<a id="cmf-mcp"></a>

# MCP Server for Confluent Manager for Apache Flink

Confluent Manager for Apache Flink (CMF) includes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI agents and coding
assistants inspect and manage Apache Flink® resources directly, alongside the existing
[REST APIs](rest.md#af-rest-api) and [CLI Operations](cli.md#cmf-flink-cli).

MCP is an open protocol that lets AI applications connect to external tools and data sources.
When enabled, the CMF MCP server exposes environments, applications, statements, compute pools,
secrets, savepoints, Kafka catalogs, and Kubernetes clusters as a set of tools that an MCP client
can call.

#### IMPORTANT
The CMF MCP server is disabled by default. The endpoint is versioned as
`v1alpha1` and might change in future releases.

## Enable the MCP server

The MCP server is off by default and is configured through Helm values.

| Helm value                   | Default   | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|------------------------------|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `cmf.mcp.enabled`            | `false`   | Master switch for the MCP server. Must be `true` for any MCP tool to be available.                                                                                                                                                     |
| `cmf.mcp.writeTools.enabled` | `false`   | Enables the mutating tools that create, update, or delete resources.                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `cmf.mcp.logs.enabled`       | `true`    | Enables the `get_flinkapplicationlogs` tool. Pod logs can contain query payloads, credentials, and personally identifiable information (PII), so set this to `false` to drop the tool while keeping the rest of the read-only surface. |

To enable read-only access, upgrade your CMF Helm release with:

```bash
helm upgrade --install cmf confluentinc/confluent-manager-for-apache-flink \
  --set cmf.mcp.enabled=true
```

To also allow AI agents to create, update, or delete resources, add:

```bash
helm upgrade --install cmf confluentinc/confluent-manager-for-apache-flink \
  --set cmf.mcp.enabled=true \
  --set cmf.mcp.writeTools.enabled=true
```

For general installation steps, see [Installation with Helm](../installation/helm.md#install-cmf-helm).

## Connect an MCP client

The MCP server uses the Streamable HTTP transport and is served at `/cmf/mcp/v1alpha1` on the
same host and port as the CMF REST API. Point your MCP client at this URL, for example:

```text
http://<cmf-host>:8080/cmf/mcp/v1alpha1
```

Most MCP clients accept a URL-based server configuration. For example, using the Claude Code CLI:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http cmf http://<cmf-host>:8080/cmf/mcp/v1alpha1
```

Consult your MCP client’s documentation for the exact configuration format it expects.

## Authentication and authorization

Every MCP tool call is dispatched through the checks used by the
[REST APIs](rest.md#af-rest-api), so the same authentication and [role-based access control (RBAC)](../configure/access-control.md#cmf-access-control)
authorization apply. A caller only sees and can act on resources it’s already authorized to
access; MCP grants no additional privileges.

Because write tools can modify or delete cluster resources, only give CMF credentials that
have write-tool access to agents you trust to take those actions.

## Available tools

### Read-only tools

The MCP server exposes 19 read-only tools, plus `get_flinkapplicationlogs`, which is gated
separately by `cmf.mcp.logs.enabled`.

| Category            | Tool                             | Description                                                                          |
|---------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| System              | `get_cmfoverview`                | Returns CMF version and resource counts. Use this first to orient an agent session.  |
| Environments        | `list_flinkenvironments`         | Lists environments with their Kubernetes namespaces.                                 |
| Environments        | `get_flinkenvironment`           | Gets full configuration for one environment, including defaults and secret mappings. |
| Applications        | `list_flinkapplications`         | Lists applications in an environment with job status.                                |
| Applications        | `get_flinkapplication`           | Gets an application’s spec, status, and resource usage.                              |
| Applications        | `list_flinkapplicationevents`    | Gets an application’s event history (deployments, status transitions, errors).       |
| Applications        | `list_flinkapplicationinstances` | Lists recent job instances for an application.                                       |
| Applications        | `get_flinkapplicationinstance`   | Gets details of a single job instance, including its spec snapshot.                  |
| Applications        | `get_flinkapplicationlogs`       | Retrieves recent JobManager or TaskManager pod logs.                                 |
| Statements          | `list_flinkstatements`           | Lists SQL statements in an environment, filterable by phase or compute pool.         |
| Statements          | `get_flinkstatement`             | Gets a statement’s SQL text, phase, and status.                                      |
| Statements          | `list_flinkstatementexceptions`  | Gets recent exceptions for a failing statement.                                      |
| Statements          | `get_flinkstatementresults`      | Gets result rows for a running or completed `SELECT` statement.                      |
| Compute pools       | `list_flinkcomputepools`         | Lists compute pools with phase and resource usage.                                   |
| Compute pools       | `get_flinkcomputepool`           | Gets a compute pool’s spec, status, and resource usage.                              |
| Savepoints          | `list_flinksavepoints`           | Lists savepoints for an application, statement, or detached savepoints.              |
| Savepoints          | `get_flinksavepoint`             | Gets full details of a single savepoint.                                             |
| Secrets             | `list_flinksecrets`              | Lists registered secrets (values masked) and the environments they’re attached to.   |
| Catalogs            | `list_kafkacatalogs`             | Lists Kafka catalogs, or a specific catalog’s databases.                             |
| Kubernetes clusters | `list_kubernetesclusters`        | Lists registered Kubernetes clusters with connectivity and lifecycle state.          |

### Write tools

Write tools are only registered when `cmf.mcp.writeTools.enabled` is set to `true`. Clients
are typically prompted to confirm before an agent calls one of these tools.

| Category      | Tool                            | Description                                                                              |
|---------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Environments  | `apply_flinkenvironment`        | Creates or updates an environment (idempotent).                                          |
| Environments  | `delete_flinkenvironment`       | Deletes an environment. Fails if applications, statements, or compute pools still exist. |
| Applications  | `apply_flinkapplication`        | Creates or updates an application (idempotent).                                          |
| Applications  | `start_flinkapplication`        | Starts a suspended application, optionally from a savepoint.                             |
| Applications  | `suspend_flinkapplication`      | Suspends a running application.                                                          |
| Applications  | `delete_flinkapplication`       | Deletes an application.                                                                  |
| Statements    | `create_flinkstatement`         | Submits a SQL statement for execution in a compute pool.                                 |
| Statements    | `start_flinkstatement`          | Resumes a stopped statement, optionally from a savepoint.                                |
| Statements    | `stop_flinkstatement`           | Stops a running statement.                                                               |
| Statements    | `update_flinkstatement`         | Changes a statement’s parallelism, the only spec field mutable after creation.           |
| Statements    | `delete_flinkstatement`         | Deletes a statement.                                                                     |
| Compute pools | `create_flinkcomputepool`       | Creates a compute pool.                                                                  |
| Compute pools | `update_flinkcomputepool`       | Updates a compute pool’s spec. Rejected while statements are running on it.              |
| Compute pools | `delete_flinkcomputepool`       | Deletes a compute pool.                                                                  |
| Secrets       | `attach_flinksecret`            | Attaches a secret to an environment through a named mapping.                             |
| Secrets       | `detach_flinksecret`            | Detaches a secret mapping from an environment.                                           |
| Secrets       | `delete_flinksecret`            | Deletes a secret.                                                                        |
| Savepoints    | `trigger_flinksavepoint`        | Triggers a savepoint for a running application or statement.                             |
| Savepoints    | `pin_flinksavepoint`            | Pins or unpins a savepoint to exempt it from automatic retention cleanup.                |
| Savepoints    | `detach_flinksavepoint`         | Detaches an application savepoint into a standalone detached savepoint.                  |
| Savepoints    | `bulk_delete_flinksavepoints`   | Bulk-deletes savepoints by source and age. Pinned savepoints are never deleted.          |
| Savepoints    | `create_flinkdetachedsavepoint` | Registers a standalone savepoint that isn’t attached to any resource.                    |
| Savepoints    | `delete_flinkdetachedsavepoint` | Deletes a detached savepoint record, not the underlying storage data.                    |
| Savepoints    | `delete_flinksavepoint`         | Deletes a savepoint record attached to an application or statement.                      |

## Resources and prompts

The MCP server also exposes a static resource and three guided prompts:

| Resource              | Description                                                                                     |
|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `cmf://api-reference` | Static reference text covering the object hierarchy, status and phase enums, and filter syntax. |

| Prompt                      | Arguments                | Description                                                                                                                                                          |
|-----------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `debug_failing_application` | environment, application | Chains `get_flinkapplication`, `list_flinkapplicationevents`, `list_flinkapplicationinstances`, and `get_flinkapplicationlogs` to investigate a failing application. |
| `debug_failing_statement`   | environment, statement   | Chains `get_flinkstatement` and `list_flinkstatementexceptions` to investigate a failing SQL statement.                                                              |
| `environment_health_check`  | environment              | Surveys all resources in an environment and their statuses for a health report.                                                                                      |

## Related content

- [REST APIs](rest.md#af-rest-api)
- [CLI Operations](cli.md#cmf-flink-cli)
- [Access Control](../configure/access-control.md#cmf-access-control)
- [Installation with Helm](../installation/helm.md#install-cmf-helm)