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Tempo MCP Server

Provides an MCP server that searches Tempo traces and returns detailed trace data with intelligent query detection.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "c3ptv3-simple-tempo-mcp-server": {
      "command": "./tempo-mcp-server",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "TEMPO_URL": "http://your-tempo:3200"
      }
    }
  }
}

You have a simple MCP server that connects Grafana Tempo to the Tempo query frontend. It automatically detects query formats, encodes URLs correctly, returns readable results, and handles flexible time ranges. Use it to search traces and retrieve detailed trace information with minimal setup.

How to use

Install and run the MCP server, then connect your MCP client to the Tempo endpoint exposed by the server. You can search traces with intelligent format detection and fetch detailed trace data by ID. Use the following practical patterns to accomplish common tasks.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need a working Go toolchain to build the server.

Build the MCP server binary from source:

// Build the binary
go build -o tempo-mcp-server ./cmd/server

Run the MCP server and point it at your Tempo instance. Set the Tempo URL with an environment variable before starting the server.

TEMPO_URL=http://your-tempo:3200 ./tempo-mcp-server

Configuration and usage notes

The server is designed to be started locally and exposes its MCP interface for your client. You typically specify the Tempo query frontend endpoint via the TEMPO_URL environment variable to ensure the server can route queries and fetch trace data.

To integrate with your Claude Desktop setup, you can provide a configuration similar to the following so Claude can launch and manage the MCP server automatically.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tempo": {
      "command": "./tempo-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "TEMPO_URL": "http://your-tempo:3200"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available tools

tempo_query

Search traces with automatic detection of TraceQL, tags, or service name formats and return structured, readable results.

tempo_trace_detail

Retrieve detailed information for a specific trace by its trace ID.