UniFi MCP Server

Complete UniFi Network controller management through the Model Context Protocol

310 tools  •  16 categories  •  3 API layers  •  Network 5.x – 10.x

Quick Start  •  MCPB Download  •  Tool Coverage  •  Architecture  •  Configuration

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A Go-based MCP server that gives AI assistants deep, safe access to UniFi Network controllers. Built for UniFi OS devices (Dream Machine, Cloud Gateway) and the unifi.ui.com cloud interface.

Why This Exists

Managing a UniFi network through natural language means your AI assistant needs to understand every corner of the controller API. This server exposes 310 tools spanning the complete API surface — from basic device listing to zone-based firewall policy ordering, from hotspot voucher generation to MC-LAG domain management.

Every mutating operation passes through a confirm gate that returns a dry-run preview before execution. The assistant sees exactly what will change and asks you before proceeding.

Quick Start

Install with MCPB

For Claude Desktop and other MCPB-compatible clients, download the local bundle from the v1.0.3 release:

Download ames-unifi-mcp-1.0.3.mcpb

The bundle includes the UniFi favicon, production runtime binaries for macOS and Linux, and setup prompts for host, authentication, site, SSL, tool mode, and permission profile.

Add to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unifi": {
      "command": "ames-unifi-mcp",
      "env": {
        "UNIFI_HOST": "https://192.168.1.1",
        "UNIFI_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "UNIFI_SITE": "default",
        "UNIFI_VERIFY_SSL": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Generate an API key at Settings → Control Plane → Integrations (requires Network 9.1.105+). For older firmware, use username/password authentication instead.

How It Works

Lazy Mode (Default)

Instead of flooding the context window with 310 tool definitions, the server exposes just 3 meta-tools:

Meta-Tool	Purpose
tool_index	Browse the tool catalog, optionally filtered by category
tool_execute	Run any tool by name with input parameters
tool_batch	Run multiple tools in parallel for efficiency

The assistant discovers tools on demand, keeping context lean (~200 tokens vs ~30,000 in eager mode).

Confirm Gate

Every write operation requires explicit confirmation. Without confirm: true, the tool returns a dry-run preview showing what would happen:

You:       "Restart the office access point"
Assistant:  Let me preview that first.
            → device_restart {"mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff"}
            ← Preview: This would restart "Office AP" (soft reboot). Confirm?
You:       "Yes"
Assistant:  → device_restart {"mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff", "confirm": true}
            ← Device restarting.

Permission Profiles

Control what the assistant can do:

Profile	Capabilities
read-only	Query everything, change nothing
standard	Reads + safe mutations (WLAN, clients, networks). No PoE cycling, system restarts, or firewall deletes
admin	Full access including destructive and system-level operations

Permission-denied tools still appear in tool_index (marked [PERMISSION DENIED]) so the assistant can explain what's unavailable and why.

Version Detection

On startup, the server queries the controller version and automatically gates tools by firmware requirements:

Feature	Minimum Version
Legacy API (full)	5.x+
Zone-Based Firewall	Network 9.0+
Integration API	Network 9.0+
API Key Authentication	Network 9.1.105+
DNS Policies, ACL Rules	Network 10.0+
Switch Stacks, LAGs, MC-LAGs	Network 10.0+
VPN Server/Tunnel CRUD	Network 10.1+

If a tool isn't in the index, the controller firmware is too old to support it.

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Tool Coverage

310 tools across 16 categories

Devices — 29 tools device_list device_restart device_get device_adopt device_upgrade device_upgrade_all device_locate_on/off device_force_provision device_spectrum_scan device_rolling_upgrade_* device_migrate device_port_action device_list_v2 device_stats_latest device_unadopt device_pending_list Clients — 15 tools client_list_active client_block/unblock client_get client_reconnect client_forget client_sessions client_rename client_update client_list_v2 client_action Networks — 10 tools network_list network_create network_get network_update network_delete network_*_v2 (Integration API) Wireless (WLAN + WiFi) — 12 tools wlan_list wlan_create/update/delete wlan_enable wlan_disable wifi_broadcast_list/get/create/update/delete Firewall — 23 tools firewall_rule_* (legacy CRUD) firewall_group_* (address/port groups) firewall_zone_* (ZBF zones, 9.0+) firewall_policy_* (ZBF policies + ordering) ACL Rules — 7 tools acl_rule_list/get/create/update/delete acl_rule_ordering_get/set DNS Policies — 5 tools dns_policy_list/get/create/update/delete Traffic & QoS — 15 tools traffic_rule_* (v2 API rules) traffic_route_* (v2 API routes) traffic_matching_list_* (10.0+)

VPN — 10 tools vpn_server_list/get/create/update/delete vpn_tunnel_list/get/create/update/delete Switching — 15 tools switching_stack_* (switch stacks) switching_lag_* (link aggregation) switching_mclag_* (MC-LAG domains) Stats & DPI — 24 tools stats_site_health stats_sysinfo stats_dashboard stats_report stats_speedtest_* stats_ips_events stats_rogueap stats_spectrumscan stats_dpi_site stats_dpi_client stats_dpi_apps stats_dpi_categories Events & Alarms — 5 tools event_list alarm_list alarm_count alarm_archive alarm_archive_all Hotspot & Guests — 13 tools hotspot_authorize/unauthorize_guest hotspot_create_voucher hotspot_extend hotspot_voucher_*_v2 (Integration API) hotspot_config hotspot_packages System & Settings — 53 tools system_reboot/poweroff system_settings system_backup_* system_firmware_* system_port_forward_* system_static_route_* system_usergroup_* system_portprofile_* system_dhcpoption_* system_radiusprofile_* system_tag_* system_led_toggle Cloud API — 9 tools cloud_host_list/get cloud_site_list cloud_device_list cloud_isp_metrics cloud_sdwan_* Admin & Misc — 56 tools admin_site_create/delete/rename admin_invite/revoke/grant/update poe_power_cycle syslog_query apgroup_* misc_rogueknown_* misc_scheduletask_* misc_hotspotop_* misc_dpigroup_* misc_cnt_resource

API Layer Coverage

The server covers all three UniFi API layers:

API Layer	Path Prefix	Auth	Coverage
Legacy API	/api/s/{site}/...	Session cookie	Full — stat, cmd, rest, set, get, upd, list, cnt, guest, dl
v2 API	/v2/api/site/{site}/...	Session cookie	Full — traffic rules, traffic routes, AP groups, system logs
Integration API	/integration/v1/...	API key or session	Full — devices, clients, networks, WiFi, firewall, VPN, switching, hotspot, DPI
Cloud Site Manager	api.ui.com/v1/...	API key	Full — hosts, sites, devices, ISP metrics, SD-WAN

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Configuration

Variable	Required	Default	Description
UNIFI_HOST	*	—	Controller URL (https://192.168.1.1)
UNIFI_API_KEY	*	—	API key (preferred, requires 9.1.105+)
UNIFI_USERNAME	*	—	Username (if no API key)
UNIFI_PASSWORD	*	—	Password (if no API key)
UNIFI_SITE	No	default	Site name
UNIFI_VERIFY_SSL	No	true	false for self-signed certs
UNIFI_TOOL_MODE	No	lazy	lazy (3 meta-tools) or eager (all 310 tools)
UNIFI_PERMISSION_PROFILE	No	standard	read-only, standard, or admin

_{* UNIFI_HOST plus either UNIFI_API_KEY or both UNIFI_USERNAME + UNIFI_PASSWORD are required for the server to actually call the controller. If they are absent, the server still starts and registers all tools (so the plugin appears installed), but every tool call returns a structured "credentials not configured" error pointing the user at the env vars or 1Password fallback. This lets the connector live in a clean "needs authentication" state instead of a hard startup error.}

1Password fallback

If env vars are unset, the server falls back to 1Password CLI (op read) using these references:

• op://Development/UniFi Controller/host
• op://Development/UniFi Controller/api_key
• op://Development/UniFi Controller/username
• op://Development/UniFi Controller/password

Create a UniFi Controller item in your Development vault with those fields and the server will resolve credentials at startup with no env vars required. Resolution happens in internal/config/config.go:opRead and requires either an interactive op session or OP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN in the environment.

Authentication Methods

API Key (recommended) — Generate at Settings → Control Plane → Integrations. Supports both legacy and Integration API endpoints. No session management overhead.

Username/Password — Uses session cookies with automatic re-login on expiry. The server includes a single-flight re-login mechanism that prevents thundering-herd issues when batch operations encounter session timeouts simultaneously.

1Password Integration

If credentials are not set in the environment, the server automatically attempts to resolve them from 1Password CLI:

Variable	1Password Reference
UNIFI_HOST	op://Development/UniFi Controller/host
UNIFI_API_KEY	op://Development/UniFi Controller/api_key
UNIFI_USERNAME	op://Development/UniFi Controller/username
UNIFI_PASSWORD	op://Development/UniFi Controller/password

This means you can skip setting env vars entirely if you have op installed and a service account or session active. The fallback adds ~1-2s to startup and is silently skipped if 1Password is unavailable.

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Architecture

cmd/ames-unifi-mcp/main.go          Entry point, server wiring
internal/
  config/                            Environment config loading
  client/                            HTTP client
    - Session auth with auto re-login (single-flight)
    - API key auth (X-API-Key header)
    - CSRF token management (thread-safe)
    - Retry with backoff (429, 5xx)
    - Legacy envelope parsing (meta.rc/data)
    - Raw response passthrough (Integration/v2 APIs)
  version/                           Controller version detection
  permissions/                       Permission profiles
  tools/
    tool.go                          Tool interface
    registry.go                      Tool registry with version/permission gating
    confirm.go                       Confirm gate (dry-run preview pattern)
    metatools.go                     tool_index, tool_execute, tool_batch
    core/                            Core tool implementations
      devices.go    clients.go    networks.go
      wlan.go       wifi.go       firewall.go
      acl.go        dns.go        traffic.go
      wan.go        switching.go  stats.go
      events.go     system.go
    extended/                        Extended tool implementations
      poe.go        hotspot.go    cloud.go
      admin.go      syslog.go     apgroups.go
      misc.go

Key Design Decisions

Lazy mode by default. An LLM calling 310 tools directly wastes context and confuses tool selection. The 3-meta-tool pattern lets the assistant discover tools on demand, typically using < 200 tokens of context for the tool definitions.

Confirm gate on all mutations. Rather than relying on the MCP client to prevent unintended actions, every mutating tool returns a preview by default. The confirm: true parameter is an explicit opt-in. This is baked into the tool schema — the LLM sees it as a required step, not an optional flag.

Version gating at registration. Tools for newer API features aren't hidden or errored — they simply don't register if the controller is too old. The tool index only shows what's actually available.

Permission gating with visibility. Denied tools appear in the index with a [PERMISSION DENIED] suffix. This lets the assistant explain to the user why something isn't available, rather than returning a cryptic "unknown tool" error.

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Building

go build -o ames-unifi-mcp ./cmd/ames-unifi-mcp/

Cross-compilation

# Linux ARM64 (e.g., Raspberry Pi, Docker on NAS)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build -o ames-unifi-mcp ./cmd/ames-unifi-mcp/

# Linux AMD64
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ames-unifi-mcp ./cmd/ames-unifi-mcp/

Running Tests

go test ./...

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Common Operations

Here's what natural-language network management looks like:

"How's my network doing?"

→ tool_batch: stats_site_health + client_list_active + alarm_count
← WAN: healthy, 47 clients connected, 0 active alarms

"Block that sketchy device"

→ client_get {"mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff"}
← Device "Unknown-IoT" on VLAN 30, 2.3 GB today
→ client_block {"mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff"}
← Preview: Would block Unknown-IoT. Confirm?
→ client_block {"mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff", "confirm": true}
← Blocked.

"Create a guest voucher for 24 hours"

→ hotspot_create_voucher {"expire_minutes": 1440, "quota": 1}
← Preview: Would create 1 single-use voucher, 24h validity. Confirm?
→ hotspot_create_voucher {"expire_minutes": 1440, "quota": 1, "confirm": true}
← Voucher created: 83927-10458

"Which APs are on old firmware?"

→ device_list_basic
← 12 devices. Filtering by upgrade_available...
  - Lobby AP (U6-Pro) — current: 6.6.55, available: 7.0.83
  - Garage AP (U6-Lite) — current: 6.6.55, available: 7.0.83

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License

MIT — Not affiliated with Ubiquiti Inc.

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_{Built by Oliver Ames in Vermont • GitHub • LinkedIn • Bluesky}