Woodpecker

CI

woodpecker-mcp exposes a materialized service dependency graph as an MCP toolset. It provides an LLM-based agent such as HolmesGPT with a capability those agents do not retain on their own: a persistent, queryable graph of how services depend on one another. Root-cause analysis therefore becomes a deterministic graph traversal rather than a conclusion re-derived on each investigation.

HolmesGPT remains unmodified. It launches woodpecker-mcp as a subprocess (or connects over HTTP) and discovers the tools it exposes - no fork, custom image, or plugin is required.

---

Why this exists

HolmesGPT markets a "Runtime Dependency Graph", yet its source holds no graph data structure, no graph database, and no graph-traversal code. Each investigation infers the relationships on the fly - from traces, Kubernetes owner-refs, and metric labels - then discards them, and root cause is whatever the model concludes through a "five whys" prompt. That design is deliberate - it buys freshness, statelessness, and breadth - but it carries costs that a materialized graph removes:

	Holmes (inferred)	woodpecker-mcp (materialized)
Where relationships live	model context, one investigation	a graph database (FalkorDB)
Root cause	reasoned per run (non-deterministic)	deepest-failing-service, one Cypher query (exact, repeatable)
Blast radius	re-derived each time	variable-length path traversal
Explore it yourself	no	yes (browser UI + Cypher)
Blind-spot detection	no	yes

---

How it works

flowchart TD
    H["MCP client (e.g. HolmesGPT)"] -->|stdio or HTTP| S["server.py - FastMCP tools"]
    S -->|refresh| B[build.refresh]
    S -->|diagnose| D[diagnose.py]
    B -->|reads live state| C["sources/<br/>topology: docker / k8s / traces<br/>metrics: prometheus / datadog"]
    B -->|materializes| G[("FalkorDB<br/>dependency graph")]
    D -->|"Cypher: roots, blast radius, paths"| G

The graph is rebuilt from live sources on each query (or from a static topology file), then all reasoning runs as Cypher against the store.

---

Quickstart

HolmesGPT already ships the MCP client, so wiring is config-only - no fork, image, or plugin to build. Install, then let woodpecker-mcp configure itself:

pip install holmesgpt woodpecker-mcp
woodpecker-mcp init        # guided Q&A -> writes a filled-in .env
woodpecker-mcp setup       # starts the graph backend, waits until ready, registers the toolset
holmes ask "find the root cause of the current incident"

init asks a few questions (graph backend, topology, metrics) and writes a .env. setup starts FalkorDB and merges the woodpecker-graph toolset into ~/.holmes/config.yaml, so holmes ask picks it up automatically - no -t flag needed.

Other setups, all in the integration guide: no Docker or air-gapped (the embedded Kuzu backend), wiring the toolset YAML by hand, in-cluster over HTTP for the Holmes Operator, and the full configuration reference.

---

Tools

Tool	Returns
woodpecker_get_topology	the materialized graph (services, status, deps)
woodpecker_diagnose_root_cause	deepest-failing-service + causal chains + blast radius + blind spots + page verdict
woodpecker_get_blast_radius(service, direction)	transitive upstream/downstream closure
woodpecker_get_service_health(service)	per-service drill-down
woodpecker_detect_blind_spots	healthy-but-unmonitored services

---

Explore the graph

FalkorDB ships a browser. Open http://localhost:3000, pick the woodpecker graph, and run OpenCypher visually, e.g. the blast radius of db:

MATCH (a:Service)-[:DEPENDS_ON*1..20]->(:Service {name:'db'}) RETURN a

Or from Python:

from falkordb import FalkorDB
g = FalkorDB(host="localhost", port=6379).select_graph("woodpecker")
g.query("MATCH (a:Service)-[:DEPENDS_ON*1..20]->(:Service {name:'db'}) "
        "RETURN a.name").result_set

---

CLI (standalone)

woodpecker-mcp topology      # rebuild + print the service graph
woodpecker-mcp diagnose      # rebuild + print root-cause analysis
woodpecker-mcp refresh       # rebuild the graph only
woodpecker-mcp serve [--http] [--port 8000]   # run the MCP server

# study a topology offline, no live infra:
woodpecker-mcp ingest examples/topology.example.json
WP_AUTO_REFRESH=0 woodpecker-mcp diagnose

---

Configuration

Everything has a working default; set only what points at your infra. Run woodpecker-mcp init to generate a .env from a guided Q&A (or start from the fully-commented .env.sample - same content init --defaults writes), or put the WP_* vars in the toolset's env: block. Three independent seams, mixed and matched:

• graph (WP_GRAPH_BACKEND): falkordb (server, default) or kuzu (embedded, no Docker - good for air-gapped)
• topology (WP_TOPOLOGY): docker, k8s, or traces (Jaeger)
• metrics (WP_METRICS_BACKEND): prometheus (or any PromQL-compatible backend) or datadog

Either graph backend sits behind one GraphStore interface (Neo4j/Memgraph drop in the same way). Every variable, with per-backend deep-dives, validation commands, and troubleshooting, is in docs/CONFIGURATION.md.

---

Layout

woodpecker_mcp/
  server.py      FastMCP tools, stdio + HTTP
  store.py       GraphStore interface; FalkorGraphStore (default), KuzuGraphStore
  build.py       rebuild the graph from sources, or ingest a static topology
  diagnose.py    deterministic root-cause verdict from store queries
  sources/       TopologySource (docker, k8s, traces) + MetricsSource (prometheus, datadog)
  schema.py      status vocabulary
  snapshot.py    timestamped diagnose snapshots (postmortem/audit trail)
  topomem.py     topology memory - deleted services stay visible as down
  cli.py         init | setup | serve | topology | diagnose | refresh | ingest
  scaffold.py    init/setup helpers (.env, FalkorDB, Holmes config)
examples/        holmesgpt-toolset.yaml, k8s-deployment.yaml, topology.example.json
docs/            CONFIGURATION.md
benchmark/       Holmes-vs-Holmes+woodpecker benchmark: harness, raw logs, EVIDENCE.md
tests/           unit tests (test_*.py) + smoke_mcp.py (integration)

---

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"                      # pytest + ruff
pre-commit install                           # ruff lint on every commit
pre-commit install --hook-type pre-push      # unit tests before every push

pytest                                       # unit tests - no services needed
ruff check .                                 # lint  (ruff format . to auto-format)

Unit tests (tests/test_*.py) run offline against fakes; the graph-store suite is parametrized over both backends (Kuzu embedded, FalkorDB via a live server) and skips whichever is unavailable - set WP_TEST_REQUIRE_BACKENDS=1 (CI does) to hard-fail instead of skipping. The stdio integration check needs a live FalkorDB:

docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:6379:6379 -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 falkordb/falkordb:v4.18.11
python tests/smoke_mcp.py

---

License

woodpecker-mcp is licensed under Apache-2.0. It connects to FalkorDB as a client and does not redistribute it; FalkorDB itself is SSPL-licensed (source-available) - fine for self-hosting, relevant only if you offer FalkorDB as a managed service.