PI API MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides standardized tools and resources for interacting with the PI Dashboard API. This implementation enables Claude and other MCP-compatible AI assistants to securely access and manage PI Dashboard resources, including categories and charts.

Utilizing PI with MCP

The following demonstrates typical usage scenarios for this MCP Server after setup completion.

Initial Authentication:

• Execute the following instructions to establish a connection:

Ensure the PI API MCP server is running
Set the API URL to http://localhost:8224/pi/api/v2
Use the authenticate tool for authentication guidance
Check the connection status to verify everything is working
List two charts from the dashboard

Chart Analysis:

• If chart ID 450 contains metadata information, use the following prompt:

Retrieve the metadata from chart ID 450
Extract the chart JSON data from ID 450
Identify chart IDs associated with claims
Obtain JSON data for the identified charts
Analyze the data to generate actionable insights

Example Output:

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install pi-api-mcp-server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @mingzilla/pi-api-mcp-server --client claude

Installation - Using Docker (Recommended)

• No MCP Server configuration needed
• MCP client configuration file setup:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pi-api": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "API_URL=http://localhost:8224/pi/api/v2",
        "-e",
        "PI_API_KEY=XXXXXXXX",
        "mingzilla/pi-api-mcp-server"
      ],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": [
        "keep-session-alive",
        "check-connection",
        "authenticate",
        "list-categories",
        "get-category",
        "list-charts", 
        "get-chart",
        "export-chart",
        "get-filterable-attributes",
        "export-chart"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Important Note: If the --api-url parameter is not provided at initialization, the server will prompt you to configure the API URL using the set-api-url tool before executing any operations. This design enables flexible configuration in environments where the URL is not predetermined at startup.

Configuration File Location

Access your Claude for Desktop application configuration at:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: Use other tools for now. e.g. Cline - ask it to show you the MCP config file

Available Tools

Schema Discovery