MCP Ansible Server

Advanced Ansible Model Context Protocol (MCP) server in Python exposing Ansible utilities for inventories, playbooks, roles, and project workflows.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/bsahane/mcp-ansible.git
cd mcp-ansible

# Create and activate Python virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies via requirements.txt
python -m pip install -U pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

# (Optional) install the project package locally
pip install -e .

# Run the MCP server
python src/ansible_mcp/server.py

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• macOS/Linux

Setup

cd /Users/bsahane/Developer/cursor/mcp-ansible
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -U pip
pip install "mcp[cli]>=1.2.0" "PyYAML>=6.0.1" "ansible-core>=2.16.0"
pip install -e .

Run the server

python src/ansible_mcp/server.py

Cursor config (/Users/bsahane/.cursor/mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansible-mcp": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "/Users/bsahane/Developer/cursor/mcp-ansible/src/ansible_mcp/server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_ROOT": "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server",
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_INVENTORY": "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server/inventory/hosts.ini",
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_NAME": "projectAIOPS"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude for Desktop config

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansible-mcp": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "/Users/bsahane/Developer/cursor/mcp-ansible/src/ansible_mcp/server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_ROOT": "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server",
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_INVENTORY": "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server/inventory/hosts.ini",
        "MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_NAME": "projectAIOPS"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools (names)

• create-playbook: Create playbooks from YAML strings or dicts
• validate-playbook: Validate playbook syntax (ansible-playbook --syntax-check)
• ansible-playbook: Execute playbooks
• ansible-task: Run ad-hoc tasks (defaults to connection=local for localhost)
• ansible-role: Execute roles via generated temporary playbook
• create-role-structure: Scaffold role directory tree
• ansible-inventory: List inventory hosts and groups
• register-project: Register an Ansible project for easy reuse
• list-projects: Show registered projects and default
• project-playbooks: Discover playbooks under a project root
• project-run-playbook: Run a playbook using a registered project’s inventory/env

Local inventory suite (no AAP/AWX)

• inventory-parse: Parse inventories (ansible.cfg-aware), return hosts/groups/hostvars
• inventory-graph: Show group/host graph
• inventory-find-host: Show a host’s groups and merged vars
• ansible-ping: Ad-hoc ping module
• ansible-gather-facts: Run setup and return parsed facts
• validate-yaml: Validate YAML files with error locations
• galaxy-install: Install roles/collections from requirements
• project-bootstrap: Galaxy install + env inspection

Environment variables (optional)

• MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_ROOT: absolute project root
• MCP_ANSIBLE_INVENTORY: inventory path or directory
• MCP_ANSIBLE_PROJECT_NAME: label for env project
• MCP_ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH: colon-separated roles paths
• MCP_ANSIBLE_COLLECTIONS_PATHS: colon-separated collections paths
• MCP_ANSIBLE_ENV_: forwarded to process env (e.g., MCP_ANSIBLE_ENV_ANSIBLE_CONFIG)

Examples (Claude Tools)

• List hosts from inventory:

  • Tool: ansible-inventory
  • Args: inventory = "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server/inventory/hosts.ini"

• Run a simple playbook:

  • Tool: ansible-playbook
  • Args:
    • playbook_path: absolute path to playbook.yml
    • inventory: "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server/inventory/hosts.ini"

• Ad-hoc ping localhost:

  • Tool: ansible-task
  • Args:
    • host_pattern: "localhost"
    • module: "ping"
    • inventory: "localhost,"

• Scaffold a role:

  • Tool: create-role-structure
  • Args:
    • base_path: "/tmp"
    • role_name: "demo_role"

• Register a project and run a project playbook:

  • Tool: register-project
    • name: "projectAIOPS"
    • root: "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server"
    • inventory: "/Users/bsahane/GitLab/projectAIOPS/mcp-ansible-server/inventory/hosts.ini"
    • make_default: true
  • Tool: project-playbooks
    • project: "projectAIOPS"
  • Tool: project-run-playbook
    • playbook_path: absolute path from discovered list

Examples for local inventory suite

• Parse via ansible.cfg with multiple inventories (merges group_vars/host_vars):

  • Tool: inventory-parse
  • Args:
    • ansible_cfg_path: "/abs/path/to/ansible.cfg"
    • include_hostvars: true

• Parse a specific extensionless inventory file:

  • Tool: inventory-parse
  • Args:
    • project_root: "/abs/path/to/project"
    • inventory_paths: ["/abs/path/to/project/inventories/stage/inventory"]
    • include_hostvars: true

• Ping a group from inventory:

  • Tool: ansible-ping
  • Args:
    • project_root: "/abs/path/to/project"
    • host_pattern: "aws_mx_ext_stage"

Notes

• The server uses stdio transport. Do not print to stdout; logs go to stderr.
• Ansible connection/auth follows your local Ansible configuration.

Reference

• MCP Quickstart (Python): https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/server#python

Below are all tools with short descriptions, minimal args, an example question you can ask in the MCP UI, and a sample answer.

• create-playbook: Create an Ansible playbook file from YAML string or object

  • Minimal args:

    { "playbook": [{"hosts":"all","tasks":[{"debug":{"msg":"hi"}}]}] }

  • Example question: "Create a playbook that prints hello for all hosts."
  • Possible answer: { "path": "/tmp/playbook_x.yml", "bytes_written": 123, "preview": "- hosts: all..." }

• validate-playbook: Syntax check a playbook

  • Minimal args:

    { "playbook_path": "/abs/playbook.yml" }

  • Example question: "Is this playbook syntactically valid?"
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0 }

• ansible-playbook: Run a playbook

  • Minimal args:

    { "playbook_path": "/abs/playbook.yml", "inventory": "localhost," }

  • Example question: "Run this playbook against localhost."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0, "stdout": "PLAY [all]..." }

• ansible-task: Run an ad‑hoc module

  • Minimal args:

    { "host_pattern": "localhost", "module": "ping", "inventory": "localhost," }

  • Example question: "Ping localhost."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "stdout": "pong" }

• ansible-role: Execute a role via a temporary playbook

  • Minimal args:

    { "role_name": "myrole", "hosts": "localhost", "inventory": "localhost," }

  • Example question: "Run role myrole on localhost."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0 }

• create-role-structure: Scaffold a role directory tree

  • Minimal args:

    { "base_path": "/tmp", "role_name": "demo" }

  • Example question: "Create an Ansible role skeleton named demo."
  • Possible answer: { "created": [".../tasks/main.yml", ...], "role_path": "/tmp/demo" }

• ansible-inventory: List hosts and groups from an inventory

  • Minimal args:

    { "inventory": "/abs/inventory" }

  • Example question: "List hosts in this inventory."
  • Possible answer: { "hosts": ["host01"], "groups": {"web": ["host01"]} }

• register-project: Register an Ansible project for reuse

  • Minimal args:

    { "name": "proj", "root": "/abs/project", "make_default": true }

  • Example question: "Register my project root and make it default."
  • Possible answer: { "path": "~/.config/mcp-ansible/config.json", "projects": ["proj"] }

• list-projects: Show registered projects

  • Minimal args: {}
  • Example question: "What projects are registered and which is default?"
  • Possible answer: { "default": "proj", "projects": {"proj": {"root": "/abs"}} }

• project-playbooks: Discover playbooks under a project root

  • Minimal args:

    { "project": "proj" }

  • Example question: "List playbooks in my project."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "playbooks": ["/abs/x.yml", "/abs/y.yml"] }

• project-run-playbook: Run a playbook using project inventory/env

  • Minimal args:

    { "playbook_path": "/abs/x.yml", "project": "proj" }

  • Example question: "Run x.yml in my default project."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0 }

• inventory-parse: Parse inventories (ansible.cfg aware, merges group_vars/host_vars)

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project", "include_hostvars": true }

  • Example question: "Resolve all hosts and vars from my project root."
  • Possible answer: { "hosts": ["h1"], "groups": {"web":["h1"]}, "hostvars": {"h1": {...}} }

• inventory-graph: Show inventory graph

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Show the inventory graph."
  • Possible answer: "@all\n |--@web\n | |--h1"

• inventory-find-host: Show a host’s groups and merged vars

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project", "host": "h1" }

  • Example question: "What groups and vars does h1 have?"
  • Possible answer: { "groups": ["web"], "hostvars": {"ansible_user":"root"} }

• ansible-ping: Ping hosts via ad-hoc

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project", "host_pattern": "localhost" }

  • Example question: "Ping localhost."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0 }

• ansible-gather-facts: Run setup and return facts

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project", "host_pattern": "localhost" }

  • Example question: "Gather facts from localhost."
  • Possible answer: { "facts": {"localhost": {"ansible_hostname":"node"}} }

• validate-yaml: Validate YAML files

  • Minimal args:

    { "paths": ["/abs/file.yml"] }

  • Example question: "Validate this YAML file."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "results": [{"path":"/abs/file.yml","ok":true}] }

• galaxy-install: Install roles/collections from requirements

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Install galaxy dependencies for my project."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "executed": [{"kind":"collection","rc":0}] }

• project-bootstrap: Bootstrap project (env info + galaxy install)

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Bootstrap my project."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "details": {"ansible_version":"..."} }

• inventory-diff: Diff two inventories

  • Minimal args:

    { "left_project_root": "/abs/project", "right_project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "What changed between stage and prod inventories?"
  • Possible answer: { "added_hosts": [], "removed_hosts": [], "group_membership_changes": {} }

• ansible-test-idempotence: Run playbook twice and assert no changes second run

  • Minimal args:

    { "playbook_path": "/abs/playbook.yml", "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Is this playbook idempotent?"
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "changed_total_second": 0 }

• galaxy-lock: Generate a lock file of installed roles/collections

  • Minimal args:

    { "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Create a requirements.lock.yml for my project."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "path": "/abs/requirements.lock.yml" }

• vault-encrypt / vault-decrypt / vault-view / vault-rekey: Vault operations

  • Minimal args (encrypt):

    { "file_paths": ["/abs/group_vars/all/vault.yml"], "project_root": "/abs/project" }

  • Example question: "Encrypt group_vars/all/vault.yml with my vault password."
  • Possible answer: { "ok": true, "rc": 0 }