About Unifi MCP Server
Unifi MCP Server exposes UniFi Network, Protect, and cloud APIs to AI agents through MCP. It supports local controllers or multi-controller fleet deployments, with safety controls for infrastructure changes.
Key features
- 01Manage clients, networks, WiFi, and devices
- 02Control firewall, VPN, and Protect systems
- 03Access UniFi cloud APIs and fleet data
- 04Use operational prompts and tool profiles
- 05Require confirmation and support dry runs
Use cases
- 01Inspect connected clients and diagnose connectivity
- 02Review firewall rules and plan network changes
- 03Monitor cameras and other Protect devices
- 04Manage sites across multiple controllers
MCP support
The server exposes UniFi Network, Protect, and cloud API capabilities as MCP tools, along with operational prompts. It supports stdio and network transports, and includes confirmation, dry-run, and role-based controls for changes.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
npx -y unifi-mcp-serverUNIFI_HOSTUniFi Controller hostname or IP addressUNIFI_USERNAMEUniFi Controller usernameUNIFI_PASSWORDSecretUniFi Controller passwordUNIFI_PORTUniFi Controller port (default: 443)UNIFI_VERIFY_SSLVerify SSL certificate (default: true)UNIFI_SITEUniFi site name (default: default)Local servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project README
UniFi MCP Server
AI-native control of UniFi networks through the Model Context Protocol
An MCP server that exposes UniFi Network, UniFi Protect and the UniFi cloud APIs (Site Manager, Mobility, InnerSpace, Carrier Fabric) as MCP tools, so AI agents can read and change UniFi infrastructure through one standard interface. It runs against one controller or, in fleet mode, many.
Current release: 0.6.4. See CHANGELOG.md for what changed.
Contents
- Features
- API modes
- Quick start
- Agent skills
- Tool profiles and safety controls
- Network transports and deployment
- Calling the server from code
- Native MCP prompts
- Documentation
- Development
Features
343 tools in local mode, from 60 modules.
- Network: clients (search, block, reconnect), networks and VLANs, WiFi SSIDs, DHCP reservations, DNS, WAN, guest vouchers, QoS profiles and traffic routes, DPI statistics, traffic flows.
- Devices: inventory, adoption, restart, locate, upgrade, radio settings, port profiles and per-port overrides, switching and stacks, topology export (JSON, GraphML, DOT), diagnostics, WiFi channel planning.
- Security: legacy firewall rules and groups, zone-based firewall (zones, policies, zone matrix), ACL rules, traffic matching lists, port forwarding, VPN and site-to-site VPN, content filtering, RADIUS and the guest portal.
- Protect: cameras, NVRs, views, events, sensors, lights, chimes, sirens, relays, speakers, alarm hubs and the alarm manager.
- Cloud: Site Manager (hosts, sites, cross-site statistics), the connector proxy, Mobility workspaces and devices, InnerSpace floor plans and inventory, Carrier Fabric subscribers and service plans.
- Operations: sites, backups (create, schedule, download, restore), events, multi-site aggregation, device migration between sites.
- Fleet mode (optional, with Postgres and Redis): many controllers behind one server, a controller registry with encrypted credentials, server-issued tokens with roles, a shared read cache, several replicas and background workers, and
fleet_*tools that read across controllers. See MULTI_CONTROLLER.md and docs/FLEET_SCALING_PLAN.md. - Native prompts: eight parameterised UniFi operational workflows (health check, client connectivity, WiFi performance, device investigation, firewall review, change planning, Protect health, fleet summary) exposed through the standard
prompts/listandprompts/getoperations. See docs/PROMPTS.md. - Safety: every mutating tool needs
confirm=Trueand supportsdry_run=True, plus read-only and dry-run server modes, role-based access over risk tiers, and a hash-chained audit log (see below). - A2A discovery and delegation: an agent card built from the live tool registry, served at
/a2a/agent-cardand/.well-known/agent-card.json, plus a capability manifest and a delegation endpoint that runs a registered tool under the server's own role, confirmation and audit controls. See A2A.md. - Observability: Prometheus
/metrics,/healthz, SIEM export of audit records, optional Redis caching, webhooks with HMAC verification.
API modes
Set UNIFI_API_TYPE to choose how the server reaches UniFi.
| Mode | What it reaches | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
local (recommended) | Your UniFi console or gateway on the LAN (UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST) | Everything: device and client control, configuration, firewall, Protect |
cloud-ea | UniFi's Early Access cloud API | Sites and aggregate statistics; no per-device control or configuration |
cloud-v1 | UniFi's stable v1 cloud API | Sites and aggregate statistics; no per-device control or configuration |
The cloud tools (Site Manager, Mobility, InnerSpace, Carrier Fabric) call api.ui.com and are registered in every mode. Set UNIFI_SITE_MANAGER_ENABLED=true to use them. In local mode the server registers 343 tools; in either cloud mode, 71.
Zone-based firewall tools need UniFi Network 9.0 or later. Some documented UniFi endpoints do not exist on every firmware version; see docs/UNIFI_API.md.
Quick start
1. Get an API key
- Sign in to UniFi Site Manager.
- Go to Settings → Control Plane → Integrations and choose Create API Key.
- Copy the key. It is shown only once.
2. Install
pip install unifi-mcp-server # or: uv tool install unifi-mcp-server
# Fleet mode extras (Postgres, Redis):
pip install 'unifi-mcp-server[fleet]'
Or use the container image (amd64, arm64 and arm/v7; the -fleet variant for amd64 and arm64):
docker pull ghcr.io/enuno/unifi-mcp-server:latest
3. Add it to your MCP client
Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows), Cursor (mcp.json, from View: Open MCP Settings) and most other MCP clients take the same mcpServers block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"unifi": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["unifi-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"UNIFI_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>",
"UNIFI_API_TYPE": "local",
"UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST": "192.168.2.1"
}
}
}
}
If you installed with pip, use "command": "unifi-mcp-server" and drop args. To run the container instead:
{
"mcpServers": {
"unifi": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "UNIFI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here",
"-e", "UNIFI_API_TYPE=local",
"-e", "UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST=192.168.2.1",
"ghcr.io/enuno/unifi-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
Keep -i and do not add -d: the client talks to the server over the container's stdin and stdout.
4. Main settings
| Variable | Purpose | Default |
|---|---|---|
UNIFI_API_KEY | UniFi API key (required) | — |
UNIFI_API_TYPE | local, cloud-ea or cloud-v1 | cloud-ea |
UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST / UNIFI_LOCAL_PORT | Console address in local mode | — / 443 |
UNIFI_LOCAL_VERIFY_SSL | Verify the console's TLS certificate. false logs a warning at startup | true |
UNIFI_LOCAL_CA_FILE | CA certificate (PEM) for a self-signed console, instead of turning verification off | — |
UNIFI_DEFAULT_SITE | Site used when a tool call names none | default |
UNIFI_SITE_MANAGER_ENABLED | Enable the cloud tools (Site Manager, Mobility, InnerSpace, Carrier) | false |
UNIFI_PROFILE | Register only one group of tools (profiles) | all |
UNIFI_READ_ONLY / UNIFI_DRY_RUN | Read-only or preview-only server | false |
DEBUG | Registers debug_api_request (raw GET/DELETE, destructive tier, removed by read-only). Leave unset in production | unset |
MCP_SERVER_TRANSPORT | stdio, streamable_http, http or sse | stdio |
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN | Bearer token, required on network transports; viewer:<token> (or operator:, admin:) limits a token's role | — |
REDIS_URL | Optional response cache | — |
WEBHOOK_SECRET | HMAC secret for incoming UniFi webhooks | — |
DATABASE_URL | Turns on fleet mode (Postgres) | — |
.env.example lists every setting with comments, including audit logging, SIEM export, metrics, Supermemory and agnost.ai.
Agent skills
The skills/ directory holds agent skills: Markdown files an AI agent loads on demand, so it knows which UniFi tools exist and how to use them safely without keeping every tool definition in context. Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md, in the layout Claude Code and other agents install.
Using the server (operator skills)
| Skill | Covers |
|---|---|
unifi-network | Clients, networks and VLANs, WiFi, DHCP, DNS, WAN, vouchers |
unifi-devices | Inventory, adoption, restarts and upgrades, ports, switching, topology |
unifi-security | Firewall rules and groups, zone-based firewall, ACLs, port forwarding, VPN |
unifi-system | Sites, backups, QoS, traffic flows, DPI, RADIUS, guest portal |
unifi-channel-planning | Low-interference WiFi channel plans from neighbor scans |
Changing this codebase (developer skills)
| Skill | Covers |
|---|---|
unifi-mcp-tool-builder | Adding any MCP tool: model, function, registration, tests, docs |
unifi-network-config-tools | Network configuration tools: URL spaces, site IDs, read-modify-write |
unifi-security-tools | Firewall, ZBF, ACL and port forward tools, and their risk tiers |
unifi-protect-tools | The protect_* modules and the Protect client |
unifi-cloud-fleet-tools | Cloud API tools and the fleet stack |
Install
Claude Code loads skills from ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (every session) or <project>/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (one project). Copy the folders you want:
git clone https://github.com/enuno/unifi-mcp-server.git
cd unifi-mcp-server
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
# All operator skills
cp -r skills/unifi-network skills/unifi-devices skills/unifi-security \
skills/unifi-system skills/unifi-channel-planning ~/.claude/skills/
# Or one skill
cp -r skills/unifi-security ~/.claude/skills/
# The one-file overview of the whole server, as a skill named "unifi"
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/unifi && cp SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/unifi/SKILL.md
Other agents that read the same SKILL.md format take the same folders; copy them into that agent's skills directory (Codex, for example, reads .agents/skills/). To update, pull and copy again. Inside this repository the developer skills are already installed for Claude Code (.claude/skills/) and Codex (.agents/skills/).
Use
You don't invoke a skill yourself. The agent reads each skill's description and loads the one that matches your request, then calls the MCP tools it describes, so the MCP server must also be configured in the same client. For example:
- "Which clients are on the guest VLAN right now?" loads
unifi-network. - "Audit the zone-based firewall for anything that allows WAN to LAN." loads
unifi-security. - "Which APs share a 5 GHz channel with a neighbor? Propose a channel plan." loads
unifi-channel-planning.
If the agent doesn't pick a skill up, name it ("use the unifi-security skill"). Pair a skill with the matching UNIFI_PROFILE to keep the tool list small too. docs/SKILLS.md has the full guide.
Tool profiles and safety controls
Profiles. UNIFI_PROFILE registers only one group of modules, so the client sees fewer tool definitions:
| Profile | Tools | Covers |
|---|---|---|
network | 48 | Clients, networks, WiFi, DHCP, DNS, WAN, vouchers, channel planning |
devices | 53 | Devices, control, migration, ports, switching, topology, diagnostics |
security | 47 | Firewall, ZBF, ACLs, port forwarding, VPN, content filtering |
system | 182 | Sites, backups, events, DPI, QoS, RADIUS, traffic flows, Protect, cloud |
protect | 75 | The Protect modules |
mobility / innerspace / carrier | 12 / 10 / 15 | One cloud API each |
minimal | 19 | Sites, clients, devices |
Counts include the four fleet tools every profile gets. An unknown profile logs a warning and loads everything.
Safety controls.
- Every mutating tool requires
confirm=True, anddry_run=Truereturns the change it would make without making it. UNIFI_READ_ONLY=trueleaves mutating tools out of the tool list entirely.UNIFI_DRY_RUN=trueforces every mutating call into preview mode.DEBUG=trueaddsdebug_api_request, a raw GET or DELETE to any controller endpoint. It is a destructive-tier tool, a DELETE needsconfirm=True, and read-only mode removes it. LeaveDEBUGunset in production.- With tokens, each tool has a risk tier (
read,write,destructive) and each role a set of tiers:viewerreads,operatorwrites, andadmincan also run destructive tools, including deletes, restores, restarts, client blocking and firewall policy changes. See API.md. - Mutations are written to a hash-chained JSON-lines audit log (Postgres in fleet mode), with optional field encryption and SIEM export. See SECURITY.md.
- Inputs are validated with Pydantic, and credentials are redacted from logs.
Network transports and deployment
stdio is the default and needs no port. To serve MCP over the network, use Streamable HTTP:
export MCP_SERVER_TRANSPORT=streamable_http
export MCP_SERVER_PORT=3000
export MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32) # required on every network transport
unifi-mcp-server
# Listening on 127.0.0.1:3000; clients send Authorization: Bearer $MCP_AUTH_TOKEN
Clients and MCP gateways then connect to http://<host>:3000/mcp. The server binds to 127.0.0.1 unless you set MCP_SERVER_HOST; put an authenticating TLS proxy in front before exposing it further. http also works. sse is deprecated: client proxies such as mcp-remote can race its initialize handshake (#96).
Container, with the published port on loopback:
services:
unifi-mcp:
image: ghcr.io/enuno/unifi-mcp-server:latest
environment:
UNIFI_API_KEY: your-api-key
UNIFI_API_TYPE: local
UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST: 192.168.2.1
MCP_SERVER_TRANSPORT: streamable_http
MCP_SERVER_PORT: 3000
MCP_SERVER_HOST: 0.0.0.0 # inside the container only
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN: ${MCP_AUTH_TOKEN}
ports:
- "127.0.0.1:3000:3000"
The repository's docker-compose.yml adds Redis and the MCP Toolbox dashboard (MCP_TOOLBOX.md); copy .env.docker.example to .env and run make compose-up. That example starts read-only (UNIFI_READ_ONLY=true) with a viewer stdio caller (UNIFI_STDIO_ROLE=viewer); to allow changes, set UNIFI_READ_ONLY=false and raise UNIFI_STDIO_ROLE to operator, or admin for destructive changes.
- Ansible: deploy/ansible/ deploys the server alone, a single-host fleet (server, worker, Redis, Postgres), or replicas behind nginx on several hosts. To have an AI agent run the deployment, start from a prompt in docs/deploy-prompts/.
- Kubernetes: deploy/helm/unifi-mcp/ is a Helm chart for the server alone or in fleet mode with workers, taking every credential from an existing Secret.
Calling the server from code
Any MCP client library works. With the FastMCP client:
import asyncio
from fastmcp import Client
config = {
"mcpServers": {
"unifi": {
"command": "unifi-mcp-server",
"env": {
"UNIFI_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>",
"UNIFI_API_TYPE": "local",
"UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST": "192.168.2.1",
},
}
}
}
async def main() -> None:
async with Client(config) as client:
sites = await client.call_tool("list_sites", {})
print(sites.data)
clients = await client.call_tool("list_active_clients", {"site_id": "default"})
print(clients.data)
# Mutations need confirm=True; dry_run=True previews the change.
preview = await client.call_tool(
"create_firewall_zone",
{"site_id": "default", "name": "IoT", "confirm": True, "dry_run": True},
)
print(preview.data)
asyncio.run(main())
bin/unifi-cli runs a single tool from a shell (unifi-cli list-clients --site default); see docs/SKILLS.md.
Native MCP prompts
Besides the tools, the server exposes eight parameterised UniFi operational
workflows through the standard MCP prompts interface. A client discovers them
with prompts/list and retrieves a rendered workflow brief with prompts/get.
import asyncio
from fastmcp import Client
config = {
"mcpServers": {
"unifi": {
"command": "unifi-mcp-server",
"env": {
"UNIFI_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>",
"UNIFI_API_TYPE": "local",
"UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST": "192.168.2.1",
},
}
}
}
async def main() -> None:
async with Client(config) as client:
for prompt in await client.list_prompts():
print(prompt.name, prompt.description)
result = await client.get_prompt(
"network_health_check",
{"site_id": "default", "focus": "wan"},
)
for message in result.messages:
print(message.content.text)
asyncio.run(main())
The prompts are network_health_check, troubleshoot_client_connectivity,
troubleshoot_wifi_performance, investigate_device,
review_firewall_policy, plan_network_change, protect_health_check and
fleet_health_summary. A workflow is advertised only when the tools it needs
are registered on this server, so the prompt list follows the API mode, the
profile and the read-only and dry-run settings.
Retrieving a prompt does not run the workflow and grants no approval. The
rendered text tells an agent which read tools to call and what to report; the
agent calls the tools itself, and the server's role checks, confirm gate and
audit trail still apply.
Use make inspect to open the MCP Inspector and browse the prompts, or the
MCPJungle CLI to check what the gateway forwards:
mcpjungle list prompts --server unifi
mcpjungle get prompt unifi__network_health_check --arg site_id=default
A tools-only client will not display the prompts; that is a client limitation. There is no prompts-as-tools shim.
See docs/PROMPTS.md for the full catalog, the availability matrix, the validation rules and the manual acceptance steps.
Documentation
| Document | Contents |
|---|---|
| API.md | Every MCP tool and resource, with parameters and examples |
| docs/PROMPTS.md | The native MCP prompt catalog, with arguments and availability rules |
| A2A.md | The agent card, the capability manifest and the delegation endpoint |
| docs/AUDIT_A2A_SKILLS.md | The A2A and skills audit: what was implemented, what was not, and why |
| docs/SKILLS.md | Agent skills, profiles and the CLI wrapper |
| docs/UNIFI_API.md | The UniFi endpoints behind the tools |
| MULTI_CONTROLLER.md | Fleet mode: controllers, tokens and roles |
| METRICS.md, WEBHOOK_SETUP.md, A2A.md | Metrics, webhooks, the A2A agent endpoints |
| NETWORK_PLAYBOOK.md, HARBOR_SETUP.md | Operating runbooks |
| SECURITY.md | Reporting vulnerabilities, audit logging and hardening |
| SPEC.md, DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md, ROADMAP.md | Architecture target and roadmap |
| CHANGELOG.md, docs/RELEASE_PROCESS.md | Release history and how releases are cut and published |
Development
git clone https://github.com/enuno/unifi-mcp-server.git
cd unifi-mcp-server
make install # uv sync from uv.lock with the dev extra (no activation needed)
make hooks # pre-commit and commit-msg hooks
cp .env.example .env # then set UNIFI_API_KEY and, for local mode, UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST
make test # unit tests
make ci # every blocking CI check: lint, typecheck, security, docs coverage, tests with the 80% gate
make inspect # open the server in the MCP Inspector (needs Node.js)
make help # list every target
Without make, the same commands run through uv run --locked, for example uv run --locked pytest tests/unit/ -m "not integration". Integration tests (-m integration) need real UniFi hardware.
Layout: src/main.py builds the server, src/tools/ holds the tool modules, src/api/ the UniFi clients, src/models/ the Pydantic models, src/fleet/ the fleet stack, and tests/unit/ the unit tests. AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md describe the conventions in detail, and commands.md lists the development commands.
Contributing
Contributions from people and AI coding agents are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md and AGENTS.md.
- Fork the repository and create a branch.
- Write tests first, keep new code at 80% coverage or better, and run
make ci. - Use conventional commit messages (
feat: ...,fix: ...) and open a pull request.
Issues with [Bug] in the title opened by a maintainer or collaborator get an automated first analysis; other reports are triaged by hand (details).
Security
Report vulnerabilities as described in SECURITY.md. Never commit credentials.
Acknowledgments
- sirkirby/unifi-network-mcp, the reference implementation
- MakeWithData's UniFi MCP guide
- Model Context Protocol and FastMCP
License
Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.
Links
- Issues and discussions: GitHub Issues, GitHub Discussions
- Releases: https://github.com/enuno/unifi-mcp-server/releases
- PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/unifi-mcp-server/
- Container images: https://ghcr.io/enuno/unifi-mcp-server
- MCP Registry: search for
io.github.enuno/unifi-mcp-serverat https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io
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.