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.
The quickest way to get started with Claude Desktop is using npx:
{
"mcpServers": {
"kubernetes": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"kubernetes-mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
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"]}'
Add the server to your Goose config.yaml
file:
extensions:
kubernetes:
command: npx
args:
- -y
- kubernetes-mcp-server@latest
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
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) |
configuration_view
Returns current Kubernetes configuration as YAML.
namespaces_list
Lists all Kubernetes namespaces.
projects_list
Lists all OpenShift projects.
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_list
Lists Kubernetes events, optionally filtered by namespace.
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_install
Installs a Helm chart.
helm_list
Lists Helm releases.
helm_uninstall
Uninstalls a Helm release.
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.
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.
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"
]
}
}
}
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.
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.
To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:
1. Find your configuration file:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
~/.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