Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

UnylyUnyly
Browse all

Ibmi

FreeNot checked

Give your AI Agent terminal access to your IBM i system via TN5250. ibmi-mcp is an MCP server that lets AI Agents like Claude interact with IBM i the same way a

WhitehornLtdby WhitehornLtd
GitHubEmbed

About

Give your AI Agent terminal access to your IBM i system via TN5250. ibmi-mcp is an MCP server that lets AI Agents like Claude interact with IBM i the same way a human would through a 5250 green-screen terminal.

README

Give your AI Agent terminal access to your IBM i system via TN5250.

ibmi-mcp is an MCP server that lets AI Agents like Claude interact with IBM i the same way a human would through a 5250 green-screen terminal.

Installation

Install and register with Claude Code:

claude mcp add ibmi-5250 -- uvx ibmi-mcp

This requires the connection environment variables to be set in your shell profile. You can also pass them inline with -e flags:

claude mcp add ibmi-5250 \
  -e IBMI_HOST=myhost.example.com \
  -e IBMI_USER=myuser \
  -e IBMI_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  -- uvx ibmi-mcp

Configuration

Variable Description Required Default
IBMI_HOST IBM i hostname or IP Yes —
IBMI_PORT TN5250 port No 23
IBMI_SSL Enable TLS No false
IBMI_USER Username for auto-signon No —
IBMI_PASSWORD Password for auto-signon No —
IBMI_DEVICE_NAME Virtual device name No —
IBMI_CODEPAGE EBCDIC codepage No cp037
IBMI_TERMINAL_TYPE Terminal type No IBM-3179-2
IBMI_SSH_TUNNEL Tunnel TN5250 through SSH No false
IBMI_SSH_PORT SSH port for file transfer and tunneling No 22
IBMI_SSH_KEY_FILE Path to SSH private key No —
IBMI_SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS Path to known_hosts file No —

When IBMI_USER and IBMI_PASSWORD are set, ibmi-mcp will automatically sign on when it detects a login screen after connecting.

Tools

Tool Description
connect Connect to an IBM i system via TN5250
disconnect Disconnect the active session
read_screen Read the current screen content and input fields
send_keys Type text into the current input field
send_key Send a function/attention key (Enter, F1-F24, PageUp, PageDown, Tab, etc.)
set_cursor Position the cursor at a specific row and column
upload_file Upload a file from the local system to the IBM i
download_file Download a file from the IBM i to the local system

Features

  • Auto-signon — Automatically detects sign-on screens and logs in with configured credentials
  • File transfer — Upload and download files to/from the IBM i IFS via SFTP
  • SSH tunneling — Tunnel TN5250 through SSH when port 23 is not directly reachable
  • Full key support — Enter, F1-F24, PageUp, PageDown, Tab, Backtab, Clear, Help, Print, Attn
  • Local editing — Backspace, Delete, Field Exit, Home, and End handled locally for responsive editing
  • Structured screen data — Returns screen text, cursor position, and input field metadata
  • Configurable codepage — Supports EBCDIC codepage translation (default: CP037)

License

BSD 2-Clause. See LICENSE for details.

About Whitehorn Ltd. Co.

ibmi-mcp is developed and maintained by Whitehorn Ltd. Co., a legacy system modernization firm. We specialize in IBM i, RPG, COBOL, and midrange platforms. We help our clients protect what they can't afford to break while building a path forward.

Learn more about how Whitehorn Ltd. Co. can help you modernize your IBM midrange systems at whitehorn.ltd.

from github.com/WhitehornLtd/ibmi-mcp

Install Ibmi in Claude Desktop, Claude Code & Cursor

Recommended · one command, every IDE
unyly install ibmi-mcp

Installs into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor & VS Code — handles npx, uvx and build-from-source repos for you.

First time? Get the CLI: curl -fsSL https://unyly.org/install | sh

Or configure manually

Run in your terminal:

claude mcp add ibmi-mcp -- uvx ibmi-mcp

FAQ

Is Ibmi MCP free?

Yes, Ibmi MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.

Does Ibmi need an API key?

No, Ibmi runs without API keys or environment variables.

Is Ibmi hosted or self-hosted?

A hosted option is available: Unyly runs the server in the cloud, no local setup required.

How do I install Ibmi in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?

Open Ibmi on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.

Related MCPs

Fetch

Web content fetching and conversion for efficient LLM usage.

by Community

AWS KB Retrieval

Retrieval from AWS Knowledge Base using Bedrock Agent Runtime.

modelcontextprotocolby modelcontextprotocol

Spring AI MCP Server

Provides auto-configuration for setting up an MCP server in Spring Boot applications.

by Community

llm-analysis-assistant

A very streamlined mcp client that supports calling and monitoring stdio/sse/streamableHttp, and can also view request responses through the /logs page. It also

xuzexin-hzby xuzexin-hz

Compare Ibmi with

IbmivsFetchIbmivsAWS KB RetrievalIbmivsSpring AI MCP ServerIbmivsllm-analysis-assistant

Not sure what to pick?

Find your stack in 60 seconds

Author?

Embed badge for your README

Browse similar

All ai MCPs