NetBox Server

⚠️ Breaking Change in v1.0.0: The project structure has changed. If upgrading from v0.1.0, update your configuration:

• Change uv run server.py to uv run netbox-mcp-server
• Update Claude Desktop/Code configs to use netbox-mcp-server instead of server.py
• Docker users: rebuild images with updated CMD
• See CHANGELOG.md for full details

This is a simple read-only Model Context Protocol server for NetBox. It enables you to interact with your data in NetBox directly via LLMs that support MCP.

The server is intentionally simple: easy to get started with, hard to misuse (read-only by default, no plugin surface), and easy to fork and adapt. Forking under Apache 2.0 is a first-class path for users who need capabilities beyond the project's scope.

Community

For chat, use cases, and general MCP discussion, join the NetBox community at netdev.chat. The #ai channel is the right home for MCP integrations, questions, and sharing use cases. Bugs and feature ideas specific to this server go in issues.

Tools

Tool	Description
get_objects	Retrieves NetBox core objects based on their type and filters
get_object_by_id	Gets detailed information about a specific NetBox object by its ID
get_changelogs	Retrieves change history records (audit trail) based on filters

Note: Core NetBox object types are always available. Plugin object types can be auto-discovered. See Plugin Object Type Discovery. Advanced features (GraphQL, dynamic model discovery, etc.) are deliberately out of scope. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full scope statement and rationale.

Usage

1. Create a read-only API token in NetBox with sufficient permissions for the tool to access the data you want to make available via MCP.

2. Install dependencies:

   # Using UV (recommended)
   uv sync
   
   # Or using pip
   pip install -e .
   

3. Verify the server can run: NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/ NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> uv run netbox-mcp-server

4. Add the MCP server to your LLM client. See below for some examples with Claude.

Claude Code

Stdio Transport (Default)

Add the server using the claude mcp add command:

claude mcp add --transport stdio netbox \
  --env NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/ \
  --env NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> \
  -- uv --directory /path/to/netbox-mcp-server run netbox-mcp-server

Important notes:

• Replace /path/to/netbox-mcp-server with the absolute path to your local clone
• The -- separator distinguishes Claude Code flags from the server command
• Use --scope project to share the configuration via .mcp.json in version control
• Use --scope user to make it available across all your projects (default is local)

After adding, verify with /mcp in Claude Code or claude mcp list in your terminal.

HTTP Transport

For HTTP transport, first start the server manually:

# Start the server with HTTP transport (using .env or environment variables)
NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/ \
NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> \
TRANSPORT=http \
uv run netbox-mcp-server

Then add the running server to Claude Code:

# Add the HTTP MCP server (note: URL must include http:// or https:// prefix)
claude mcp add --transport http netbox http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Important notes:

• The URL must include the protocol prefix (http:// or https://)
• The default endpoint is /mcp when using HTTP transport
• The server must be running before Claude Code can connect
• Verify the connection with claude mcp list - you should see a ✓ next to the server name

Claude Desktop

Add the server configuration to your Claude Desktop config file. On Mac, edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "netbox": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/netbox-mcp-server",
                "run",
                "netbox-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "NETBOX_URL": "https://netbox.example.com/",
                "NETBOX_TOKEN": "<your-api-token>"
            }
        }
    }
}

On Windows, use full, escaped path to your instance, such as C:\\Users\\myuser\\.local\\bin\\uv and C:\\Users\\myuser\\netbox-mcp-server. For detailed troubleshooting, consult the MCP quickstart.

5. Use the tools in your LLM client. For example:

> Get all devices in the 'Equinix DC14' site
...
> Tell me about my IPAM utilization
...
> What Cisco devices are in my network?
...
> Who made changes to the NYC site in the last week?
...
> Show me all configuration changes to the core router in the last month

Field Filtering (Token Optimization)

Both netbox_get_objects() and netbox_get_object_by_id() support an optional fields parameter to reduce token usage:

# Without fields: ~5000 tokens for 50 devices
devices = netbox_get_objects('devices', {'site': 'datacenter-1'})

# With fields: ~500 tokens (90% reduction)
devices = netbox_get_objects(
    'devices',
    {'site': 'datacenter-1'},
    fields=['id', 'name', 'status', 'site']
)

Common field patterns:

• Devices: ['id', 'name', 'status', 'device_type', 'site', 'primary_ip4']
• IP Addresses: ['id', 'address', 'status', 'dns_name', 'description']
• Interfaces: ['id', 'name', 'type', 'enabled', 'device']
• Sites: ['id', 'name', 'status', 'region', 'description']

The fields parameter uses NetBox's native field filtering. See the NetBox API documentation for details.

Configuration

The server supports multiple configuration sources with the following precedence (highest to lowest):

1. Command-line arguments (highest priority)
2. Environment variables
3. .env file in the project root
4. Default values (lowest priority)

Configuration Reference

Setting	Type	Default	Required	Description
NETBOX_URL	URL	-	Yes	Base URL of your NetBox instance (e.g., https://netbox.example.com/)
NETBOX_TOKEN	String	-	Yes	API token for authentication
TRANSPORT	stdio | http	stdio	No	MCP transport protocol
HOST	String	127.0.0.1	If HTTP	Host address for HTTP server
PORT	Integer	8000	If HTTP	Port for HTTP server
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN	String	-	No	Bearer token required on the HTTP endpoint. When unset, the HTTP transport is unauthenticated. Clients send Authorization: Bearer <token>.
VERIFY_SSL	Boolean	true	No	Whether to verify SSL certificates
ENABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY	Boolean	false	No	Auto-discover plugin object types at startup
LOG_LEVEL	DEBUG | INFO | WARNING | ERROR | CRITICAL	INFO	No	Logging verbosity

Transport Examples

Stdio Transport (Claude Desktop/Code)

For local Claude Desktop or Claude Code usage with stdio transport:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "netbox": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/netbox-mcp-server", "run", "netbox-mcp-server"],
            "env": {
                "NETBOX_URL": "https://netbox.example.com/",
                "NETBOX_TOKEN": "<your-api-token>"
            }
        }
    }
}

HTTP Transport (Web Clients)

For web-based MCP clients using HTTP/SSE transport:

# Using environment variables
export NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/
export NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token>
export TRANSPORT=http
export HOST=127.0.0.1
export PORT=8000

uv run netbox-mcp-server

# Or using CLI arguments
uv run netbox-mcp-server \
  --netbox-url https://netbox.example.com/ \
  --netbox-token <your-api-token> \
  --transport http \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 8000

Example .env File

Create a .env file in the project root:

# Core NetBox Configuration
NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/
NETBOX_TOKEN=your_api_token_here

# Transport Configuration (optional, defaults to stdio)
TRANSPORT=stdio

# HTTP Transport Settings (only used if TRANSPORT=http)
# HOST=127.0.0.1
# PORT=8000
# Bearer token required on the HTTP endpoint. When unset, the endpoint is unauthenticated.
# MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=a-strong-random-token

# Security (optional, defaults to true)
VERIFY_SSL=true

# Plugin Discovery (optional, defaults to false)
# ENABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY=true

# Logging (optional, defaults to INFO)
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

CLI Arguments

All configuration options can be overridden via CLI arguments:

uv run netbox-mcp-server --help

# Common examples:
uv run netbox-mcp-server --log-level DEBUG --no-verify-ssl  # Development
uv run netbox-mcp-server --transport http --port 9000       # Custom HTTP port

Docker Usage

Pre-built Image (Docker Hub)

Pre-built multi-arch images (linux/amd64, linux/arm64) are published to Docker Hub on every tagged release:

docker pull netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server:latest

Pin to a specific version in production. The latest tag tracks the most recent release and can change without notice. See the releases page for available versions:

docker pull netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server:<X.Y.Z>   # exact version
docker pull netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server:<X.Y>     # latest within a minor
docker pull netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server:<X>       # latest within a major

Verify image provenance (optional but recommended). Images are signed with cosign (keyless, via GitHub OIDC) and ship with SLSA build provenance:

cosign verify \
  --certificate-identity-regexp '^https://github.com/netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server/' \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer 'https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com' \
  netboxlabs/netbox-mcp-server:<tag>

Standard Docker Image

Build and run the NetBox MCP server in a container:

# Build the image
docker build -t netbox-mcp-server:latest .

# Run with HTTP transport (required for Docker containers)
docker run --rm \
  -e NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/ \
  -e NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> \
  -e TRANSPORT=http \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e PORT=8000 \
  -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=<a-strong-random-token> \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  netbox-mcp-server:latest

Note: Docker containers require TRANSPORT=http since stdio transport doesn't work in containerized environments.

⚠️ Security: The HTTP transport has no authentication unless you set MCP_AUTH_TOKEN. Binding to HOST=0.0.0.0 exposes read access to all NetBox data your token can see to anyone who can reach the port. Set a strong MCP_AUTH_TOKEN (clients then send Authorization: Bearer <token>) and terminate TLS at a reverse proxy or gateway before exposing the server to a network. A bearer token sent over plain HTTP can be intercepted, so TLS is required for real deployments.

Connecting to NetBox on your host machine:

If your NetBox instance is running on your host machine (not in a container), you need to use host.docker.internal instead of localhost on macOS and Windows:

# For NetBox running on host (macOS/Windows)
docker run --rm \
  -e NETBOX_URL=http://host.docker.internal:18000/ \
  -e NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> \
  -e TRANSPORT=http \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e PORT=8000 \
  -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=<a-strong-random-token> \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  netbox-mcp-server:latest

Note: On Linux, you can use --network host instead, or use the host's IP address directly.

With additional configuration options:

docker run --rm \
  -e NETBOX_URL=https://netbox.example.com/ \
  -e NETBOX_TOKEN=<your-api-token> \
  -e TRANSPORT=http \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=<a-strong-random-token> \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG \
  -e VERIFY_SSL=false \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  netbox-mcp-server:latest

The server will be accessible at http://localhost:8000/mcp for MCP clients. You can connect to it using your preferred method.

Plugin Object Type Discovery

By default, only core NetBox object types are available. If your NetBox instance has plugins installed (e.g., netbox-dns, netbox-inventory), you can enable automatic discovery to make their object types available as well.

Enabling Discovery

Set the ENABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY environment variable or use the --enable-plugin-discovery CLI flag:

# Via environment variable
ENABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY=true uv run netbox-mcp-server

# Via CLI flag
uv run netbox-mcp-server --enable-plugin-discovery

# In Claude Desktop config
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "netbox": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/netbox-mcp-server", "run", "netbox-mcp-server"],
            "env": {
                "NETBOX_URL": "https://netbox.example.com/",
                "NETBOX_TOKEN": "<your-api-token>",
                "ENABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY": "true"
            }
        }
    }
}

How It Works

At startup, the server queries NetBox's core/object-types API endpoint (with extras/object-types fallback for NetBox < 4.4) to find all installed plugin models that have REST API endpoints. These are merged into the runtime type registry alongside the core types.

Discovered plugin types use the app_label.model naming convention (e.g., netbox_dns.zone, netbox_inventory.asset) and work with all existing tools (netbox_get_objects, netbox_get_object_by_id, netbox_search_objects).

Requirements

• NetBox 4.2 or later
• API token must have read access to the object-types endpoint
• Plugin models must expose a REST API endpoint to be discovered

Failure Behavior

If discovery fails for any reason (network error, insufficient permissions, unsupported NetBox version), the server logs a warning and continues with core types only. This ensures the server always starts successfully regardless of discovery outcome.

Development

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before proposing new features. We encourage filing an issue for discussion first to confirm scope fit.

If your use case needs capabilities outside this project's scope, forking under Apache 2.0 is an actively supported path.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.