TrueNAS MCP Server

⚠️ Research Preview
This project is in active development and released as a research preview. APIs and features may change. Not recommended for production use.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for TrueNAS that enables AI models to interact with the TrueNAS API using natural language queries.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Architecture
• Building
• Installation
  • Step 1: Download or Build Binary
  • Step 2: Get TrueNAS API Key
  • Step 3: Configure Your MCP Client
    • Claude Desktop
    • Claude Code
  • Step 4: Restart Your MCP Client
  • Step 5: Verify the Connection
• Command-Line Options
• Connection Details
• Security
• Example Usage
• Advanced Features
  • MCP Tasks for Long-Running Operations
  • Dry-Run Mode for Write Operations
• Development

Features

TrueNAS MCP provides comprehensive management capabilities through natural language:

Core Categories

• 📊 Monitoring - System info, health, alerts, performance metrics
• 💾 Storage - Pools, datasets, snapshots, shares (SMB/NFS)
• 🖥️ Virtualization - VM management and status
• 🔐 Directory Services - Active Directory, LDAP, FreeIPA integration and health monitoring
• 📈 Capacity Planning - Utilization analysis and trend projections
• 🔄 Maintenance - System updates, boot environments, pool scrubs
• 📦 Applications - Catalog search, guided installation with storage setup, app management and upgrades
• ⚙️ Tasks - Long-running operation tracking

Key Capabilities

• Intelligent Filtering & Sorting - Query datasets, snapshots, VMs with smart filters
• Dry-Run Mode - Preview changes before execution for all write operations
• Task Tracking - Automatic progress monitoring for updates, upgrades, and scrubs
• Safety Checks - Built-in validation prevents dangerous operations
• Natural Language - Ask questions in plain English, get actionable insights

📖 View complete feature list →

Architecture

Single native binary that runs on your desktop and connects directly to TrueNAS:

┌──────────────────┐
│  Claude Desktop  │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │ stdio (JSON-RPC)
┌────────▼───────────────────┐
│  truenas-mcp               │ (Your Desktop)
│  - stdio interface         │
│  - Tool registry           │
│  - WebSocket client        │
└────────┬───────────────────┘
         │ Secure WebSocket (wss://)
         │ + TrueNAS API key auth
┌────────▼──────────────────┐
│  TrueNAS Middleware       │
│  - WebSocket HTTPS endpoint│
│  - Port 443 (wss)          │
└───────────────────────────┘

Key Benefits:

• ✅ No deployment to TrueNAS required
• ✅ Runs entirely on your desktop
• ✅ Secure WebSocket connection (wss://) to TrueNAS middleware
• ✅ Self-signed certificate support (works with TrueNAS defaults)
• ✅ Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• ✅ Simple configuration with hostname or full WebSocket URL
• ✅ API key protection (requires encrypted connections)

Building

# Download dependencies
go mod download

# Build for local platform
make build

# Build for all platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows)
make build-all

Installation

Step 1: Download or Build Binary

Choose the appropriate binary for your platform:

macOS (Apple Silicon):

sudo cp truenas-mcp-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp

macOS (Intel):

sudo cp truenas-mcp-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp

Linux:

sudo cp truenas-mcp-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/truenas-mcp

Windows:

copy truenas-mcp-windows-amd64.exe C:\Windows\System32\truenas-mcp.exe

Step 2: Get TrueNAS API Key

1. Log into your TrueNAS web interface
2. Go to System Settings → API Keys
3. Click Add to create a new API key
4. Give it a name (e.g., "Claude Desktop MCP")
5. Make sure it has appropriate permissions (admin recommended)
6. Copy the API key - you'll need it for configuration

Step 3: Configure Your MCP Client

Claude Desktop

Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS:

vi ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Linux:

vi ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the TrueNAS MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "truenas": {
      "command": "truenas-mcp",
      "args": [
        "--truenas-url", "truenas.local",
        "--api-key", "your-api-key-here"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration options:

Option 1: Hostname (automatically uses wss://):

"args": [
  "--truenas-url", "192.168.0.31",
  "--api-key", "your-api-key-here"
]

Option 2: Using environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "truenas": {
      "command": "truenas-mcp",
      "env": {
        "TRUENAS_URL": "192.168.0.31",
        "TRUENAS_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Claude Code uses the claude mcp command to configure MCP servers:

Add TrueNAS MCP server:

claude mcp add truenas -- truenas-mcp --truenas-url 192.168.0.31 --api-key your-api-key-here

Verify the configuration:

claude mcp list
claude mcp get truenas

Manage the server:

# Remove the server
claude mcp remove truenas

# Re-add with updated configuration
claude mcp add truenas -- truenas-mcp --truenas-url 192.168.0.31 --api-key new-api-key

Step 4: Restart Your MCP Client

Claude Desktop: Quit Claude Desktop completely and restart it.

Claude Code: The MCP server will be loaded automatically when you use Claude Code.

Step 5: Verify the Connection

You should now be able to ask TrueNAS questions:

• "What version of TrueNAS is running?"
• "Show me all storage pools and their health"
• "List all datasets"
• "What shares are configured?"
• "Show me system metrics for the past hour"

Command-Line Options

Flags

• --truenas-url - TrueNAS hostname (required, or use TRUENAS_URL env var)
  • Examples: truenas.local or 192.168.0.31 (automatically uses wss:// on port 443)
  • ⚠️ Note: ws:// (unencrypted) is not allowed - TrueNAS will revoke API keys used over unencrypted connections
• --api-key - TrueNAS API key for authentication (required, or use TRUENAS_API_KEY env var)
• --insecure - Skip TLS verification (not needed - self-signed certs accepted by default)
• --debug - Enable debug logging
• --version - Print version and exit

Examples

# Basic usage
./truenas-mcp --truenas-url 192.168.0.31 --api-key your-api-key

# Using environment variables
export TRUENAS_URL=192.168.0.31
export TRUENAS_API_KEY=your-api-key
./truenas-mcp

# With debug logging
./truenas-mcp --truenas-url 192.168.0.31 --api-key your-api-key --debug

Connection Details

How It Works

The binary connects directly to TrueNAS middleware's WebSocket endpoint:

1. Uses secure WebSocket (wss://): Connects to wss://your-truenas:443/websocket
2. Self-signed certs accepted: Works with TrueNAS default self-signed certificates
3. Authenticates via API key: Uses auth.login_with_api_key method

⚠️ Security Requirement

IMPORTANT: TrueNAS requires encrypted connections (wss://) for API key authentication. Using unencrypted ws:// will cause your API key to be revoked as a security measure. This binary defaults to wss:// to protect your credentials.

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues:

• Verify TrueNAS is accessible from your machine
• Check firewall allows port 443 (wss)
• Verify API key is valid and has admin permissions

Authentication Failures:

• Generate a new API key in TrueNAS System Settings → API Keys
• Ensure the key has appropriate permissions
• Check that the key wasn't accidentally truncated when copying

Security

• Authentication: TrueNAS API key required for all operations
• TLS/SSL: Only supports wss:// (encrypted) - ws:// is rejected for security
• Self-signed certificates: Accepted by default (common for TrueNAS)
• Network: Client-only (no listening ports, all connections outbound)
• API Key Storage: Recommend using environment variables instead of command-line args

Security Best Practices

1. Always use secure WebSocket (wss://) - enforced by default, ws:// is rejected
2. Generate dedicated API key for MCP use only
3. Use environment variables for API keys in Claude Desktop config
4. Restrict API key permissions to minimum required
5. Rotate API keys periodically

Example Usage

Once connected via an MCP client, ask questions in natural language:

Quick Start Examples

Monitoring:

• "What version of TrueNAS is running?"
• "Are there any system alerts?"
• "Show me CPU and memory usage over the past day"

Storage:

• "Show me all storage pools and their health status"
• "What are the top 10 datasets using the most space?"
• "List snapshots for the tank/shares/data dataset"

Maintenance:

• "Check if there are any TrueNAS system updates available"
• "What's the scrub status of my pools?"
• "Show me boot environments that are safe to delete"

Management:

• "Create a new dataset for file sharing"
• "Set up a weekly scrub schedule for tank on Sunday at 2am"
• "Upgrade the plex app to the latest version"

💬 View complete example queries →

Advanced Features

MCP Tasks for Long-Running Operations

The server implements MCP Tasks specification for operations that take time to complete (like app upgrades):

How it works:

1. Write operations (like upgrade_app) return a task_id instead of blocking
2. Tasks are automatically tracked in the background
3. Use tasks_get with the task ID to check progress
4. Tasks update automatically - no manual polling needed

Example:

User: "Upgrade the plex app"
→ Returns: {"task_id": "abc-123", "status": "working", ...}

User: "Check task abc-123"
→ Returns: {"status": "completed", "result": {...}}

Task States:

• working - Operation in progress
• completed - Operation finished successfully
• failed - Operation encountered an error
• cancelled - Operation was cancelled

Dry-Run Mode for Write Operations

Write operations support previewing changes before execution:

How to use:
Add "dry_run": true to any write operation to preview what would happen without making changes.

Example:

Tool: upgrade_app
Args: {"app_name": "plex", "dry_run": true}

Returns:
{
  "tool": "upgrade_app",
  "current_state": {
    "name": "plex",
    "version": "1.32.5.7349",
    "state": "RUNNING"
  },
  "planned_actions": [
    {
      "step": 1,
      "description": "Stop application containers",
      "operation": "stop",
      "target": "plex"
    },
    {
      "step": 2,
      "description": "Upgrade from 1.32.5.7349 to latest",
      "operation": "upgrade",
      "target": "plex"
    },
    {
      "step": 3,
      "description": "Start application with new version",
      "operation": "start",
      "target": "plex"
    }
  ],
  "warnings": [],
  "estimated_time": {
    "min_seconds": 30,
    "max_seconds": 300,
    "note": "Time varies based on image size and network speed"
  }
}

Benefits:

• See exactly what will change before committing
• Understand prerequisites and warnings
• Get time estimates for operations
• Build confidence before making changes

Development

# Run linters
make lint

# Run tests
make test

# Clean build artifacts
make clean