MCP DEMO LAB

network-mcp

Give AI direct access to your network devices. 35 MCP tools, multi-vendor, one interface.

Stop writing Netmiko scripts. Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP-compatible AI to your routers, switches, and firewalls — and let it run show commands, check health, calculate subnets, discover topology, and manage configs through natural language.

You: "Check the health of all my devices"
Claude: [calls health_check_all] → 6 devices healthy, Switch-R2 has 2 interfaces down

What is this?

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives AI assistants real-time access to network devices. Built for network engineers who want to automate without writing boilerplate.

Supported platforms:

• Cisco IOS-XE (routers, switches)
• Nokia SR Linux
• FRRouting (FRR)
• Juniper Junos
• Aruba AOS-CX
• Linux hosts

Quick Start

1. Install

git clone https://github.com/E-Conners-Lab/MCP-DEMO-LAB.git
cd network-mcp
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure devices

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your device IPs and credentials

3. Try it instantly (no lab required)

# Demo mode returns realistic mock data — no devices needed
DEMO_MODE=true python network_mcp_server.py

4. Connect to Claude Desktop

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "network": {
      "command": "/path/to/network-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/network-mcp/network_mcp_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You now have 35 network tools available.

5. Try with a real lab (5 minutes)

# Spin up 2 FRR routers with containerlab
cd quickstart && sudo containerlab deploy -t topology.clab.yml

Tools

Device Operations

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_devices | List all devices in inventory | | send_command | Run show commands on any device | | send_config | Push configuration changes | | health_check | Check device health (CPU, memory, interfaces) | | health_check_all | Health check all devices in parallel | | backup_config | Backup running configuration | | compare_configs | Diff two config backups | | rollback_config | Restore a previous config |

Network Intelligence

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | discover_topology | LLDP-based topology discovery | | get_routing_table | View routing tables | | get_neighbors | BGP/OSPF neighbor status | | get_arp_table | ARP table lookup | | get_mac_table | MAC address table | | ping_sweep | Sweep a subnet for reachable hosts | | traceroute | Trace path to destination |

Calculators (no devices needed)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | calculate_tunnel_mtu | Optimal MTU/MSS for VPN tunnels | | calculate_subnet_info | Subnet details from CIDR notation | | split_network | VLSM subnet splitting | | convert_netmask | CIDR to dotted decimal conversion |

SNMP & Monitoring

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | snmp_get_oid | SNMP GET for specific OIDs | | snmp_walk_oid | SNMP WALK subtrees | | snmp_poll_metrics | Poll interface/CPU/memory metrics |

NETCONF

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_interfaces_netconf | Interface data via NETCONF | | get_bgp_neighbors_netconf | BGP state via NETCONF | | get_netconf_capabilities | Device NETCONF capabilities |

Configuration Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | compliance_check | Check device against compliance templates | | full_network_test | End-to-end network validation |

[See all 35 tools →](docs/TOOLS.md)

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AI Assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.)   │
└────────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                 │ MCP Protocol (stdio/SSE)
┌────────────────▼────────────────────────┐
│  network_mcp_server.py                  │
│  FastMCP server + tool registry         │
└────────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                 │
┌────────────────▼────────────────────────┐
│  mcp_tools/                             │
│  ├── device.py      (9 tools)           │
│  ├── calculators.py (6 tools)           │
│  ├── topology.py    (6 tools)           │
│  ├── config.py      (8 tools)           │
│  ├── snmp.py        (5 tools)           │
│  ├── netconf.py     (4 tools)           │
│  ├── compliance.py  (7 tools)           │
│  └── ... (10 modules, 35 tools total)   │
└────────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                 │
┌────────────────▼────────────────────────┐
│  core/                                  │
│  ├── connection.py   (Netmiko/Scrapli)  │
│  ├── parser.py       (NTC/Genie)        │
│  ├── mtu_calculator.py                  │
│  └── subnet_calculator.py              │
└────────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                 │ SSH / NETCONF / SNMP
┌────────────────▼────────────────────────┐
│  Network Devices                        │
│  Cisco · Nokia · FRR · Juniper · Aruba  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Project Structure

network-mcp/
├── network_mcp_server.py    # MCP server entry point
├── config/
│   └── devices.py           # Device inventory (env var overrides)
├── mcp_tools/               # All MCP tool implementations
│   ├── device.py            # Core device operations
│   ├── calculators.py       # MTU/subnet calculators
│   ├── topology.py          # LLDP discovery
│   ├── config.py            # Config backup/compare/rollback
│   ├── snmp.py              # SNMP polling
│   ├── netconf.py           # NETCONF operations
│   ├── compliance.py        # Compliance checking
│   └── ...                  # 10 modules, 35 tools total
├── core/                    # Connection and parsing libraries
├── templates/               # Jinja2 config templates (FRR, IOS-XE)
├── quickstart/              # Containerlab quick-start lab
└── tests/                   # Test suite

Configuration

All configuration is via environment variables (or .env file):

# Device credentials
DEVICE_USERNAME=admin
DEVICE_PASSWORD=admin

# Device IPs (override defaults)
R1_HOST=10.255.255.11
R2_HOST=10.255.255.12

# Optional features
DEMO_MODE=true              # Mock data, no real devices
USE_NETBOX=true             # Pull inventory from NetBox
NETBOX_URL=http://localhost:8000
NETBOX_TOKEN=your-token

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Network devices reachable via SSH/NETCONF/SNMP
• Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible client

Contributing

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for guidelines.

License

MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: E-Conners-Lab
• Source: E-Conners-Lab/MCP-DEMO-LAB
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.