Qualys MCP

A Model Context Protocol server for full Qualys portal management — expose VMDR, Policy Compliance, WAS, Cloud Agent, Container Security, TotalCloud, Patch Management, CSAM/GAV, EASM and administration to any MCP‑capable client (Claude, and other MCP hosts).

One process per Qualys console (run as many as you have subscriptions). Built on FastMCP, with a single client that speaks all three Qualys API families, a strict read / write / destructive safety model, and credentials that never touch chat or plaintext.

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Highlights

• Broad coverage — 59 auto‑discovered feature modules spanning the whole portal: VMDR, PC, WAS, Cloud Agent, Container Security, TotalCloud/CloudView, Patch Management, CSAM/GAV, EASM, FIM, EDR, PCRS, and administration.
• ~400 tools — list_hosts, list_host_detections, launch_scan, search_was_findings, list_knowledgebase, get_cs_image_vulnerabilities, and hundreds more, each mapped 1:1 to a documented Qualys API operation.
• Three API regimes, one client — the classic "FO" XML API, the QPS REST API, and the JWT‑authenticated Gateway are all handled behind self._fo / self._qps / self._gateway.
• Safety tiers are load‑bearing — every tool is annotated read‑only, write, or destructive. Destructive tools (delete / purge / deactivate) are not even registered unless you opt in per console, and still require a per‑call confirmation token.
• Lazy auth — no network calls at import or construction; --check runs fully offline with no credentials.
• Secrets stay secret — on Windows, credentials live only in DPAPI‑encrypted blobs; on any OS you can supply them via environment variables. Nothing is ever written to the repo.

The three API regimes

Regime	Base path	Auth	Payload
Classic "FO"	/api/2.0/fo/, /msp/	Basic + X-Requested-With header	form → XML
QPS REST	/qps/rest/	Basic	XML <ServiceRequest> / JSON
Gateway	gateway.<pod>.apps.qualys.com	Bearer JWT (from /auth)	JSON

Architecture

qualys_mcp/
  server.py     FastMCP server; lazy auth; --check offline validation
  registry.py   auto-discovers modules/*.py
  client.py     one client, three API regimes (FO / QPS / Gateway-JWT)
  config.py     per-console config + platform (POD) -> URL map
  common/       auth (HTTP mw), errors, logging, rate_limit, utils, xml
  modules/      base.py + one file per feature module (the bulk of the surface)

Adding a capability is just dropping a file in qualys_mcp/modules/ — see docs/MODULE_BUILD_GUIDE.md.

Quick start

1. Install

python -m venv .venv
# Windows:      .\.venv\Scripts\pip install -e .
# macOS/Linux:  ./.venv/bin/pip install -e .

2. Offline sanity check (no credentials required)

python -m qualys_mcp --check

Lists every discovered module with its tool count and exits — a good first smoke test.

3. Provide credentials

You need a Qualys API user and your platform/POD code (e.g. US1, US2, EU1; find it under your console URL or Help → About).

Any OS — environment variables:

export QUALYS_USERNAME='api-user'
export QUALYS_PASSWORD='api-pass'
export QUALYS_PLATFORM='US2'          # or set QUALYS_API_URL / QUALYS_GATEWAY_URL
python -m qualys_mcp --transport streamable-http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8781 --console-label consulting

Windows — DPAPI‑encrypted blobs (recommended for a persistent deployment):

# Encrypt once per console; the blob is user-scoped and stored under .secrets/
.\encrypt-qualys-creds.ps1 -Console consulting -Platform US2
.\encrypt-qualys-creds.ps1 -Console cloud      -Platform US2

# Launch one instance per console (:8781, :8782)
.\start-qualys-mcp.ps1
#   ...opt into destructive tools for a console only when you mean it:
.\start-qualys-mcp.ps1 -EnableDestructive cloud

# Optional: keep both alive across reboots via a Scheduled Task watchdog
.\register-qualys-mcp-task.ps1

See .env.example for every QUALYS_* setting.

4. Point your MCP client at it

A ready‑to‑use .mcp.json is included for Claude Code:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qualys-consulting": { "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:8781/mcp" },
    "qualys-cloud":      { "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:8782/mcp" }
  }
}

scripts/register_mcp_clients.py shows how to register the same local‑HTTP servers into several MCP clients at once.

Safety model

• Tools are annotated read‑only, write, or destructive.
• Destructive tools (delete, purge, deactivate, uninstall) are not registered unless the console runs with QUALYS_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE=true.
• Even when enabled, each destructive tool requires a matching confirm=<id> argument before it will act — so a destructive call can never happen by accident from a single prompt.

Read docs/SAFETY_AUDIT.md for the full tiering.

Module & tool inventory

• 59 modules auto‑discovered from qualys_mcp/modules/.
• ~360 tools registered by default; ~400 with QUALYS_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE=true (the extra ~40 are the guarded destructive tools that otherwise stay hidden).
• Spread across the three API regimes, with a handful of modules spanning two.

The full per‑module table (registry name, API family, tool counts, one‑line description) is in docs/MODULE_INDEX.md, and a complete endpoint → tool → action breakdown is in docs/ENDPOINTS_TOOLS_ACTIONS.md.

Configuration reference

Variable	Purpose
QUALYS_USERNAME / QUALYS_PASSWORD	API user credentials
QUALYS_PLATFORM	POD code (US1…KSA1) — auto‑fills API + Gateway URLs
QUALYS_API_URL / QUALYS_GATEWAY_URL	Explicit overrides for unlisted PODs
QUALYS_CONSOLE_LABEL	Names the console in logs and the server name
QUALYS_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE	true to register the destructive tier
QUALYS_MCP_MODULES	Comma‑separated allowlist to scope a console to its licensed modules
QUALYS_MCP_API_KEY	Optional shared secret for the HTTP transport

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m qualys_mcp --check   # offline validation
pytest                          # unit tests (no network)
ruff check .                    # lint

Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Disclaimer

This is an independent, community project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Qualys, Inc. "Qualys" and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Use against your own subscriptions in accordance with your Qualys license and API terms. The software is provided "as is" (see LICENSE); you are responsible for what you run against your environment — especially the destructive tier.

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License

MIT © 2026 Rijul Sharma