[!IMPORTANT] This repository is deprecated. The CircleCI MCP server is now built into the CircleCI CLI. Visit cli.circleci.com to get started.

CircleCI MCP Server

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new, standardized protocol for managing context between large language models (LLMs) and external systems. In this repository, we provide an MCP Server for CircleCI.

Use Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, Claude, or any MCP-compatible client to interact with CircleCI using natural language — without leaving your IDE.

Tools

Installation

Team / centralized deployment: To run one shared remote server for your org (Kubernetes, Docker, etc.) with per-developer or shared CircleCI tokens, see Self-Managed Remote MCP Server.

Self-Managed Remote MCP Server

Run the MCP server centrally (for example on Kubernetes or Docker) so your team shares one deployment. Choose how developers authenticate:

Choose a deployment mode

Security: Request authentication is on by default in remote mode. The shared-token mode disables it (REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=false), making every caller able to act as the server’s CIRCLECI_TOKEN identity with no credentials. Only enable it on a network you fully trust, and prefer per-user tokens otherwise. Terminating TLS at an ingress provides encryption, not authentication.

1. Deploy the server

Both modes use remote HTTP mode (start=remote). Publish port 8000 (or your chosen port).

Per-user tokens (recommended) — accessed via mcp-remote from localhost:

docker run --rm -p 8000:8000 \
  -e start=remote \
  -e port=8000 \
  -e REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=true \
  circleci/mcp-server-circleci

Per-user tokens (recommended) — accessed via mcp-remote from a public hostname:

docker run --rm -p 8000:8000 \
  -e start=remote \
  -e port=8000 \
  -e REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=true \
  -e MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS=my-mcp.example.com \
  circleci/mcp-server-circleci

Shared token (interim) — accessed via mcp-remote from a public hostname:

docker run --rm -p 8000:8000 \
  -e start=remote \
  -e port=8000 \
  -e CIRCLECI_TOKEN=your-shared-circleci-pat \
  -e REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=false \
  -e MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS=my-mcp.example.com \
  circleci/mcp-server-circleci

Environment variables:

DNS-rebinding protection: The remote transport validates the Host header on every /mcp request. By default only loopback addresses (localhost, 127.0.0.1, [::1]) are accepted. Public deployments must set MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS to the hostname clients use, or all /mcp requests will receive 403 Forbidden. The /ping health-check endpoint is not guarded so load-balancer probes continue to work regardless of Host.

The Origin header (sent by browsers) is also validated when present. Non-browser clients such as mcp-remote never send Origin, so they are unaffected by this check.

Behind a reverse proxy: If your proxy rewrites Host to the backend address (nginx’s default), add proxy_set_header Host $host; to pass the original hostname through, then set MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS to that public hostname. Alternatively, set MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS to whatever hostname the proxy does forward.

The server accepts per-request tokens via:

• Authorization: Bearer
• Circle-Token:

If a client sends a header token, it takes precedence over CIRCLECI_TOKEN on the server.

Telemetry metrics recorded during a request are exported using the same token as that request.

2. Configure clients

Most MCP clients only support local (stdio) processes. Use mcp-remote, a third-party stdio-to-HTTP bridge, to connect them to your remote server.

URL scheme: Use http://localhost:8000/mcp with --allow-http for local testing. In production, terminate TLS at your ingress/load balancer and use https://your-host/mcp without --allow-http.

Windows: Avoid spaces around the colon in --header values. Put the full Bearer value in an environment variable.

Security: Examples use npx for convenience. For production or team rollouts, pin a specific version in your MCP config (for example [email protected] instead of mcp-remote). Do not use versions below 0.1.16 (CVE-2025-6514).

Client configuration: per-user tokens

Each developer forwards their own CircleCI Personal API Token on every request:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "circleci-token",
      "description": "CircleCI API Token",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "mcpServers": {
    "circleci-mcp-server-remote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8000/mcp",
        "--allow-http",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer ${input:circleci-token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace http://localhost:8000/mcp with your team’s server URL. Cursor and VS Code support ${input:...} prompts; other clients can set AUTH_HEADER directly.

Client configuration: shared token

When the server has CIRCLECI_TOKEN set and is started with REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=false (request auth is on by default and must be explicitly disabled), clients do not need to send a token:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "circleci-mcp-server-remote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8000/mcp",
        "--allow-http"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop and CLI clients

Create a wrapper script (e.g. circleci-remote-mcp.sh):

#!/bin/bash
export AUTH_HEADER="Bearer your-circleci-token"
npx mcp-remote http://localhost:8000/mcp --allow-http --header "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"

Make it executable (chmod +x circleci-remote-mcp.sh), then reference it from your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "circleci-remote-mcp-server": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/circleci-remote-mcp.sh"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add circleci-mcp-server \
  -e AUTH_HEADER="Bearer your-circleci-token" \
  -- npx mcp-remote http://localhost:8000/mcp --allow-http --header "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"

Omit --header and AUTH_HEADER when using a shared-token server.

3. Verify the deployment

# Health check (no auth required)
curl http://localhost:8000/ping

# Should return 401 when REQUIRE_REQUEST_TOKEN=true and no token is sent
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'

# Should return 200 with a valid Bearer token and MCP Accept headers
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" -X POST http://localhost:8000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-circleci-pat" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'

Demo

Tool Details

Troubleshooting

Telemetry

The server supports OpenTelemetry metrics for tracking tool usage. Metrics are exported unless you set DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true. On remote deployments, metrics use the same token as the request (per-user PAT or shared server PAT).

Development

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/CircleCI-Public/mcp-server-circleci.git
   cd mcp-server-circleci
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pnpm install
   

3. Build the project:

   pnpm build
   

Building Docker Container

You can build the Docker container locally using:

docker build -t circleci:mcp-server-circleci .

This will create a Docker image tagged as circleci:mcp-server-circleci that you can use with any MCP client.

Local stdio mode (single developer, token on the client):

docker run --rm -i \
  -e CIRCLECI_TOKEN=your-circleci-token \
  -e CIRCLECI_BASE_URL=https://circleci.com \
  circleci/mcp-server-circleci

Remote mode (centralized server for a team): see Self-Managed Remote MCP Server.

Development with MCP Inspector

The easiest way to iterate on the MCP Server is using the MCP inspector. You can learn more about the MCP inspector at https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/tools/inspector

1. Start the development server:

   pnpm watch # Keep this running in one terminal
   

2. In a separate terminal, launch the inspector:

   pnpm inspector
   

3. Configure the environment:

   • Add your CIRCLECI_TOKEN to the Environment Variables section in the inspector UI
   • The token needs read access to your CircleCI projects
   • Optionally set your CircleCI Base URL (defaults to https://circleci.com)

Testing

• Run the test suite:

  pnpm test
  

• Run tests in watch mode during development:

  pnpm test:watch
  

For more detailed contribution guidelines, see CONTRIBUTING.md