NiFi MCP Server (via Knox)

Model Context Protocol server providing selectable read and write access to Apache NiFi via Apache Knox.

Works with both NiFi 1.x and 2.x - automatic version detection and adaptation.

Features

• Automatic version detection - Detects NiFi 1.x vs 2.x and adapts behavior
• Knox authentication - Supports Bearer tokens, cookies, and passcode tokens for CDP deployments
• Read-only by default - Safe exploration of NiFi flows and configuration
• Intelligent flow building - Pattern recognition and requirements gathering for complex flows
• 24 read-only MCP tools for exploring NiFi:
  • get_nifi_version() - Version and build information
  • get_root_process_group() - Root process group details
  • list_processors(process_group_id) - List processors in a process group
  • list_connections(process_group_id) - List connections in a process group
  • get_bulletins(after_ms?) - Recent bulletins and alerts
  • list_parameter_contexts() - Parameter contexts
  • get_controller_services(process_group_id?) - Controller services
  • get_processor_types() - Available processor types for flow building
  • search_flow(query) - Search for components in the flow
  • get_connection_details(connection_id) - Detailed connection information
  • get_processor_details(processor_id) - Detailed processor configuration
  • list_input_ports(process_group_id) - Input ports for a process group
  • list_output_ports(process_group_id) - Output ports for a process group
  • get_processor_state(processor_id) - Quick processor state check
  • check_connection_queue(connection_id) - Queue size (flowfiles + bytes)
  • get_flow_summary(process_group_id) - Flow statistics and health overview
  • analyze_flow_build_request(user_request) - Intelligent pattern recognition and requirements gathering
  • get_parameter_context_details(context_id) - Get parameter context with all parameters
  • get_flow_health_status(process_group_id) - Comprehensive flow health check (processors, services, connections, errors)
  • find_controller_services_by_type(process_group_id, service_type) - Search for existing controller services by type (prevents 409 conflicts)
  • check_configuration() - Validate current environment configuration
  • get_setup_instructions() - Interactive setup guidance for NiFi MCP Server
  • get_best_practices_guide() - Best practices for building NiFi flows
  • get_recommended_workflow(flow_type) - Step-by-step guidance for common flow patterns
• 42 write operations (when NIFI_READONLY=false):
  • start_processor(processor_id, version) - Start a processor
  • stop_processor(processor_id, version) - Stop a processor
  • create_processor(...) - Create a new processor
  • update_processor_config(...) - Update processor configuration
  • delete_processor(processor_id, version) - Delete a processor
  • create_connection(...) - Connect components
  • delete_connection(connection_id, version) - Delete a connection
  • empty_connection_queue(connection_id) - Empty flowfiles from queue (⚠️ data loss)
  • create_controller_service(pg_id, service_type, name) - Create controller services (DBCPConnectionPool, RecordWriters, etc.)
  • update_controller_service_properties(service_id, version, properties) - Configure service properties
  • get_controller_service_details(service_id) - Get service configuration (read-only but listed here for context)
  • delete_controller_service(service_id, version) - Remove controller services
  • enable_controller_service(service_id, version) - Enable a controller service
  • disable_controller_service(service_id, version) - Disable a controller service
  • create_process_group(parent_id, name, x, y) - Create process groups (folders) for organizing flows
  • update_process_group_name(pg_id, version, name) - Rename process groups
  • delete_process_group(pg_id, version) - Remove empty process groups
  • create_input_port(pg_id, name, x, y) - Create input ports for inter-process-group communication
  • create_output_port(pg_id, name, x, y) - Create output ports for inter-process-group communication
  • update_input_port(port_id, version, name) - Rename input ports
  • update_output_port(port_id, version, name) - Rename output ports
  • delete_input_port(port_id, version) - Remove input ports
  • delete_output_port(port_id, version) - Remove output ports
  • create_parameter_context(name, description, parameters) - Create parameter contexts for environment-specific config
  • update_parameter_context(context_id, version, ...) - Update parameter contexts
  • delete_parameter_context(context_id, version) - Remove parameter contexts
  • start_input_port(port_id, version) - Start input port to enable data flow
  • stop_input_port(port_id, version) - Stop input port
  • start_output_port(port_id, version) - Start output port to enable data flow
  • stop_output_port(port_id, version) - Stop output port
  • apply_parameter_context_to_process_group(pg_id, pg_version, context_id) - Apply parameter context to enable #{param} usage
  • start_all_processors_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk start all processors at once (10-15x faster!)
  • stop_all_processors_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk stop all processors at once
  • enable_all_controller_services_in_group(pg_id) - Bulk enable all services at once
  • terminate_processor(processor_id, version) - Force-terminate stuck processor (last resort)
  • start_new_flow(flow_name, flow_description) - Smart flow builder that automatically creates process groups and enforces best practices

Quick Start

For CDP NiFi deployments

Your NiFi API base URL will typically be:

https://<your-nifi-host>/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api

Get your Knox JWT token from the CDP UI and use it with the configurations below.

Setup

Option 1: Claude Desktop (Local)

1. Clone and install:

   git clone https://github.com/kevinbtalbert/nifi-mcp-server.git
   cd nifi-mcp-server
   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -e .

2. Configure Claude Desktop - Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "nifi-mcp-server": {
          "command": "/FULL/PATH/TO/NiFi-MCP-Server/.venv/bin/python",
          "args": [
            "-m",
            "nifi_mcp_server.server"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
            "NIFI_API_BASE": "https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourshere.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api",
            "KNOX_TOKEN": "<your_knox_bearer_token>",
            "NIFI_READONLY": "true"
          }
        }
      }
    }

3. Restart Claude Desktop and start asking questions about your NiFi flows!

Option 2: Direct Installation (Cloudera Agent Studio)

For use with Cloudera Agent Studio, use the uvx command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nifi-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/kevinbtalbert/nifi-mcp-server@main",
        "run-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
        "NIFI_API_BASE": "https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourshere.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api",
        "KNOX_TOKEN": "<your_knox_bearer_token>",
        "NIFI_READONLY": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

All configuration is done via environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description
NIFI_API_BASE	Yes*	Full NiFi API URL (e.g., https://host/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api)
KNOX_TOKEN	Yes*	Knox JWT token for authentication
KNOX_GATEWAY_URL	No	Knox gateway URL (alternative to NIFI_API_BASE)
KNOX_COOKIE	No	Alternative: provide full cookie string instead of token
KNOX_PASSCODE_TOKEN	No	Alternative: Knox passcode token (auto-exchanged for JWT)
NIFI_READONLY	No	Read-only mode (default: true)
KNOX_VERIFY_SSL	No	Verify SSL certificates (default: true)
KNOX_CA_BUNDLE	No	Path to CA certificate bundle

* Either NIFI_API_BASE or KNOX_GATEWAY_URL is required

For the NIFI_API_BASE, form using the url from Knox (less -token), and add the postfix /nifi-app/nifi-api So, https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourdomain.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy-token becomes https://nifi-2-dh-management0.yourdomain.cloudera.site/nifi-2-dh/cdp-proxy/nifi-app/nifi-api

Get Knox Token from the Flow Management Datahub Knox instance:

Example Usage

Read-Only Operations (Default)

Once configured, you can ask Claude questions like:

• "What version of NiFi am I running?"
• "List all processors in the root process group"
• "Show me recent bulletins"
• "What parameter contexts are configured?"
• "Tell me about the controller services"
• "What processor types are available for building flows?"
• "Search for processors containing 'kafka'"
• "Show me the details of connection abc-123"

Write Operations (when NIFI_READONLY=false)

⚠️ WARNING: Write operations modify your NiFi flows. Use with caution!

To enable write operations, set NIFI_READONLY=false in your configuration. Then you can:

• Build flows: "Create a LogAttribute processor named 'MyLogger' in the root process group"
• Manage processors: "Start processor with ID abc-123", "Stop all processors in group xyz"
• Connect components: "Create a connection from processor A to processor B for the 'success' relationship"
• Configure: "Update the scheduling period of processor abc-123 to 30 seconds"
• Control services: "Enable the DBCPConnectionPool controller service"

Examples:

"Create a GenerateFlowFile processor in process group abc-123"
"Connect processor source-123 to processor dest-456 for success relationship"
"Start processor xyz-789"
"Check the queue status for connection conn-456"
"Empty the queue for connection conn-456 before deletion"  (⚠️ deletes flowfiles permanently)
"Delete connection conn-456"

Important Notes:

• Version Tracking: NiFi uses optimistic locking. Always fetch current versions before updates:

  processor = get_processor_details(processor_id)
  current_version = processor['revision']['version']
  stop_processor(processor_id, current_version)

• Queue Management: Connections with flowfiles cannot be deleted. Use get_connection_details() to check queue status, then empty_connection_queue() if needed before deletion.

Using the example "List all processors in the root process group", we see the following for the example NiFi Canvas:

Using the example, "What version of NiFi am I running?", we see the following:

License

Apache License 2.0