Splunk MCP server for AI agents

Splunk MCP Server provides a standardized interface that enables AI assistants to securely interact with Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It allows AI tools to search, analyze, and validate Splunk queries while maintaining built-in safety guardrails.

Installation

The Splunk MCP Server offers two complete implementations - Python and TypeScript. Choose the one that best fits your environment.

Python Implementation

Navigate to the Python directory:
```
cd python
```
Create an environment file:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
Edit the .env file with your Splunk credentials
Install the required packages:
```
pip install -e .
```
Start the server:
```
python server.py
```

TypeScript Implementation

Navigate to the TypeScript directory:
```
cd typescript
```
Create an environment file:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
Edit the .env file with your Splunk credentials
Install dependencies:
```
npm install
```
Start the server:
```
npm start
```

Core Capabilities

The MCP server provides several tools to interact with your Splunk environment:

Available Tools

validate_spl - Validates SPL queries for risks before execution
search_oneshot - Executes blocking searches with immediate results
search_export - Streams large result sets efficiently
get_indexes - Lists available Splunk indexes with metadata
get_saved_searches - Accesses saved search configurations
run_saved_search - Executes pre-configured saved searches
get_config - Retrieves server configuration

Safety Features

The server includes intelligent guardrails to protect your Splunk environment:

Risk scoring (0-100) for query analysis
Configurable risk tolerance thresholds
Automatic blocking of dangerous queries
Protection against resource-intensive patterns
Audit logging of all query validations

Security Best Practices

When deploying the MCP server, follow these security recommendations:

Store credentials securely in .env files and never commit them to version control
Use SSL/TLS for all production deployments
Apply the principle of least privilege for Splunk accounts
Enable the built-in validation for all queries
Monitor the automatic data sanitization for sensitive information

Compatible Clients

The Splunk MCP Server works with any MCP-compatible client, including:

Claude Desktop
Claude Code
VS Code Copilot
Other MCP-compatible tools

Architecture

The server acts as an intermediary between AI assistants and your Splunk instance:

┌─────────────┐     MCP Protocol    ┌─────────────┐     REST API    ┌──────────┐
│ AI Assistant│ ◄─────────────────► │ MCP Server  │ ◄─────────────► │  Splunk  │
│  (Client)   │    stdio/SSE/WS     │             │    Port 8089   │ Instance │
└─────────────┘                     └─────────────┘                 └──────────┘

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 "splunk-mcp-server" '{"command":"python","args":["server.py"]}'

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": {
        "splunk-mcp-server": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "server.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "splunk-mcp-server": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "server.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect