Duplicati

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for managing Duplicati backups from an LLM.

Version française / French version

Architecture

The server wraps the Duplicati REST API and exposes it via the MCP protocol. Two transports are supported:

• stdio — for local use via Claude Code (no network, no port)
• Streamable HTTP — for Docker deployment, accessible over the network

Getting Started

Local use with Claude Code (stdio)

The simplest way to get started. The .mcp.json at the project root handles everything:

# Install uv if needed
brew install uv

# Claude Code will auto-detect .mcp.json and launch the server

Set your Duplicati URL and password in .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duplicati": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "duplicati-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "DUPLICATI_URL": "http://localhost:8200",
        "DUPLICATI_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "DUPLICATI_READONLY": ""
      }
    }
  }
}

With Docker Compose (Docker Hub image)

# Edit DUPLICATI_URL and DUPLICATI_PASSWORD in docker-compose.yml, then:
docker compose up -d

With Docker Compose (local build)

# Edit docker-compose.yml: comment out `image:` and uncomment `build: .`
docker compose up -d --build

Direct Docker usage

docker run -d \
  --name duplicati-mcp-server \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e DUPLICATI_URL=http://your-duplicati-host:8200 \
  -e DUPLICATI_PASSWORD=your-password \
  kcofoni/duplicati-mcp:latest

Verification

# Check that the server is running
docker logs duplicati-mcp-server

# Test the MCP endpoint
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'

Client Configuration

Claude Code — local (stdio)

For local use without Docker, add to your project .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duplicati": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "duplicati-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "DUPLICATI_URL": "http://localhost:8200",
        "DUPLICATI_READONLY": ""
      }
    }
  }
}

Credentials are loaded from the .env file at the project root (see Getting Started).

Claude Code — Docker/remote (HTTP)

Add to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duplicati": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://your-host:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop requires mcp-proxy as a bridge to HTTP servers. Add to your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "duplicati": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-proxy", "--transport", "streamablehttp", "http://your-host:3000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Once connected, the LLM has access to:

Backup Jobs

1. list_backups — List all configured jobs with ID, name, last run date and result
2. get_backup — Get detailed information about a specific job
3. run_backup — Trigger a backup job immediately
4. abort_backup — Abort the currently running backup for a job

Status & Progress

5. get_progress — Live progress of the active backup task (phase, %, file counts)
6. get_server_status — Duplicati server state, version and active task

Configuration

7. export_backup_config — Export a job configuration as JSON
8. update_backup_config — Update an existing job configuration in place (use with export_backup_config to modify sources, settings, schedule, etc.)
9. import_backup_config — Import a job configuration from JSON (creates a new job)

History & Diagnostics (SQLite — requires DUPLICATI_DB_PATH)

10. db_get_backup_metadata — Rich metadata from the local database: last run date, duration, file counts, quota usage, last error
11. db_get_backup_schedule — Schedule configuration for a backup job
12. db_list_errors — Recent error log entries, optionally filtered by job
13. db_list_notifications — System notifications (update alerts, etc.)
14. db_get_backup_options — Configuration options for a job (compression, retention policy, etc.) — passphrases excluded
15. db_list_operations — Operation history for a job (Backup, Restore, List, etc.) with timestamps
16. db_get_operation_log — Full result and statistics for a specific operation
17. db_list_filesets — Available restore points (backup versions) for a job

Example Prompts

Once the server is connected to your LLM, here are prompts you can use:

General status

• "What backup jobs are configured on my Duplicati?"
• "What was the last backup that ran and what was the result?"
• "Is a backup currently running?"

History & statistics (requires DUPLICATI_DB_PATH)

• "Show me the last 10 operations for backup job 2"
• "What is the average duration of recent backups?"
• "Have there been any errors on my backups in the past few weeks?"
• "How many files are backed up and what is the total size on the destination?"

Restore points (requires DUPLICATI_DB_PATH)

• "What restore points are available for my backup job?"
• "What is the oldest backup available for a restore?"

Configuration (requires DUPLICATI_DB_PATH)

• "What retention policy is configured on my backup job?"
• "What compression and encryption options are in use?"

Diagnostics (requires DUPLICATI_DB_PATH)

• "Are there any pending system notifications on Duplicati?"
• "Has my Duplicati encountered any errors recently? Which ones?"
• "Analyse the last backup and tell me if everything went well"

Open-ended (combines multiple tools)

• "Give me a full health report on my Duplicati backups"

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
DUPLICATI_URL	http://localhost:8200	URL of the Duplicati instance
DUPLICATI_PASSWORD	(empty)	Duplicati web interface password (leave empty if none set)
DUPLICATI_READONLY	(empty)	Set to true, 1 or yes to disable write operations
DUPLICATI_DB_PATH	(empty)	Path to Duplicati-server.sqlite — enables SQLite-backed history tools
MCP_TRANSPORT	stdio	Transport: stdio or streamable-http
MCP_PORT	3000	Port for Streamable HTTP transport

Read-only Mode

DUPLICATI_READONLY=true disables run_backup, abort_backup, update_backup_config and import_backup_config. All read tools remain active. Useful for safely exploring and analysing backup configurations without any risk of modification.

SQLite Access

Setting DUPLICATI_DB_PATH enables the db_* tools, which read directly from the Duplicati SQLite databases. Access is strictly read-only: databases are opened in read-only mode and copied to memory via the SQLite Online Backup API before any query — the live Duplicati databases are never locked or modified.

Local use — point to the server database on your machine:

DUPLICATI_DB_PATH=/path/to/duplicati/config/Duplicati-server.sqlite

Docker — share the Duplicati config directory as a read-only volume. In docker-compose.yml:

services:
  duplicati-mcp:
    # ...
    volumes:
      - duplicati_config:/duplicati-config:ro   # named volume (recommended)
      # or: - /srv/duplicati/config:/duplicati-config:ro  # bind mount
    environment:
      - DUPLICATI_DB_PATH=/duplicati-config/Duplicati-server.sqlite

volumes:
  duplicati_config:   # must be the same volume used by the Duplicati container

Docker Hub

• Repository: kcofoni/duplicati-mcp
• Latest tag: kcofoni/duplicati-mcp:latest

docker pull kcofoni/duplicati-mcp:latest

Development

File Structure

duplicati-mcp/
├── src/
│   └── duplicati_mcp/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── __main__.py
│       ├── client.py        # Duplicati REST API client
│       ├── db.py            # Read-only SQLite access (server DB + per-backup DBs)
│       └── server.py        # FastMCP server and tools
├── mcp-publication/         # MCP registry publication files
├── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies
├── pyproject.toml           # Project metadata
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .mcp.json                # Claude Code local config (stdio)
├── test_server.sh           # Docker container smoke test
├── test_mcp.py              # MCP protocol test
├── README.md                # This file (English)
└── README_fr.md             # French documentation

Running Tests

# Smoke test (requires running Docker container)
./test_server.sh

# MCP protocol test (requires running server)
python test_mcp.py
python test_mcp.py localhost:3000

Interactive Tool Testing (local)

uv run mcp dev src/duplicati_mcp/server.py

Troubleshooting

Cannot connect to Duplicati

Check that DUPLICATI_URL is reachable from the container. If both run in Docker, put them on the same network and use the service name as hostname.

Authentication failed

Verify DUPLICATI_PASSWORD matches the password set in Duplicati's web interface. Leave empty if no password is configured.

MCP endpoint not responding

docker ps | grep duplicati-mcp-server
docker logs duplicati-mcp-server

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.