Kubernetes MCP server

Kubernetes MCP Server is a powerful, native implementation for interacting with Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It provides direct API communication without requiring external dependencies like kubectl or helm, offering high performance and cross-platform compatibility.

Installation Options

Claude Desktop

The quickest way to get started with Claude Desktop is using npx:

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

VS Code / VS Code Insiders

Install using the command line:

# For VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"kubernetes","command":"npx","args":["kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"]}'

# For VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"kubernetes","command":"npx","args":["kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"]}'

Goose CLI

Add the server to your Goose config.yaml file:

extensions:
  kubernetes:
    command: npx
    args:
      - -y
      - kubernetes-mcp-server@latest

Configuration

Configure the server using command-line arguments:

# Using npx
npx kubernetes-mcp-server@latest --help

# Using uvx (if you have uv and Python)
uvx kubernetes-mcp-server@latest --help

# Using binary directly
./kubernetes-mcp-server --help

Available Options

Option	Description
--http-port	Starts the server in Streamable HTTP mode on specified port
--sse-port	Starts the server in Server-Sent Event mode on specified port
--log-level	Sets logging level (0-9)
--kubeconfig	Path to Kubernetes configuration file
--list-output	Output format for resource lists (yaml or table, default: table)
--read-only	Run in read-only mode (no write operations)
--disable-destructive	Disable destructive operations (delete, update)

Available Tools

Configuration

configuration_view

Returns current Kubernetes configuration as YAML.

Namespaces & Projects

namespaces_list

Lists all Kubernetes namespaces.

projects_list

Lists all OpenShift projects.

Pods Operations

pods_list

Lists pods across all namespaces.

pods_list_in_namespace

Lists pods in a specific namespace.

pods_get

Gets details of a specific pod.

pods_delete

Deletes a pod in a namespace.

pods_log

Retrieves logs from a pod.

pods_exec

Executes a command in a pod.

pods_run

Runs a container image in a pod.

pods_top

Shows resource usage metrics for pods.

Events

events_list

Lists Kubernetes events, optionally filtered by namespace.

Generic Resource Operations

resources_create_or_update

Creates or updates any Kubernetes resource using YAML/JSON.

resources_delete

Deletes a Kubernetes resource.

resources_get

Gets details of a specific Kubernetes resource.

resources_list

Lists Kubernetes resources of a specified type.

Helm Operations

helm_install

Installs a Helm chart.

helm_list

Lists Helm releases.

helm_uninstall

Uninstalls a Helm release.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "kubernetes" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

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

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

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

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect