRY_PROFILE_SESSION_SAMPLE_RATE=1.0

# Optional: Profiling - lifecycle mode for profiling (default: "trace")
# Options: "all", "continuation", "trace"
SENTRY_PROFILE_LIFECYCLE=trace

# Optional: Enable log capture as breadcrumbs and events (default: true)
SENTRY_ENABLE_LOGS=true

Features

When enabled, Sentry automatically captures:

• Exceptions & Errors: All unhandled exceptions with full context
• Performance Metrics: Request/response times and traces
• MCP Integration: Detailed MCP server activity and interactions
• Logs & Breadcrumbs: Application logs and event trails for debugging
• Context Data: Environment, client info, and request parameters

Getting a Sentry DSN

1. Create a free account at sentry.io
2. Create a new Python project
3. Copy your DSN from the project settings
4. Set it in your .env file

Disabling Sentry

Sentry is completely optional. If you don't set SENTRY_DSN, the server will run normally without any Sentry integration, and no monitoring data will be collected.

Available Tools

Node Tools

• list_nodes: List devices with optional filters (group, model, last run status, name/IP substring) and paging; group/model are filtered by Oxidized itself (/nodes/<group|model>/<value>.json), so large inventories are not transferred in full
• get_node: Get a single device's details and last backup run (accepts name or IP)
• find_nodes: Find devices by partial name, full name or IP, exact matches first
• get_backup_stats: Backup health summary - counts per status, group and model, success rate, failed / never backed up / stale devices; optionally for a single group or model

Configuration Tools

• get_node_config: Get the latest backed-up configuration of a device (by name or IP), paged by lines (offset / max_lines)
• search_configs: Search all configurations for a regex or literal text; returns matching lines with line numbers and optional context

Version History Tools

Require the Oxidized git or gitcrypt output.

• list_node_versions: List stored configuration versions (oid, date, author, message), newest first
• get_node_version: Get the configuration at a given version (full oid or unique prefix), paged by lines
• diff_node_versions: Unified diff between two versions; defaults to the most recent change

Operation Tools

Hidden when READ_ONLY_MODE=true.

• trigger_node_backup: Queue an immediate backup of a device, optionally recording a commit message and author
• reload_nodes: Reload the whole node list from its source (a per-node reload is deliberately not offered: oxidized-web's /reload?node=X replaces the entire in-memory node list with the matching nodes)

Security & Safety Features

Read-Only Mode

The server supports a read-only mode that disables all write operations for safe monitoring:

READ_ONLY_MODE=true

When enabled, only tools tagged read-only are exposed: trigger_node_backup and reload_nodes are hidden, while every node, configuration and history tool stays available.

Tag-Based Tool Filtering

You can disable specific categories of tools by setting disabled tags:

OXIDIZED_DISABLED_TAGS=search,diff

Available tags include:

• node - Node listing and lookup tools (and the backup/reload operations)
• stats - Backup health statistics
• config - Configuration read tools
• search - Configuration search and node search tools
• version - Version history tools
• diff - Version diff tool
• backup - Backup trigger operation
• reload - Node list reload operation
• read-only - Every tool that does not change Oxidized state

Rate Limiting

The server supports rate limiting to control API usage and prevent abuse. If enabled, requests are limited per client using a sliding window algorithm.

Enable rate limiting by setting the following environment variables in your .env file:

RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=60    # Maximum requests allowed per window
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES=1   # Window size in minutes

If RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED is set to true, the server will apply rate limiting middleware. Adjust RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS and RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES as needed for your environment.

Tool Search for Large Toolsets

FastMCP tool search can reduce prompt size for servers with many tools. When enabled, list_tools returns two synthetic tools:

• search_tools: Finds matching tools and returns their full schemas
• call_tool: Executes any discovered tool by name

Enable it with:

TOOL_SEARCH_ENABLED=true
TOOL_SEARCH_STRATEGY=bm25      # bm25 or regex
TOOL_SEARCH_MAX_RESULTS=8      # optional, default is 5

bm25 supports natural language queries, while regex uses a regex pattern input for deterministic matching.

Tool search respects existing visibility controls (read-only mode and disabled tags).

SSL/TLS Configuration

The server supports SSL certificate verification and custom timeout settings:

OXIDIZED_VERIFY_SSL=true    # Enable SSL certificate verification
OXIDIZED_TIMEOUT=30         # Request timeout in seconds

Upstream Authentication

oxidized-web has no authentication of its own and is usually published behind a reverse proxy with HTTP Basic auth. Set both variables to send Basic auth with every request:

OXIDIZED_USERNAME=oxidized
OXIDIZED_PASSWORD=your-password

Node Vars Redaction

Node vars from the Oxidized source (router.db, SQL, HTTP) often contain per-device credentials, and oxidized-web returns them unredacted from /nodes.json. The server replaces every var value with <redacted> (keeping the keys) unless you opt out:

OXIDIZED_REDACT_NODE_VARS=false

Transport Configuration

The server supports multiple transport protocols for different deployment scenarios:

STDIO Transport (Default)

The default transport uses standard input/output for communication. This is ideal for local usage and integration with tools that communicate via stdin/stdout:

MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio

HTTP SSE Transport (Server-Sent Events)

For network-based deployments, you can use HTTP with Server-Sent Events. This allows the MCP server to be accessed over HTTP with real-time streaming:

MCP_TRANSPORT=sse
MCP_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1        # Localhost
MCP_HTTP_PORT=8000           # Port to listen on
MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN=your-secret-token  # Optional authentication token

When using SSE transport with a bearer token, clients must include the token in their requests:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token" http://localhost:8000/sse

HTTP Streamable Transport

The HTTP Streamable transport provides HTTP-based communication with request/response streaming. This is ideal for web integrations and tools that need HTTP endpoints:

MCP_TRANSPORT=http
MCP_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1        # Localhost
MCP_HTTP_PORT=8000           # Port to listen on
MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN=your-secret-token  # Optional authentication token

When using streamable transport with a bearer token:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token" \
     -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}' \
     http://localhost:8000/mcp

Note: The HTTP transport requires proper JSON-RPC formatting with jsonrpc and id fields. The server may also require session initialization for some operations.

Oxidized Notes

• Version history (list_node_versions, get_node_version, diff_node_versions) needs the git or gitcrypt output. With the file output Oxidized reports no versions.
• Groups: node names should be unique. Tools accept an optional group to disambiguate; get_node_config and the history tools look the group up automatically when it is omitted (with the git output's single_repo the group is part of the stored path, so it is required by oxidized-web). Nodes without a group are shown as group default, and passing default back is treated as "no group". search_configs filters groups the same way as list_nodes (exact match). trigger_node_backup takes no group because Oxidized queues backups by node name or IP only.
• Filtering large inventories: group and model in list_nodes / get_backup_stats are filtered by Oxidized itself. The group must match exactly (case-sensitive, as shown by list_nodes), so a misspelt group returns nothing instead of downloading the whole inventory. Built-in model names are case-insensitive (ios and the IOSXE alias are sent as IOS, from a catalog of Oxidized's models); custom models must be spelled exactly. Neither filter ever falls back to downloading the whole inventory.
• Search runs in two steps: oxidized-web's conf_search finds matching devices (it reads every configuration server-side, so it can be slow on large installations), then only those configurations are fetched to extract matching lines. max_nodes caps the fetches; nodes that were never backed up (whose placeholder text can match) are skipped without counting. The server-side step uses OXIDIZED_SEARCH_TIMEOUT (default 300 s) instead of OXIDIZED_TIMEOUT. Patterns run as Ruby regexps on the server and Python regexps locally, line by line, so stick to common syntax.
• Backups are asynchronous: trigger_node_backup moves the device to the head of the queue. Check get_node for the result.
• Errors: oxidized-web answers unknown node names with HTTP 500. When it runs with RACK_ENV=production the reason is hidden, so a 500 on a node route is reported with a hint that it may be an unknown node name.

Using Docker

A Docker image is available on GitHub Packages for easy deployment.

docker pull ghcr.io/mhajder/oxidized-mcp:latest

docker run --rm -p 8000:8000 \
  -e OXIDIZED_URL=http://oxidized:8888 \
  -e MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN=your-secret-token \
  ghcr.io/mhajder/oxidized-mcp:latest

The image defaults to the HTTP Streamable transport on port 8000 (http://localhost:8000/mcp).

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests and ensure code quality (uv run pytest && uv run ruff check .)
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.