OPNsense MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for comprehensive OPNsense firewall management. This server enables AI assistants like Claude to directly manage firewall configurations, diagnose network issues, and automate complex networking tasks.
Features
🔥 Firewall Management
- Complete CRUD operations for firewall rules
- Proper handling of API-created "automation rules"
- Inter-VLAN routing configuration
- Batch rule creation and management
- Enhanced persistence with multiple fallback methods
🌐 NAT Configuration (SSH-based)
- Outbound NAT rule management
- NAT mode control (automatic/hybrid/manual/disabled)
- No-NAT exception rules for inter-VLAN traffic
- Automated DMZ NAT issue resolution
- Direct XML configuration manipulation
🔍 Network Diagnostics
- Comprehensive routing analysis
- ARP table inspection with vendor identification
- Interface configuration management
- Network connectivity troubleshooting
- Auto-fix capabilities for common issues
🖥️ SSH/CLI Execution
- Direct command execution on OPNsense
- Configuration file manipulation
- System-level operations not available via API
- Service management and restarts
📊 Additional Capabilities
- VLAN management
- DHCP lease viewing and management
- DNS blocklist configuration
- HAProxy load balancer support
- Configuration backup and restore
- Infrastructure as Code support
Installation
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+ to run the server (Bun 1.1.39+ to develop on it)
- OPNsense firewall (v24.7+ recommended)
- API credentials for OPNsense
- SSH access (optional, for advanced features)
Quick Start with npm
- Install the package:
npm install -g opnsense-mcp-server
- Create a
.env file with your credentials:
# Required
OPNSENSE_HOST=https://your-opnsense-host:port
OPNSENSE_API_KEY=your-api-key
OPNSENSE_API_SECRET=your-api-secret
OPNSENSE_VERIFY_SSL=false
# Optional - for SSH features
OPNSENSE_SSH_HOST=your-opnsense-host
OPNSENSE_SSH_USERNAME=root
OPNSENSE_SSH_PASSWORD=your-password
# Or use SSH key
# OPNSENSE_SSH_KEY_PATH=~/.ssh/id_rsa
# Recommended for a new/production router — see "Safety Modes" below
# OPNSENSE_READ_ONLY=true
- Start the MCP server:
opnsense-mcp-server
⚠️ Safety Modes (read this before pointing at a production router)
By default this server can make live, immediate changes to your firewall —
add/delete rules, change NAT, restart services, run whitelisted shell
commands over SSH. Two environment variables (operator-only — a tool call
can never set or override them) add a safety net:
Both are enforced at the two lowest-level chokepoints this server uses to
reach the router — the API client and the SSH executor — so they apply
uniformly across all 140+ tools, not on a per-tool basis. If both are set,
OPNSENSE_READ_ONLY wins.
# First time pointing this at a real router? Start here:
OPNSENSE_READ_ONLY=true
# Once you trust it, watch what it would do before going live:
OPNSENSE_DRY_RUN=true
# Remove both once you're confident.
See CONFIGURATION.md for the config
reference, or docs/features/safety-modes.md
for how it works under the hood.
Quick Start with Bun (Faster)
Bun provides significantly faster startup times and better performance.
- Install Bun (if not already installed):
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
- Clone and install:
git clone https://github.com/vespo92/OPNSenseMCP.git
cd OPNSenseMCP
bun install
Create your .env file (same as npm version above)
Run with Bun:
# Development with hot reload
bun run dev:bun
# Production
bun run start:bun
Using Bun with Claude Desktop
{
"mcpServers": {
"opnsense": {
"command": "bun",
"args": ["run", "/path/to/OPNSenseMCP/src/index.ts"],
"env": {
"OPNSENSE_HOST": "https://your-opnsense:port",
"OPNSENSE_API_KEY": "your-key",
"OPNSENSE_API_SECRET": "your-secret",
"OPNSENSE_VERIFY_SSL": "false"
}
}
}
}
Usage with Claude Desktop (npm)
Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (claude_desktop_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"opnsense": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["opnsense-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"OPNSENSE_HOST": "https://your-opnsense:port",
"OPNSENSE_API_KEY": "your-key",
"OPNSENSE_API_SECRET": "your-secret",
"OPNSENSE_VERIFY_SSL": "false"
}
}
}
}
Common Use Cases
Fix DMZ NAT Issues
// Automatically fix DMZ to LAN routing
await mcp.call('nat_fix_dmz', {
dmzNetwork: '10.0.6.0/24',
lanNetwork: '10.0.0.0/24'
});
Create Firewall Rules
// Allow NFS from DMZ to NAS
await mcp.call('firewall_create_rule', {
action: 'pass',
interface: 'opt8',
source: '10.0.6.0/24',
destination: '10.0.0.14/32',
protocol: 'tcp',
destination_port: '2049',
description: 'Allow NFS from DMZ'
});
Diagnose Routing Issues
// Run comprehensive routing diagnostics
await mcp.call('routing_diagnostics', {
sourceNetwork: '10.0.6.0/24',
destNetwork: '10.0.0.0/24'
});
Execute CLI Commands
// Run any OPNsense CLI command
await mcp.call('system_execute_command', {
command: 'pfctl -s state | grep 10.0.6'
});
The server provides 50+ MCP tools organized by category:
firewall_list_rules - List all firewall rules
firewall_create_rule - Create a new rule
firewall_update_rule - Update existing rule
firewall_delete_rule - Delete a rule
firewall_apply_changes - Apply pending changes
nat_list_outbound - List outbound NAT rules
nat_set_mode - Set NAT mode
nat_create_outbound_rule - Create NAT rule
nat_fix_dmz - Fix DMZ NAT issues
nat_analyze_config - Analyze NAT configuration
arp_list - List ARP table entries
routing_diagnostics - Diagnose routing issues
routing_fix_all - Auto-fix routing problems
interface_list - List network interfaces
vlan_create - Create VLAN
system_execute_command - Execute CLI command
backup_create - Create configuration backup
service_restart - Restart a service
For a complete list, see docs/api/mcp-tools.md.
Documentation
Testing
The repository includes comprehensive testing utilities:
# Test NAT functionality
npx tsx scripts/test/test-nat-ssh.ts
# Test firewall rules
npx tsx scripts/test/test-rules.ts
# Test routing diagnostics
npx tsx scripts/test/test-routing.ts
# Run all tests
npm test
Development
Building from Source
This repo uses Bun as its development toolchain (install,
build, tests). The published package is still plain Node — it is consumed as
node dist/index.js — so Bun is only needed to work on the project, not to
run it.
git clone https://github.com/vespo92/OPNSenseMCP.git
cd OPNSenseMCP
bun install
bun run build
bun run test
The lockfile is bun.lock; there is no package-lock.json. CI runs
bun install --frozen-lockfile, so commit bun.lock alongside any
package.json change.
Project Structure
OPNSenseMCP/
├── src/ # Source code
│ ├── api/ # API client
│ ├── resources/ # Resource implementations
│ └── index.ts # MCP server entry
├── docs/ # Documentation
├── scripts/ # Utility scripts
│ ├── test/ # Test scripts
│ ├── debug/ # Debug utilities
│ └── fixes/ # Fix scripts
└── dist/ # Build output
Troubleshooting
API Authentication Failed
- Verify API key and secret are correct
- Ensure API access is enabled in OPNsense
- Check firewall rules allow API access
SSH Connection Failed
- Verify SSH credentials in
.env
- Ensure SSH is enabled on OPNsense
- Check user has appropriate privileges
NAT Features Not Working
- NAT management requires SSH access
- Add SSH credentials to environment variables
- Test with:
npx tsx scripts/test/test-nat-ssh.ts
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Support
Acknowledgments
Version: 0.8.2 | Status: Production Ready | Last Updated: August 2025