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A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with Proxmox Virtual Environment API, providing tools for managing VMs, containers, storage, and cluster resources.
Proxmox MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with Proxmox Virtual Environment API. This server provides comprehensive tools for managing VMs, containers, storage, and cluster resources through the MCP interface.
Built with Python and uv for fast, reliable dependency management.
Features
Agent-to-Agent (A2A) Protocol Support
This server implements the A2A protocol for seamless agent-to-agent communication. The included agent-card.json file provides:
- Structured agent capabilities - Detailed skill definitions for AI-to-AI discovery
- Authentication specifications - Clear auth requirements for automated integration
- Tool catalog - Complete inventory of available operations organized by category
- MCP protocol support - Native Model Context Protocol implementation
Use Cases:
- Multi-agent orchestration systems
- Automated infrastructure workflows
- Agent discovery and composition
- Cross-system AI collaboration
See the A2A Protocol Documentation section below for integration details.
Virtual Machine Management
- List all VMs (node-specific or cluster-wide)
- Get VM configuration and status
- Start, stop, shutdown, and reboot VMs
- Create, list, and delete VM snapshots
Container Management
- List LXC containers
- Get container status
- Start and stop containers
Node & Cluster Management
- List all cluster nodes
- Get node status and resource usage
- Get overall cluster status
Storage Management
- List storage devices
- Get storage status and usage
Task Management
- List running and recent tasks
- Get task status and progress
Quick Start
# 1. Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# 2. Run setup script
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh
# 3. Set environment variables
export PROXMOX_HOST="192.168.1.100"
export PROXMOX_USER="root@pam"
export PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME="automation"
export PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE="your-token-here"
# 4. Test connection
./test-connection.sh
# 5. Configure Claude Desktop and restart
See for detailed instructions.
Installation
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or higher
uvpackage manager- Proxmox VE 6.0 or later
Setup
# Install uv
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# Clone or download this repository
cd proxmox-mcp-server
# Run setup script (creates structure and installs dependencies)
./setup.sh
# Or manually:
mkdir -p src/proxmox_mcp_server
# Place server.py and __init__.py in src/proxmox_mcp_server/
uv sync
Configuration
The server is configured via environment variables:
Required Variables
PROXMOX_HOST: Proxmox server hostname or IP addressPROXMOX_USER: Username (e.g.,root@pam,admin@pve)
Authentication (choose one method)
Option 1: API Token (Recommended)
PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME: API token namePROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE: API token value
Option 2: Password
PROXMOX_PASSWORD: User password
Optional Variables
PROXMOX_PORT: API port (default:8006)PROXMOX_VERIFY_SSL: Verify SSL certificates (default:false)
Setting Up Proxmox Authentication
Creating an API Token (Recommended)
- Log into your Proxmox web interface
- Navigate to Datacenter → Permissions → API Tokens
- Click Add and create a token for your user
- Uncheck "Privilege Separation" to inherit user permissions
- Copy the Token ID and Secret (you won't see it again!)
Example token format:
PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME=automation
PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
The full token identifier will be: root@pam!automation
Using Password Authentication
Simply set your user password:
export PROXMOX_PASSWORD=yourpassword
MCP Configuration
Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:
MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
With API Token (Recommended)
{
"mcpServers": {
"proxmox": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/absolute/path/to/proxmox-mcp-server",
"run",
"proxmox-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"PROXMOX_HOST": "192.168.1.100",
"PROXMOX_USER": "root@pam",
"PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME": "automation",
"PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE": "your-token-value-here"
}
}
}
}
With Password
{
"mcpServers": {
"proxmox": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/absolute/path/to/proxmox-mcp-server",
"run",
"proxmox-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"PROXMOX_HOST": "192.168.1.100",
"PROXMOX_USER": "root@pam",
"PROXMOX_PASSWORD": "your-password-here"
}
}
}
}
Important: Use the absolute path to your project directory!
Available Tools
Node Management
- list_nodes: List all nodes in the cluster
- get_node_status: Get status and resource usage for a specific node
Virtual Machine Tools
- list_vms: List all VMs (optionally filtered by node)
- get_vm_config: Get VM configuration
- get_vm_status: Get current VM status
- start_vm: Start a VM
- stop_vm: Force stop a VM
- shutdown_vm: Gracefully shutdown a VM
- reboot_vm: Reboot a VM
- create_vm_snapshot: Create a VM snapshot
- list_vm_snapshots: List all VM snapshots
- delete_vm_snapshot: Delete a VM snapshot
Container Tools
- list_containers: List all LXC containers on a node
- get_container_status: Get container status
- start_container: Start a container
- stop_container: Stop a container
Storage Tools
- list_storage: List all storage devices
- get_storage_status: Get storage status and usage
Task Tools
- list_tasks: List running and recent tasks
- get_task_status: Get status of a specific task
Cluster Tools
- get_cluster_status: Get overall cluster status and resources
Example Usage
Once configured, you can ask Claude to interact with your Proxmox environment:
"Can you list all VMs in my Proxmox cluster?"
"What's the status of VM 100 on node pve1?"
"Start VM 105 on node pve1"
"Create a snapshot called 'backup-2025' for VM 100 on pve1"
"Show me the storage usage on all nodes"
"List all running tasks in the cluster"
Development
# Install dependencies
uv sync
# Run the server directly
uv run proxmox-mcp-server
# Run with custom environment
PROXMOX_HOST=192.168.1.100 \
PROXMOX_USER=root@pam \
PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME=automation \
PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE=your-token \
uv run proxmox-mcp-server
# Install development dependencies
uv sync --all-extras
# Run tests (if implemented)
uv run pytest
Project Structure
proxmox-mcp-server/
├── src/
│ └── proxmox_mcp_server/
│ ├── __init__.py # Package initialization
│ └── server.py # Main server implementation
├── pyproject.toml # Project configuration
├── uv.lock # Locked dependencies (generated)
├── .env.example # Environment variable template
├── .gitignore # Git ignore patterns
├── setup.sh # Automated setup script
├── test-connection.sh # Connection test script
├── README.md # This file
├── QUICKSTART.md # 5-minute setup guide
├── SETUP.md # Detailed setup guide
└── USAGE.md # Usage examples
Security Considerations
- API Tokens are more secure than password authentication as they can be revoked independently
- Set
PROXMOX_VERIFY_SSL=truein production environments with valid SSL certificates - Grant minimal required permissions to API tokens
- Store credentials securely and never commit them to version control
- Consider network restrictions (firewall rules) for API access
Troubleshooting
Authentication Errors
- Verify your credentials are correct
- Check that the user has appropriate permissions
- For API tokens, ensure the token hasn't expired or been revoked
- Ensure "Privilege Separation" was unchecked when creating the token
Connection Errors
- Verify
PROXMOX_HOSTandPROXMOX_PORTare correct - Check network connectivity to the Proxmox host
- If using SSL verification, ensure certificates are valid
- Test with:
curl -k https://YOUR_HOST:8006/api2/json/version
Permission Errors
- The user/token needs appropriate privileges for the operations
- Common required privileges:
VM.Monitor,VM.Audit,Datastore.Audit,Sys.Audit,VM.PowerMgmt,VM.Snapshot
Debug Mode
To see detailed logs, check stderr output when running the server. The server logs authentication method and connection status to stderr (visible in Claude Desktop logs).
Tools Not Showing in Claude
- Verify the path in Claude config is absolute, not relative
- Check that the config file is valid JSON
- Ensure you completely quit and restarted Claude Desktop (not just closed the window)
- Check Claude Desktop logs for errors
Testing Connection
Before configuring Claude, test your Proxmox connection:
# Set environment variables
export PROXMOX_HOST="192.168.1.100"
export PROXMOX_USER="root@pam"
export PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME="automation"
export PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE="your-token-here"
# Run test script
./test-connection.sh
The script will verify:
- Connection to Proxmox
- API availability
- Authentication
- Permission to list nodes
- Access to cluster resources
A2A Protocol
Overview
This Proxmox MCP server implements the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol, enabling AI agents to discover, communicate with, and orchestrate infrastructure management tasks autonomously.
Agent Card
The agent-card.json file serves as the agent's identity and capability manifest. It provides:
Location: /agent-card.json (repository root)
Contents:
- Agent name, version, and description
- MCP protocol version and capabilities
- Authentication methods and requirements
- Skill catalog organized by functional category
- Required permissions and dependencies
- Endpoint configuration
Available Skills
The agent provides 20 tools organized into 6 skill categories:
1. Node Management
list_nodes- List all cluster nodesget_node_status- Get node resource usage and status
2. Virtual Machine Management
list_vms- List VMs (node-specific or cluster-wide)get_vm_config- Get VM configurationget_vm_status- Get VM status and metricsstart_vm- Start a VMstop_vm- Force stop a VMshutdown_vm- Gracefully shutdown a VMreboot_vm- Reboot a VMcreate_vm_snapshot- Create VM snapshotlist_vm_snapshots- List VM snapshotsdelete_vm_snapshot- Delete VM snapshot
3. Container Management
list_containers- List LXC containersget_container_status- Get container statusstart_container- Start containerstop_container- Stop container
4. Storage Management
list_storage- List storage devicesget_storage_status- Get storage usage and capacity
5. Task Management
list_tasks- List running and recent tasksget_task_status- Get task progress and status
6. Cluster Management
get_cluster_status- Get overall cluster status and resources
Agent-to-Agent Integration
Discovery
Other agents can discover this agent's capabilities by reading the agent card:
import json
# Load agent card
with open('agent-card.json') as f:
agent_card = json.load(f)
# Discover capabilities
print(f"Agent: {agent_card['name']}")
print(f"Version: {agent_card['version']}")
print(f"Skills: {len(agent_card['skills'])} categories")
# List available skills
for skill in agent_card['skills']:
print(f"\n{skill['category']}:")
for capability in skill['capabilities']:
print(f" - {capability['name']}: {capability['description']}")
Authentication Setup
Agents can programmatically configure authentication:
# API Token (recommended)
env_config = {
"PROXMOX_HOST": "192.168.1.100",
"PROXMOX_USER": "root@pam",
"PROXMOX_TOKEN_NAME": "automation",
"PROXMOX_TOKEN_VALUE": "your-token-value"
}
# Or Password-based
env_config = {
"PROXMOX_HOST": "192.168.1.100",
"PROXMOX_USER": "root@pam",
"PROXMOX_PASSWORD": "your-password"
}
Tool Invocation
Agents communicate via MCP protocol:
from mcp import ClientSession, StdioServerParameters
from mcp.client.stdio import stdio_client
# Connect to the agent
server_params = StdioServerParameters(
command="uv",
args=["--directory", "/path/to/proxmox-mcp-server", "run", "proxmox-mcp-server"],
env=env_config
)
async with stdio_client(server_params) as (read, write):
async with ClientSession(read, write) as session:
# Initialize session
await session.initialize()
# List available tools
tools = await session.list_tools()
# Call a tool
result = await session.call_tool("list_vms", arguments={})
print(result.content)
Multi-Agent Orchestration Example
Example workflow with multiple agents:
# Agent orchestration: VM backup workflow
async def backup_workflow():
# 1. Proxmox agent: List VMs
vms = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("list_vms", {})
# 2. Proxmox agent: Create snapshots for each VM
for vm in vms['data']:
snapshot_name = f"backup-{datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d-%H%M%S')}"
await proxmox_agent.call_tool("create_vm_snapshot", {
"node": vm['node'],
"vmid": vm['vmid'],
"snapname": snapshot_name
})
# 3. Storage agent: Verify backup storage capacity
storage_status = await storage_agent.call_tool("check_capacity", {})
# 4. Notification agent: Send completion report
await notification_agent.call_tool("send_alert", {
"message": f"Backup completed: {len(vms['data'])} VMs"
})
A2A Protocol Benefits
For AI Agents:
- Self-documenting - Agent card provides complete capability discovery
- Type-safe - Structured skill definitions with input/output schemas
- Composable - Skills can be combined for complex workflows
- Secure - Clear authentication requirements and permissions
For Orchestration Systems:
- Dynamic discovery - Find and integrate agents at runtime
- Capability matching - Match tasks to agent skills automatically
- Parallel execution - Coordinate multiple agents simultaneously
- Error handling - Standardized error responses and retry logic
Integration Examples
Example 1: Infrastructure Monitoring Agent
# Monitoring agent that uses Proxmox agent skills
async def monitor_infrastructure():
# Get cluster status
cluster = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("get_cluster_status", {})
# Get all nodes
nodes = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("list_nodes", {})
# Check each node's status
for node in nodes['data']:
status = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("get_node_status", {
"node": node['node']
})
# Alert if resource usage is high
if status['data']['cpu'] > 0.9:
await alert_agent.send_alert(f"High CPU on {node['node']}")
Example 2: Auto-scaling Agent
# Auto-scaling agent that manages VM capacity
async def autoscale_vms():
# Get current VM statuses
vms = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("list_vms", {})
# Analyze load across VMs
for vm in vms['data']:
status = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("get_vm_status", {
"node": vm['node'],
"vmid": vm['vmid']
})
# Scale based on metrics
if needs_scaling(status):
await proxmox_agent.call_tool("start_vm", {
"node": "pve2",
"vmid": get_next_vm_id()
})
Example 3: Disaster Recovery Agent
# DR agent that coordinates backup and recovery
async def disaster_recovery():
# Take snapshots of all critical VMs
critical_vms = [100, 101, 102]
for vmid in critical_vms:
# Find which node hosts the VM
vms = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("list_vms", {})
vm = next(v for v in vms['data'] if v['vmid'] == vmid)
# Create snapshot
await proxmox_agent.call_tool("create_vm_snapshot", {
"node": vm['node'],
"vmid": vmid,
"snapname": f"dr-{datetime.now().isoformat()}"
})
# Verify snapshot
snapshots = await proxmox_agent.call_tool("list_vm_snapshots", {
"node": vm['node'],
"vmid": vmid
})
API Documentation
For more information about the Proxmox VE API:
Dependencies
- mcp (>=1.0.0): Model Context Protocol SDK
- httpx (>=0.27.0): Modern HTTP client for Python
Roadmap
Future enhancements may include:
- VM creation and deletion
- Container creation and deletion
- Backup management
- Network configuration
- User and permission management
- Resource pool management
- HA (High Availability) management
- Firewall rule management
- Certificate management
- Real-time monitoring and alerts
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.
Areas for improvement:
- Additional tools/features
- Better error handling
- Performance optimizations
- Documentation improvements
- Test coverage
- Bug fixes
License
MIT
Related Projects
Support
If you encounter issues:
-
Check the documentation files:
- - Quick setup
- - Detailed setup with security
- - Usage examples
-
Test your connection with
./test-connection.sh -
Check Claude Desktop logs for errors
-
Verify Proxmox server logs:
/var/log/pve/ -
Review Proxmox API documentation
Acknowledgments
This project uses:
- The Model Context Protocol by Anthropic
- Proxmox VE API
- Python httpx for HTTP requests
- uv for fast Python package management
Ready to get started? → See
Need detailed setup? → See
Want examples? → Check