Ibmi

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

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

Tools

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.