forti-mcp
forti-mcp is an MCP server for FortiGate firewalls. It lets an AI client (Claude Code, Codex or any other MCP client) discover, read and change FortiOS configuration through the FortiOS REST API only. It never runs SSH or CLI commands on the device.
1claude mcp add --scope user forti -- forti-mcp # or: forti install mcpWhat you get
Runtime
Native and on demand
One executable that the AI client starts over stdio when it needs it and that exits when the client closes it. No daemon, no network listener, no background service.
Tools
Four tools
forti_discover (profiles, device identity and mode, resource search, attributes), forti_read
(configuration and monitor data), forti_plan (validates a change and stores it as a plan) and
forti_apply (executes a stored plan, by id only).
Modes
The operator decides what may change
Each device profile has a mode, read-only (the default), guarded or autonomous, set in
forti configure. Nothing an MCP client sends can change a mode or approve a plan.
Paging
Bounded results
Every tool result fits a byte budget (48 KiB of JSON by default) and is always complete JSON; when a listing is cut, the result says where to continue.
Security
Secrets stay out of the conversation
Device secrets in read results come back as "<redacted>", and API tokens never appear in the
client's configuration.
Protocol
Both protocol eras
MCP 2026-07-28 (stateless) and the initialize-based 2025-11-25 and 2025-06-18 revisions.
How it relates to forti-cli
forti-mcp compiles in the command engine of forti-cli,
the forti command-line tool, which is built on the
forti-api SDK. The engine owns the semantics (resource
catalog, validation, plans, modes, approvals, audit); forti-mcp maps MCP tool calls to engine
requests and back. It never runs the forti executable, so the two packages install independently.
You still want forti next to forti-mcp. Device profiles and credentials are created with
forti configure, guarded-mode approvals are given with forti plan approve, and
forti install mcp registers this server with Claude Code and Codex. Both programs read the same
configuration (~/.config/forti) and state, so a plan made in one can be inspected, approved or
applied in the other.
Where to go next
Getting started
Installation
Install forti-mcp from the APT repository or Homebrew, or build it from source.
Getting started
Connecting AI clients
Configure a device profile and register forti-mcp with Claude Code, Codex or another MCP client.
Guide
The workflow: discover, read, plan, apply
How a model uses the four tools, learns a profile's mode and handles guarded approvals.
Guide
Safety and modes
What each mode allows, what guarded mode does not stop, and the limits of recovery.
Reference
Tools reference
The four tools, their input schemas, results and annotations.
Reference
Protocol
Supported MCP versions, methods, error codes and the stdio transport rules.