AI Assistant Chat with Nmap Tool Integration
LocalAbout AI Assistant Chat with Nmap Tool Integration
This example chat application uses Gradio and the OpenAI Agents SDK to provide an AI assistant with local filesystem access and a Dockerized Nmap scanner. It is intended for conversational network scanning workflows.
Key features
- 01Gradio web chat interface
- 02OpenAI Agents SDK assistant
- 03Filesystem access scoped to app directory
- 04Nmap host and port scans
- 05Dockerized scanning server
Use cases
- 01Check host reachability through chat
- 02Scan network ports and discover services
- 03Enumerate SMB shares
MCP support
The application manages a filesystem MCP server and a Dockerized Nmap MCP server. The Nmap server exposes host probing, port scanning, service discovery, and SMB share enumeration as tools for the agent.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMEAI Assistant Chat with Nmap Tool Integration
This project provides a web-based chat interface using Gradio where users can interact with an AI assistant powered by the OpenAI API. The assistant is equipped with tools to interact with the local filesystem and perform network scans using a containerized Nmap server.
Overview
The application uses the OpenAI Agents SDK framework. User requests are processed by an AI agent that can reason about the request and decide whether to use available tools. It features:
- A Gradio frontend for easy interaction.
- An AI agent backend leveraging an OpenAI model (requires API key).
- A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for filesystem access (using
@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem). - A containerized MCP server providing Nmap scanning capabilities (ping, port scans, service discovery, SMB share enumeration)[cite: 14, 16, 18, 20, 22].
The Nmap server runs inside a Docker container for easy dependency management and isolation.
Features
- Conversational AI assistant.
- Filesystem access tool (scoped to the application directory).
- Network scanning tools via Nmap:
ping_host[cite: 14]scan_network(Top 100 ports) [cite: 16]all_scan_network(-A comprehensive scan) [cite: 18]all_ports_scan_network(All 65535 ports) [cite: 20]smb_share_enum_scan(SMB Share Enumeration) [cite: 22]
- Web-based UI using Gradio[cite: 11, 12].
- Containerized Nmap tool server using Docker.
Architecture
- Gradio UI (
app.txt): Handles user input and displays conversation history. - Main Application (
app.txt):- Initializes Gradio interface.
- Manages conversation state.
- Sets up and manages MCP servers.
- Instantiates and runs the OpenAI Agent.
- OpenAI Agent (
agentslibrary): Processes user messages, calls tools when needed, and generates responses[cite: 1, 3]. - MCP Servers:
- Filesystem Server: Runs via
npxto provide local file access[cite: 1]. - Nmap Toolkit Server (
nmap-server.txtin Docker): Runs inside a Docker container, exposing Nmap scan functions as tools via MCP[cite: 2, 14].app.txtusesdocker runto start this server for each request.
- Filesystem Server: Runs via
Prerequisites
- Python: 3.9+
- Docker: Latest version installed and running.
- Node.js/npm: Required for
npxto run the filesystem MCP server. - OpenAI API Key: Set as an environment variable
OPENAI_API_KEY.
Installation & Setup
-
Clone the repository:
git clone <your-repository-url> cd <your-repository-directory> -
Set OpenAI API Key: Export your API key as an environment variable. Replace
your_api_key_herewith your actual key.- Linux/macOS:
export OPENAI_API_KEY='your_api_key_here' - Windows (Command Prompt):
set OPENAI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here - Windows (PowerShell):
$env:OPENAI_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'
- Linux/macOS:
-
Build the Nmap Docker Image: Navigate to the directory containing
nmap-server.pyandDockerfile, then run:docker build -t nmap-mcp-server .(Ensure the
Dockerfilecontent is correct, especially the MCP package name if it's notmodelcontextprotocol) -
Install Python Dependencies: It's recommended to use a virtual environment.
python -m venv venv # Activate the virtual environment # Linux/macOS: source venv/bin/activate # Windows: .\venv\Scripts\activate # Install requirements pip install -r requirements.txt
Running the Application
Ensure your OpenAI API key is set, Docker is running, and you are in the project's root directory with the virtual environment activated.
python app.py
An example MCP server with a couple nmap scans as tools.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.