unifi-rmcp

unifi-rmcp is a Rust MCP server and CLI for managing Ubiquiti UniFi Network controllers through official, internal, and hybrid UniFi API actions.

It exposes one MCP tool, unifi, plus the runifi CLI. Agents can inspect clients, devices, WiFi networks, health, alarms, events, controller sysinfo, and authenticated identity, and can use generated official_* / unifi_* actions when their MCP auth scope permits it.

30-second path: set UNIFI_URL and UNIFI_API_KEY, then run npx -y unifi-rmcp health --json -> start loopback HTTP with UNIFI_MCP_HOST=127.0.0.1 npx -y unifi-rmcp serve -> call tools/call with {"action":"health"}.

Status: operational RMCP upstream-client server. The preserved convenience actions are read-oriented; generated mutating actions require unifi:admin authorization. HTTP MCP supports loopback dev mode, static bearer tokens, and Google OAuth through lab-auth.

Not for: replacing the UniFi console, storing controller credentials for callers, bypassing UniFi permissions, generic HTTP proxying, multi-tenant isolation, or passing UniFi API keys through MCP tool arguments.

Contents

• Naming
• Capabilities And Boundaries
• Install
• Quickstart
• Client Configuration
• Runtime Surfaces
• MCP Tool Reference
• CLI Reference
• Configuration
• Authentication
• Safety And Trust Model
• Architecture
• Distribution Contract
• Development
• Verification
• Deployment
• Troubleshooting
• Related Servers
• Documentation
• License

Naming

The repo and npm package use the RMCP family name, while the shipped binary uses the short Rust CLI name runifi.

Capabilities And Boundaries

• Read connected wireless and wired clients, network devices, WLAN configs, site health, active alarms, recent events, controller sysinfo, and current authenticated user.
• Dispatch generated official_* actions for documented Network Integration API endpoints.
• Dispatch model-backed unifi_* internal controller actions and hybrid aliases such as list_clients, list_devices, list_networks, list_wifi, and get_system_info.
• Enforce unifi:read for read actions and unifi:admin for mutating actions in mounted HTTP MCP mode.
• Provide setup, doctor, and endpoint-verification commands for local runtime checks.

Install

npm / npx

Run the stdio MCP server or CLI without a manual binary install:

npx -y unifi-rmcp --help
npx -y unifi-rmcp mcp
npx -y unifi-rmcp health --json

The npm package downloads runifi during postinstall. Override download behavior only when testing packaging:

Build From Source

git clone https://github.com/jmagar/unifi-rmcp
cd unifi-rmcp
cargo build --release
./target/release/runifi --help

Minimum supported Rust version: 1.86.

Quickstart

1. Create A UniFi API Key

In UniFi OS, go to Settings -> Admins & Users -> API Keys, create a key, and copy it into UNIFI_API_KEY.

2. Configure The Controller

export UNIFI_URL=https://unifi.local
export UNIFI_API_KEY=...
export UNIFI_SITE=default
export UNIFI_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY=true

Set UNIFI_LEGACY=true only for older non-UDM controllers that do not use the /proxy/network path prefix.

3. Run A Safe CLI Call

npx -y unifi-rmcp health --json

4. Start Loopback HTTP MCP

UNIFI_MCP_HOST=127.0.0.1 npx -y unifi-rmcp serve

In another shell:

curl -sf http://127.0.0.1:40030/health

5. Make A First MCP Call

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:40030/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"unifi","arguments":{"action":"health"}}}'

Client Configuration

Claude Code Stdio

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unifi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "unifi-rmcp", "mcp"],
      "env": {
        "UNIFI_URL": "https://unifi.local",
        "UNIFI_API_KEY": "...",
        "UNIFI_SITE": "default",
        "UNIFI_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code HTTP

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unifi": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:40030/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${UNIFI_MCP_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex / Labby Gateway

Register UniFi through Labby as an HTTP upstream when sharing one long-running server, or run it directly as stdio for local-only use.

[mcp_servers.unifi]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "unifi-rmcp", "mcp"]

Generic MCP JSON

{
  "command": "runifi",
  "args": ["mcp"],
  "env": {
    "UNIFI_URL": "https://unifi.local",
    "UNIFI_API_KEY": "..."
  }
}

Do not put UNIFI_API_KEY, OAuth secrets, passwords, SSH keys, or upstream bearer tokens in MCP tool arguments. Use env, config files, or the MCP client's secret storage. MCP callers never provide credentials, tokens, keys, or secrets as action arguments.

Runtime Surfaces

MCP Tool Reference

One MCP tool is exposed: unifi. Pass the required action argument to select the operation.

Preserved Convenience Actions

Generated Action Families

Endpoint coverage is tracked in docs/unifi_api_coverage.md; contract and safe live verification are documented in docs/unifi_endpoint_verification.md.

CLI Reference

The binary calls the same service layer as the MCP tool:

runifi clients [--json]
runifi devices [--json]
runifi wlans [--json]
runifi health [--json]
runifi alarms [--json]
runifi events [--limit N] [--json]
runifi sysinfo [--json]
runifi me [--json]
runifi official_list_clients --param siteId=<uuid> --json
runifi official_create_network --param siteId=<uuid> --body-json '{"name":"IoT"}' --json
runifi list_clients --param siteId=<uuid> --json
runifi doctor [--json]
runifi setup check [--json]
runifi setup repair [--json]

Generated actions accept --param k=v, --body-json JSON, and --json.

Configuration

Host installs read ~/.unifi-rmcp/.env before loading config. Containers read /data/.env. Process environment overrides both.

Authentication

Stdio MCP runs as a local trusted child process and does not use HTTP auth.

HTTP MCP auth policy:

unifi:admin satisfies unifi:read; unifi:read does not satisfy mutating actions.

Safety And Trust Model

• UniFi API keys are loaded from config/env only.
• MCP callers select actions, params, and request bodies, not upstream credentials.
• Preserved convenience actions are read-oriented.
• Generated mutating actions require unifi:admin in mounted HTTP MCP mode.
• Unknown actions and malformed generated-action params fail before upstream calls.
• Non-loopback HTTP deployments must use bearer auth, OAuth, or a trusted authenticated gateway.
• This bridge does not sandbox UniFi itself. UniFi remains responsible for API permissions and the actual network-side effect of a mutating call.

Architecture

Capabilities   (src/capabilities.rs)   official/internal/hybrid registry
      |
UnifiClient    (src/api.rs, src/unifi.rs) HTTP path families and transport
      |
UnifiService   (src/app.rs)            action execution boundary
      |
MCP shim       (src/mcp/tools.rs)      JSON args -> service -> Value
CLI shim       (src/cli.rs)            argv -> service -> stdout

Distribution Contract

• Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock, packages/unifi-rmcp/package.json, .release-please-manifest.json, and server.json must agree on the released version.
• GitHub Releases publish the runifi binary consumed by the npm launcher.
• The npm package name is unifi-rmcp; binary aliases are unifi-rmcp and runifi.
• Docker/OCI metadata uses ghcr.io/jmagar/unifi-rmcp:<version>.
• plugins/unifi/.mcp.json must launch npx -y unifi-rmcp mcp so stdio clients start the MCP transport rather than the HTTP server.
• The root README is curated. Source of truth for current actions and generated endpoint coverage is src/capabilities.rs, the data/ inventories, docs/unifi_api_coverage.md, and docs/unifi_endpoint_verification.md.

Development

cargo fmt --check
cargo test
cargo clippy -- -D warnings
cargo build --release
npm --prefix packages/unifi-rmcp run check

Verification

python3 /home/jmagar/workspace/soma/scripts/check-readme-guide.py README.md
npm --prefix packages/unifi-rmcp run check
cargo check
cargo test
cargo run -p xtask -- verify-api-endpoints --mode contract
git diff --check

Live read probes require a controller:

UNIFI_URL=https://<gateway> \
UNIFI_API_KEY=<network-api-key> \
UNIFI_SITE=default \
UNIFI_SITE_ID=<official-site-uuid> \
UNIFI_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY=true \
cargo run -p xtask -- verify-api-endpoints --mode safe_live

Deployment

Use loopback for local development:

UNIFI_MCP_HOST=127.0.0.1 runifi serve

Use Docker Compose for shared HTTP deployment:

cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d

When binding to a non-loopback address, configure UNIFI_MCP_TOKEN, UNIFI_MCP_AUTH_MODE=oauth, or UNIFI_NOAUTH=true behind an authenticated gateway.

Troubleshooting

Related Servers

• tailscale-rmcp / rustscale - Tailscale API bridge for devices, users, and tailnet operations.
• unraid-rmcp / unrust - Unraid GraphQL bridge for NAS and server management.
• apprise-rmcp - Apprise notification fan-out bridge for many delivery backends.
• gotify-rmcp - Gotify push notification bridge for sends, messages, apps, and clients.
• arcane-rmcp - Arcane Docker management bridge for containers and related resources.
• yarr-rmcp - Media-stack bridge for Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, Plex, and related services.
• ytdl-mcp - Media download and metadata workflow server.
• synapse - Local Synapse workflow server for scout and flux actions.
• cortex - Syslog and homelab log aggregation MCP server.
• axon - RAG, crawl, scrape, extract, and semantic search project.
• lab - Homelab control plane and Labby gateway project.
• lumen - Local semantic code search MCP server.
• nugs - Project/package management helper for local agent workflows.
• agentcast - Agent transcript and activity publishing project.
• soma - RMCP scaffold/runtime template for new provider-backed servers.

Documentation

• CLAUDE.md is the curated local operating guide for contributors and agents.
• docs/unifi_api_coverage.md is the curated API-family and coverage summary.
• docs/unifi_endpoint_verification.md is the curated endpoint verification guide.
• docs/SETUP.md is curated plugin/setup guidance.
• docs/OAUTH.md is curated OAuth setup guidance.
• plugins/unifi/skills/unifi/SKILL.md is the agent usage guide.
• data/ inventories are generated/reference inputs for the action registry.
• src/ is the source of truth for current action dispatch, config defaults, auth behavior, and CLI parsing.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.