OWASP ZAP MCP Server

dotnet-zap-mcp

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for OWASP ZAP. Enables AI agents (Claude, GitHub Copilot, etc.) to drive ZAP vulnerability scanning via MCP.

Features

• 45 MCP tools for controlling OWASP ZAP (scanning, alerts, spider, ajax spider, context, authentication, reports, etc.)
• Built-in Docker Compose management (start/stop ZAP with a single tool call)
• Zero-config setup: auto-generates API keys and extracts Docker assets
• Works with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, VS Code, etc.)

Installation

dotnet tool install -g dotnet-zap-mcp

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK
• Docker (Docker Engine or Docker Desktop) with docker compose support (for built-in ZAP container management)

Configuration

Zero-config (recommended)

No configuration needed. The agent calls DockerComposeUp which automatically:

1. Extracts Docker assets to ~/.zap-mcp/docker/
2. Generates a random API key
3. Starts the ZAP container on localhost:8090
4. Waits for ZAP to become healthy

Data persistence

The ZAP container uses two Docker named volumes:

Volume	Container Path	Purpose
zap-home	/home/zap/.ZAP	ZAP settings, contexts, sessions, scan policies (persisted across restarts)
zap-data	/zap/wrk/data	Shared directory for reports, session files, and context import/export

On the first launch, the template config.xml is copied into zap-home. On subsequent launches, only the API key is updated — any changes made through ZAP (contexts, authentication settings, scan policies, etc.) are preserved.

The zap-data volume contains:

• reports/ — generated scan reports
• sessions/ — saved ZAP sessions
• contexts/ — exported context files

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zap": {
      "command": "zap-mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code (Copilot)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "zap": {
      "command": "zap-mcp"
    }
  }
}

With existing ZAP instance

If you already have a ZAP instance running, pass connection details via environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zap": {
      "command": "zap-mcp",
      "env": {
        "ZAP_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:8090",
        "ZAP_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Docker Management

Tool	Parameters	Description
DockerComposeUp	—	Start the ZAP container and wait for healthy
DockerComposeDown	—	Stop and remove the ZAP container
DockerComposeStatus	—	Check container status
DockerComposeLogs	tail	Get recent container logs

ZAP Core

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetVersion	—	Verify ZAP connectivity
GetHosts	—	List recorded hosts
GetSites	—	List recorded sites
GetUrls	baseUrl	List recorded URLs for a base URL

Spider

Tool	Parameters	Description
StartSpider	url, maxChildren, recurse, subtreeOnly, contextName	Start a spider scan to crawl and discover pages
GetSpiderStatus	scanId	Check spider progress (0-100%)
GetSpiderResults	scanId	Get URLs discovered by spider
StopSpider	scanId	Stop a running spider scan

Active Scan

Tool	Parameters	Description
StartActiveScan	url, recurse, inScopeOnly, scanPolicyName, contextId	Start an active vulnerability scan
GetActiveScanStatus	scanId	Check active scan progress (0-100%)
StopActiveScan	scanId	Stop a running active scan

Passive Scan

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetPassiveScanStatus	—	Check passive scan progress (records remaining)

Alerts

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetAlertsSummary	baseUrl	Alert counts by risk level
GetAlerts	baseUrl, start, count, riskId	Detailed alert list with pagination and risk filter

Reports

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetHtmlReport	—	Generate HTML scan report
GetJsonReport	—	Generate JSON scan report
GetXmlReport	—	Generate XML scan report

Context Management

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetContextList	—	List all contexts defined in ZAP
GetContext	contextName	Get context details (scope patterns, etc.)
CreateContext	contextName	Create a new context
RemoveContext	contextName	Delete a context
IncludeInContext	contextName, regex	Add URL include pattern to context scope
ExcludeFromContext	contextName, regex	Add URL exclude pattern to context scope
ImportContext	contextFilePath	Import a context file into ZAP
ExportContext	contextName, contextFilePath	Export a context to file

Authentication

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetAuthenticationMethod	contextId	Get the authentication method configured for a context
SetAuthenticationMethod	contextId, authMethodName, authMethodConfigParams	Set authentication method (form-based, JSON-based, script-based, HTTP)
SetLoggedInIndicator	contextId, loggedInIndicatorRegex	Set regex pattern indicating logged-in state
SetLoggedOutIndicator	contextId, loggedOutIndicatorRegex	Set regex pattern indicating logged-out state

Users

Tool	Parameters	Description
GetUsersList	contextId	List all users for a context
CreateUser	contextId, name	Create a new user
RemoveUser	contextId, userId	Remove a user
SetAuthenticationCredentials	contextId, userId, authCredentialsConfigParams	Set user credentials (username/password)
SetUserEnabled	contextId, userId, enabled	Enable or disable a user

Forced User

Tool	Parameters	Description
SetForcedUser	contextId, userId	Set the forced user for a context
SetForcedUserModeEnabled	enabled	Enable or disable forced user mode globally
GetForcedUserStatus	contextId	Get forced user mode status and current forced user

Ajax Spider

Tool	Parameters	Description
StartAjaxSpider	url, inScope, contextName, subtreeOnly	Start the Ajax Spider for JavaScript-heavy apps
StartAjaxSpiderAsUser	contextName, userId, url, subtreeOnly	Start the Ajax Spider as a specific user
GetAjaxSpiderStatus	—	Get Ajax Spider status (running/stopped)
GetAjaxSpiderResults	—	Get Ajax Spider results summary
StopAjaxSpider	—	Stop the Ajax Spider

Typical Workflow

1. Agent calls DockerComposeUp to start ZAP
2. Configure browser/Playwright to use ZAP as proxy (http://127.0.0.1:8090)
3. Browse the target application through the proxy
4. Agent calls StartSpider to crawl the application, then GetSpiderStatus to monitor progress
5. Agent calls GetPassiveScanStatus to wait for passive scan completion
6. Agent calls StartActiveScan on key pages, then GetActiveScanStatus to monitor progress
7. Agent calls GetAlertsSummary and GetAlerts to retrieve vulnerability findings
8. Agent calls GetHtmlReport or GetJsonReport to generate a scan report
9. Agent calls DockerComposeDown when done

Note: ZAP settings (contexts, authentication, scan policies) are persisted in the zap-home Docker volume. You can stop and restart the container without losing configuration.

Try It Out (with the included vulnerable app)

This repository includes an intentionally vulnerable web application for trying out ZAP scanning. The app contains common vulnerabilities (XSS, SQL Injection, CSRF, Open Redirect) so ZAP can detect real findings.

Setup

# Start ZAP and the vulnerable target app
docker compose -f tests/docker/docker-compose.test.yml up -d --build

# Wait until both containers are healthy
docker compose -f tests/docker/docker-compose.test.yml ps

Then configure your MCP client to connect to this ZAP instance:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zap": {
      "command": "zap-mcp",
      "env": {
        "ZAP_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:8090",
        "ZAP_API_KEY": "test-api-key-for-ci"
      }
    }
  }
}

The vulnerable app is accessible at http://target from within the Docker network (used by ZAP), and at http://localhost:8080 from your host machine.

Example 1: Quick Scan

Prompt to agent:

Scan http://target for vulnerabilities. Run a spider crawl, wait for the passive scan to finish, then show me the alert summary and generate an HTML report.

Expected tool flow:

GetVersion          → Verify ZAP connectivity
StartSpider         → url: "http://target"
GetSpiderStatus     → Poll until 100%
GetPassiveScanStatus → Poll until 0 records remaining
GetAlertsSummary    → baseUrl: "http://target"
GetAlerts           → baseUrl: "http://target"
GetHtmlReport       → Generate report

ZAP will discover pages like /search, /login, /users, /about, /contact, and the passive scan will report issues such as missing security headers and CSRF vulnerabilities.

Example 2: Authenticated Scan

The /admin page requires login (username: admin, password: password). An authenticated scan lets ZAP access protected pages.

Prompt to agent:

Set up an authenticated scan for http://target. The login form is at /login with fields "username" and "password" (credentials: admin / password). The logged-in indicator is "Welcome, admin". After configuring authentication, spider the site as the authenticated user and run an active scan.

Expected tool flow:

CreateContext                   → contextName: "target-auth"
IncludeInContext                → regex: "http://target.*"
SetAuthenticationMethod         → contextId, authMethodName: "formBasedAuthentication",
                                  authMethodConfigParams: "loginUrl=http://target/login&loginRequestData=username%3D%7B%25username%25%7D%26password%3D%7B%25password%25%7D"
SetLoggedInIndicator            → loggedInIndicatorRegex: "Welcome, admin"
CreateUser                      → contextId, name: "admin"
SetAuthenticationCredentials    → contextId, userId, authCredentialsConfigParams: "username=admin&password=password"
SetUserEnabled                  → contextId, userId, enabled: true
SetForcedUser                   → contextId, userId
SetForcedUserModeEnabled        → enabled: true
StartSpider                     → url: "http://target", contextName: "target-auth"
GetSpiderStatus                 → Poll until 100%
GetPassiveScanStatus            → Poll until 0 records remaining
StartActiveScan                 → url: "http://target"
GetActiveScanStatus             → Poll until 100%
GetAlertsSummary                → baseUrl: "http://target"
GetAlerts                       → baseUrl: "http://target"
SetForcedUserModeEnabled        → enabled: false

With authentication configured, ZAP can access /admin and test for vulnerabilities behind the login.

Example 3: Full Vulnerability Assessment

Prompt to agent:

Perform a full vulnerability assessment of http://target. Crawl the site, run an active scan, then give me a detailed breakdown of all discovered vulnerabilities grouped by risk level.

Expected tool flow:

StartSpider          → url: "http://target", recurse: true
GetSpiderStatus      → Poll until 100%
GetSpiderResults     → Review discovered URLs
GetPassiveScanStatus → Poll until 0 records remaining
StartActiveScan      → url: "http://target", recurse: true
GetActiveScanStatus  → Poll until 100%
GetAlertsSummary     → baseUrl: "http://target"
GetAlerts            → baseUrl: "http://target", riskId: "3" (High)
GetAlerts            → baseUrl: "http://target", riskId: "2" (Medium)
GetAlerts            → baseUrl: "http://target", riskId: "1" (Low)
GetHtmlReport        → Generate final report

The active scan will detect vulnerabilities including:

• High: SQL Injection (/users?id=), Cross Site Scripting (/search?q=)
• Medium: CSRF (missing tokens on /login), Open Redirect (/redirect?url=)
• Low/Informational: Missing security headers, cookie issues, etc.

Cleanup

docker compose -f tests/docker/docker-compose.test.yml down -v

License

MIT