NiFi MCP Server

NiFi MCP Server (via Knox)

Model Context Protocol server providing selectable read and write access to Apache NiFi via Apache Knox.

Works with both NiFi 1.x and 2.x - automatic version detection and adaptation.

Features

• Automatic version detection - Detects NiFi 1.x vs 2.x and adapts behavior
• Knox authentication - Supports Bearer tokens, cookies, and passcode tokens for CDP deployments
• Read-only by default - Safe exploration of NiFi flows and configuration
• Intelligent flow building - Pattern recognition and requirements gathering for complex flows
• 24 read-only MCP tools for exploring NiFi:
• get_nifi_version() - Version and build information
• get_root_process_group() - Root process group details
• list_processors(process_group_id) - List processors in a process group
• list_connections(process_group_id) - List connections in a process group
• get_bulletins(after_ms?) - Recent bulletins and alerts
• list_parameter_contexts() - Parameter contexts
• get_controller_services(process_group_id?) - Controller services
• get_processor_types() - Available processor types for flow building
• search_flow(query) - Search for components in the flow
• get_connection_details(connection_id) - Detailed connection information
• get_processor_details(processor_id) - Detailed processor configuration
• list_input_ports(process_group_id) - Input ports for a process group
• list_output_ports(process_group_id) - Output ports for a process group
• get_processor_state(processor_id) - Quick processor state check
• check_connection_queue(connection_id) - Queue size (flowfiles + bytes)
• get_flow_summary(process_group_id) - Flow statistics and health overview
• analyze_flow_build_request(user_request) - Intelligent pattern recognition and requirements gathering
• get_parameter_context_details(context_id) - Get parameter context with all parameters
• get_flow_health_status(process_group_id) - Comprehensive flow health check (processors, services, connections, errors)
• find_controller_services_by_type(process_group_id, service_type) - Search for existing controller services by type (prevents 409 conflicts)
• check_configuration() - Validate current environment configuration
• get_setup_instructions() - Interactive setup guidance for NiFi MCP Server
• get_best_practices_guide() - Best practices for building NiFi flows
• get_recommended_workflow(flow_type) - Step-by-step guidance for common flow patterns
• 42 write operations (when NIFI_READONLY=false):
• start_processor(processor_id, version) - Start a processor
• stop_processor(processor_id, version) - Stop a processor
• create_processor(...) - Create a new processor
• update_processor_config(...) - Update processor configuration
• delete_processor(processor_id, version) - Delete a processor
• create_connection(...) - Connect components
• delete_connection(connection_id, version) - Delete a connection
• empty_connection_queue(connection_id) - Empty flowfiles from queue (⚠️ data loss)
• create_controller_service(pg_id, service_type, name) - Create controller services (DBCPConnectionPool, RecordWriters, etc.)
• update_controller_service_properties(service_id, version, properties) - Configure service properties
• get_controller_service_details(service_id) - Get service configuration (read-only but listed here for context)
• delete_controller_service(service_id, version) - Remove controller services
• enable_controller_service(service_id, version) - Enable a controller service
• disable_controller_service(service_id, version) - Disable a controller service
• create_process_group(parent_id, name, x, y) - Create process groups (folders) for organizing flows
• update_process_group_name(pg_id, version, name) - Rename process groups
• delete_process_group(pg_id, version) - Remove empty process groups
• create_input_port(pg_id, name, x, y) - Create input ports for inter-process-group communication
• create_output_port(pg_id, name, x, y) - Create output ports for inter-process-group communication
• update_input_port(port_id, version, name) - Rename input ports
• update_output_port(port_id, version, name) - Rename output ports
• delete_input_port(port_id, version) - Remove input ports
• delete_output_port(port_id, version) - Remove output ports
• create_parameter_context(name, description, parameters) - Create parameter contexts for environment-specific config
• update_parameter_context(context_id, version, ...) - Update parameter contexts
• delete_parameter_context(context_id, version) - Remove parameter contexts
• start_input_port(port_id, version) - Start input port to enable data flow
• stop_input_port(port_id, version) - Stop input port
• start_output_port(port_id, version) - Start output port to enable data flow
• stop_output_port(port_id, version) - Stop output port
• apply_parameter_context_to_process_group(pg_id, pg_version, context_id) - Apply parameter context to enable #{param} usage
• start_all_processors_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk start all processors at once (10-15x faster!)
• stop_all_processors_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk stop all processors at once
• enable_all_controller_services_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk enable all services at once
• terminate_processor(processor_id, version) - Force-terminate stuck processor (last resort)
• start_new_flow(flow_name, flow_description) - Smart flow builder that automatically creates process groups and enforces best practices

Quick Start

For CDP NiFi deployments

Your NiFi API base URL will typically be:

https:///nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api

Get your Knox JWT token from the CDP UI and use it with the configurations below.

Setup

Option 1: Claude Desktop (Local)

1. Clone and install:

``bash git clone https://github.com/kevinbtalbert/nifi-mcp-server.git cd nifi-mcp-server python3 -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate pip install -e . ``

1. Configure Claude Desktop - Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

``json { "mcpServers": { "nifi-mcp-server": { "command": "/FULL/PATH/TO/NiFi-MCP-Server/.venv/bin/python", "args": [ "-m", "nifi_mcp_server.server" ], "env": { "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio", "NIFI_API_BASE": "https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourshere.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api", "KNOX_TOKEN": "", "NIFI_READONLY": "true" } } } } ``

1. Restart Claude Desktop and start asking questions about your NiFi flows!

Option 2: Direct Installation (Cloudera Agent Studio)

For use with Cloudera Agent Studio, use the uvx command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nifi-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/kevinbtalbert/nifi-mcp-server@main",
        "run-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
        "NIFI_API_BASE": "https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourshere.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api",
        "KNOX_TOKEN": "",
        "NIFI_READONLY": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

All configuration is done via environment variables:

| Variable | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | NIFI_API_BASE | Yes | Full NiFi API URL (e.g., https://host/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api) | | KNOX_TOKEN | Yes | Knox JWT token for authentication | | KNOX_GATEWAY_URL | No | Knox gateway URL (alternative to NIFI_API_BASE) | | KNOX_COOKIE | No | Alternative: provide full cookie string instead of token | | KNOX_PASSCODE_TOKEN | No | Alternative: Knox passcode token (auto-exchanged for JWT) | | NIFI_READONLY | No | Read-only mode (default: true) | | KNOX_VERIFY_SSL | No | Verify SSL certificates (default: true) | | KNOX_CA_BUNDLE | No | Path to CA certificate bundle |

\* Either NIFI_API_BASE or KNOX_GATEWAY_URL is required

For the NIFIAPIBASE, form using the url from Knox (less -token), and add the postfix /nifi-app/nifi-api So, https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourdomain.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy-token becomes https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourdomain.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api

Get Knox Token from the Flow Management Datahub Knox instance:

Example Usage

Read-Only Operations (Default)

Once configured, you can ask Claude questions like:

• "What version of NiFi am I running?"
• "List all processors in the root process group"
• "Show me recent bulletins"
• "What parameter contexts are configured?"
• "Tell me about the controller services"
• "What processor types are available for building flows?"
• "Search for processors containing 'kafka'"
• "Show me the details of connection abc-123"

Write Operations (when NIFI_READONLY=false)

⚠️ WARNING: Write operations modify your NiFi flows. Use with caution!

To enable write operations, set NIFI_READONLY=false in your configuration. Then you can:

• Build flows: "Create a LogAttribute processor named 'MyLogger' in the root process group"
• Manage processors: "Start processor with ID abc-123", "Stop all processors in group xyz"
• Connect components: "Create a connection from processor A to processor B for the 'success' relationship"
• Configure: "Update the scheduling period of processor abc-123 to 30 seconds"
• Control services: "Enable the DBCPConnectionPool controller service"

Examples:

"Create a GenerateFlowFile processor in process group abc-123"
"Connect processor source-123 to processor dest-456 for success relationship"
"Start processor xyz-789"
"Check the queue status for connection conn-456"
"Empty the queue for connection conn-456 before deletion"  (⚠️ deletes flowfiles permanently)
"Delete connection conn-456"

Important Notes:

• Version Tracking: NiFi uses optimistic locking. Always fetch current versions before updates:

``python processor = get_processor_details(processor_id) current_version = processor['revision']['version'] stop_processor(processor_id, current_version) ``

• Queue Management: Connections with flowfiles cannot be deleted. Use get_connection_details() to check queue status, then empty_connection_queue() if needed before deletion.

Using the example "List all processors in the root process group", we see the following for the example NiFi Canvas:

Using the example, "What version of NiFi am I running?", we see the following:

License

Apache License 2.0

Source & license

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

• Author: kevinbtalbert
• Source: kevinbtalbert/NiFi-MCP-Server
• License: Apache-2.0

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