Kyverno MCP Server

Overview

The Kyverno MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides Kyverno policy management capabilities through a standardized interface. This server enables AI assistants to interact with Kyverno policies in Kubernetes clusters, making policy management more accessible and automated.

Whether you’re looking to proactively assess the security posture of your clusters before implementing Kyverno, or you need to monitor and analyze policy violations in existing Kyverno deployments, the MCP server provides the tools and guidance necessary for comprehensive policy management across your Kubernetes infrastructure.

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized protocol that allows AI assistants to interact with external tools and services. The Kyverno MCP Server implements this protocol to expose Kyverno’s policy management capabilities to AI-powered tools like Claude Desktop, Amazon Q, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients.

Key Features

• Proactive Policy Scanning: Test cluster resources against curated Kyverno policy sets, Git repositories, or local policies to discover security issues without requiring Kyverno installation
• Real-time Violation Monitoring: View detailed policy violations and compliance status from PolicyReport and ClusterPolicyReport custom resources in clusters with deployed policies
• Multi-Cluster Management: Seamlessly switch between Kubernetes contexts to scan or monitor policies across different environments
• AI-Powered Guidance: Natural language interaction with built-in help system for Kyverno installation and troubleshooting
• Flexible Deployment Options: Run as a local binary, container, or expose via HTTP(S) for different integration scenarios

Quick Links

Getting Started

• Installation Guide - Detailed installation instructions
• Quick Start - Get up and running in minutes
• Use Cases & Scenarios - Real-world scenarios and user stories
• Available Tools - Complete tool reference

Configuration & Usage

• Configuration Options - All configuration settings
• Security Best Practices - Secure deployment guidelines
• Integration Examples - Common integration patterns

Support & Resources

• Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
• Release Notes - Version history and updates
• GitHub Repository - Source code and contributions

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24 or higher (for building from source)
• Access to a Kubernetes cluster with a valid kubeconfig
• Kyverno installed in your cluster (for violation monitoring; optional for proactive policy assessment)

Installation Options

Quick Install with Homebrew

brew tap nirmata/tap
brew install kyverno-mcp

Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the appropriate binary for your platform from the Nirmata downloads page.

Run with Docker

# Build the image
docker build -t kyverno-mcp:latest .

# Run with mounted kubeconfig
docker run --rm -i \
  -v $HOME/.kube/config:/kube/config:ro \
  kyverno-mcp:latest -- \
  --kubeconfig /kube/config

For detailed installation instructions, see the Installation Guide.

Getting Started

Basic Usage

Start the server using your default kubeconfig:

./kyverno-mcp

Or specify a custom kubeconfig:

./kyverno-mcp --kubeconfig=/path/to/kubeconfig

Configure Your MCP Client

Add the Kyverno MCP server to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kyverno": {
      "command": "/path/to/kyverno-mcp",
      "args": [
        "--kubeconfig=/path/to/your/kubeconfig"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For a complete getting started tutorial, see the Getting Started Guide.

Network Access (HTTP/HTTPS)

For remote access or browser-based clients, expose the server over HTTP(S):

# HTTPS (recommended for production)
./kyverno-mcp \
  --http-addr :8443 \
  --tls-cert /path/to/cert.pem \
  --tls-key /path/to/key.pem

# HTTP (local testing only)
./kyverno-mcp --http-addr :8080

⚠️ Security Note: Never expose the server over plain HTTP in production. Always use HTTPS with valid TLS certificates or place the server behind an HTTPS-terminating proxy. See our Security Best Practices for more information.

Available Tools

The Kyverno MCP Server provides the following tools:

Context Management

• list_contexts: List all available Kubernetes contexts
• switch_context: Switch to a different Kubernetes context

Policy Operations

• apply_policies: Scan cluster resources against Kyverno policies from curated sets, Git repos, or local files
  • Supports policy sets: pod-security, rbac-best-practices, kubernetes-best-practices, all
  • Enable proactive security assessment by testing policies without requiring Kyverno installation
  • Source policies from Git repositories or local filesystem paths for custom policy testing
  • Provides immediate, non-persistent violation reports using kyverno apply

Monitoring & Compliance

• show_violations: Read and display policy violations from PolicyReport and ClusterPolicyReport custom resources
  • Shows both namespaced and cluster-wide violations with severity levels and timestamps
  • Provides detailed violation analysis including affected resources and policy details
  • Requires Kyverno installation and deployed policies to function
  • Offers Kyverno installation guidance when not yet deployed

Documentation

• help: Access built-in Kyverno documentation
  • Topics: installation, troubleshooting

For detailed tool documentation, see the Available Tools Reference.

Command Line Reference

For complete configuration options, see the Configuration Guide.

Use Cases

Proactive Security Assessment

Scan clusters for policy violations without installing Kyverno:

Scenario: As a DevOps engineer, I want to scan my Kubernetes clusters for policy violations and assess their security posture without needing to install Kyverno or deploy policies to the cluster.

• Scan existing cluster resources against curated policy sets
• Get immediate, non-persistent violation reports
• Receive guidance on Kyverno installation and policy deployment
• Establish baseline security requirements across multiple environments

Apply pod security policies to my cluster and show me what violations occur

Compliance Monitoring & Violation Analysis

Monitor ongoing compliance in clusters with deployed Kyverno policies:

Scenario: As a security engineer, I want to monitor compliance across my Kubernetes clusters that already have Kyverno installed and policies deployed, and get detailed reports on policy violations from PolicyReport resources.

• Real-time violation monitoring from PolicyReport custom resources
• Detailed analysis with severity levels, affected resources, and timestamps
• Filtered reporting by namespace, policy type, or severity
• Current state monitoring of policy violations

Show me all high-severity violations in the production namespace

Multi-Cluster Policy Management

Manage policies consistently across development, staging, and production:

Compare policy violations between staging and production clusters

Automated Policy Testing

Test security policies across multiple clusters with AI assistance:

Apply rbac-best-practices to all my clusters and show me the compliance status

Next Steps

• Install Kyverno in your cluster
• Explore Kyverno policies
• Learn about Model Context Protocol
• Join the Kyverno community

Support

• Documentation: Full documentation available in this guide
• GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
• Community: Join the Kyverno Slack channel

Quick Start

Ready to get started? Check out our guides:

• Getting Started - Quick setup guide
• Usage - Real-world scenarios and user stories
• Installation - Detailed installation instructions
• Available Tools - Complete tool reference
• Configuration - Configuration options
• Release Notes - Latest updates and changes

Documentation

• Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions

Visit our GitHub repository for source code and development information.