Tailscale MCP Server

A modern Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides seamless integration with Tailscale’s CLI commands and REST API, enabling automated network management and monitoring through a standardized interface.

Available Packages

• NPM: @hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server
• Docker Hub: hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server
• GitHub Container Registry: ghcr.io/hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server

Features

• Device Management: List, authorize, deauthorize, and manage Tailscale devices
• Network Operations: Connect/disconnect, manage routes, and monitor network status
• Security Controls: Manage ACLs, device tags, and network lock settings
• Modern Architecture: Modular tool system with TypeScript and Zod validation
• CLI Integration: Direct integration with Tailscale CLI commands
• API Integration: REST API support for advanced operations

Quick Start

Option 1: NPX (Recommended)

Run directly without installation:

# Method 1: Explicit package syntax (most reliable)
npx --package=@hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server tailscale-mcp-server

# Method 2: Direct syntax (may work depending on npx version)
npx -y @hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server

Note: Method 1 with --package= syntax is more reliable across different npx versions and environments.

Or install globally:

npm install -g @hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server
tailscale-mcp-server

Option 2: Docker

Docker Hub

# Pull and run from Docker Hub
docker run -d 
  --name tailscale-mcp 
  -e TAILSCALE_API_KEY=your_api_key 
  -e TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your_tailnet 
  hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server:latest

GitHub Container Registry

# Pull and run from GitHub Container Registry
docker run -d 
  --name tailscale-mcp 
  -e TAILSCALE_API_KEY=your_api_key 
  -e TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your_tailnet 
  ghcr.io/hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server:latest

Docker Compose

# Use the included docker-compose.yml
docker-compose up -d

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

Using NPX (Recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "--package=@hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server",
        "tailscale-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET": "your-tailnet-name"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker Hub

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e",
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "-e",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your-tailnet",
        "hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Using GitHub Container Registry

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale-docker": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e",
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "-e",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your-tailnet",
        "ghcr.io/hexsleeves/tailscale-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

# Required for API operations
export TAILSCALE_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export TAILSCALE_TAILNET="your-tailnet"

# Optional: Custom API base URL
export TAILSCALE_API_BASE_URL="https://api.tailscale.com"

# Optional: Logging configuration
export LOG_LEVEL="1"  # 0=DEBUG, 1=INFO, 2=WARN, 3=ERROR
export MCP_SERVER_LOG_FILE="tailscale-mcp-{timestamp}.log"  # Enable file logging

Available Tools

Device Management

• list_devices - List all devices in the Tailscale network
• device_action - Perform actions on specific devices (authorize, deauthorize, delete, expire-key)
• manage_routes - Enable or disable routes for devices

Network Operations

• get_network_status - Get current network status from Tailscale CLI
• connect_network - Connect to the Tailscale network
• disconnect_network - Disconnect from the Tailscale network
• ping_peer - Ping a peer device

System Information

• get_version - Get Tailscale version information
• get_tailnet_info - Get detailed network information

Development

Local Development Setup

For local development and testing, clone the repository and set up the development environment:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/HexSleeves/tailscale-mcp-server.git
cd tailscale-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Environment Setup

Quick Setup (Recommended)

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Create logs directory
mkdir -p logs

# Edit .env with your actual Tailscale credentials
# TAILSCALE_API_KEY=your-actual-api-key
# TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your-actual-tailnet

The .env.example file contains all available configuration options with documentation. Key variables for testing:

• TAILSCALE_API_KEY: Get from Tailscale Admin Console
• TAILSCALE_TAILNET: Your organization/tailnet name
• LOG_LEVEL: Set to 0 for debug logging during development
• MCP_SERVER_LOG_FILE: Enable server logging to file
• MCP_LOG_FILE: Enable test script logging to file

Local Connection to Claude Desktop

For development, configure Claude Desktop to use your local build:

Option 1: Direct Node Execution

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale-dev": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/tailscale-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET": "your-tailnet-name",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "0"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: NPM Script

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale-dev": {
      "command": "npm",
      "args": ["run", "start"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/tailscale-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET": "your-tailnet-name",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "0"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development Commands

# Build for development
npm run build:dev

# Build and watch for changes
npm run build:watch

# Run in development mode with auto-restart
npm run dev

# Run tests
npm test

# Run tests in watch mode
npm run test:watch

# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverage

# Test with MCP Inspector
npm run inspector

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Format code
npm run format

Publishing

The project includes an interactive publishing script that handles version bumping and publishing to multiple registries:

# Run the interactive publish script
npm run publish

# Or run directly
./scripts/publish.sh

The script will guide you through:

1. Version Bumping: Choose between patch, minor, major, or skip
2. NPM Publishing: Optionally publish to npm registry
3. Docker Hub: Optionally build and publish Docker images
4. GitHub Container Registry: Optionally publish to GHCR
5. Git Operations: Automatically commit version changes and create tags

Publishing Features

• Interactive prompts for each publishing step
• Automatic version bumping with semantic versioning
• Git integration with automatic tagging and commits
• Multi-registry support (npm, Docker Hub, GHCR)
• Safety checks for uncommitted changes
• Colored output for better visibility
• Error handling with proper exit codes
• Performance optimized with pre-calculated version previews

Prerequisites for Publishing

• NPM: Logged in with npm login and proper access to the package
• Docker Hub: Logged in with docker login
• GHCR: Logged in with docker login ghcr.io using a GitHub token
• Git: Clean working directory (or confirmation to proceed with uncommitted changes)

Docker Development

For Docker-based development:

# Build development image
docker build -t tailscale-mcp-dev .

# Run with development environment
docker run -it --rm 
  -v $(pwd):/app 
  -v /app/node_modules 
  -e TAILSCALE_API_KEY=your_api_key 
  -e TAILSCALE_TAILNET=your_tailnet 
  -e LOG_LEVEL=0 
  tailscale-mcp-dev

# Or use Docker Compose for development
docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up

Project Structure

src/
├── server.ts              # Main server implementation
├── tools/                 # Modular tool definitions
│   ├── index.ts           # Tool registry system
│   ├── device-tools.ts    # Device management tools
│   └── ...                # Additional tool modules
├── tailscale/             # Tailscale integrations
│   ├── tailscale-api.ts   # REST API client
│   ├── tailscale-cli.ts   # CLI wrapper
│   └── index.ts           # Exports
├── types.ts               # Type definitions
├── logger.ts              # Logging utilities
└── index.ts               # Entry point

Adding New Tools

1. Create a new tool module in src/tools/:

import { z } from "zod";
import type { ToolModule, ToolContext } from "./index.js";

const MyToolSchema = z.object({
  param: z.string().describe("Description of parameter"),
});

async function myTool(
  args: z.infer<typeof MyToolSchema>,
  context: ToolContext,
) {
  // Implementation
  return {
    content: [{ type: "text", text: "Result" }],
  };
}

export const myTools: ToolModule = {
  tools: [
    {
      name: "my_tool",
      description: "Description of what this tool does",
      inputSchema: MyToolSchema,
      handler: myTool,
    },
  ],
};

2. Register the module in src/server.ts:

import { myTools } from "./tools/my-tools.js";

// In the constructor:
this.toolRegistry.registerModule(myTools);

Debugging

Enable debug logging for development:

# Set environment variable
export LOG_LEVEL=0

# Or in .env file
LOG_LEVEL=0
MCP_SERVER_LOG_FILE=debug-{timestamp}.log

View logs in real-time:

# Follow server logs
tail -f logs/debug-*.log

# Or use Docker logs
docker-compose logs -f tailscale-mcp

API Reference

Environment Variables

*Required for API-based operations. CLI operations work without API credentials.

Tool Categories

Device Tools

• Device listing and filtering
• Device authorization management
• Route management per device

Network Tools

• Network status monitoring
• Connection management
• Peer connectivity testing

Security Tools

• ACL management
• Device tagging
• Network lock operations

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Ensure all tests pass: npm test
6. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
7. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
8. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Use TypeScript for all new code
• Add Zod schemas for input validation
• Include tests for new tools
• Follow the existing modular architecture
• Update documentation for new features

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Support

• Issues - Bug reports and feature requests
• Discussions - Questions and community support
• MCP Documentation - Learn more about MCP

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history and updates.