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Port MCP server


The Port Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server acts as a bridge, enabling Large Language Models (LLMs)—like those powering Claude, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot—to interact directly with your Port.io developer portal. This allows you to leverage natural language to query your software catalog, analyze service health, manage resources, and even streamline development workflows, all from your preferred interfaces.

AI Agents vs. MCP Server

The Port MCP Server is currently in open beta and provides significant standalone value, independent of our AI Agents feature. Port AI Agents are currently in closed beta with limited access, while the MCP Server gives you immediate access to streamline building in Port, query your catalog, analyze service health, and streamline development workflows using natural language.

While the MCP Server can interact with Port AI Agents when available, the core MCP functionality can be used freely without requiring access to the closed beta AI Agents feature.

Why integrate LLMs with your developer portal?​

The primary advantage of the Port MCP Server is the ability to bring your developer portal's data and actions into the conversational interfaces you already use. This offers several benefits:

  • Reduced Context Switching: Access Port information and initiate actions without leaving your IDE or chat tool.
  • Increased Efficiency: Get answers and perform tasks faster using natural language commands.
  • Improved Developer Experience: Make your developer portal more accessible and intuitive to interact with.
  • Enhanced Data-Driven Decisions: Easily pull specific data points from Port to inform your work in real-time.

As one user put it:

"It would be interesting to build a use case where a developer could ask Copilot from his IDE about stuff Port knows about, without actually having to go to Port."

The Port MCP Server directly enables these kinds of valuable, in-context interactions.

Key capabilities and use-cases​

The Port MCP Server enables you to interact with your Port data and capabilities directly through natural language within your chosen LLM-powered tools. Here's what you can achieve:

Find information quickly​

Effortlessly query your software catalog and get immediate answers. This eliminates the need to navigate through UIs or write complex API queries when you need information.

  • Ask: "Who is the owner of service X?"
  • Ask: "How many services do we have in production?"
  • Ask: "Show me all the microservices owned by the Backend team."
  • Ask: "What are the dependencies of the 'OrderProcessing' service?"

Vibe-build in Port​

Leverage Claude's capabilities to manage and build your entire Port software catalog. You can create and configure blueprints, set up self-service actions, design scorecards, and more.

  • Ask: "Please help me apply this guide into my Port instance - [[guide URL]]"
  • Ask: "I want to start managing my k8s deployments, how can we build it in Port?"
  • Ask: "I want a new production readiness scorecard to track the code quality and service alerts"
  • Ask: "Create a new self-service action in Port to scaffold a new service"

Analyze scorecards and quality​

Gain insights into service health, compliance, and quality by leveraging Port's scorecard data. Identify areas for improvement and track progress against your standards.

  • Ask: "Which services are failing our security requirements scorecard?"
  • Ask: "What's preventing the 'InventoryService' from reaching Gold level in the 'Production Readiness' scorecard?"
  • Ask: "Show me the bug count vs. test coverage for all Java microservices."
  • Ask: "Which of our services are missing critical monitoring dashboards?"

Streamline development and operations​

Receive assistance with common development and operational tasks, directly within your workflow.

  • Ask: "What do I need to do to set up a new 'ReportingService'?"
  • Ask: "Guide me through creating a new component blueprint with 'name', 'description', and 'owner' properties."
  • Ask: "Help me add a rule to the 'Tier1Services' scorecard that requires an on-call schedule to be defined."

Find your own use cases​

You can use Port's MCP to find the use cases that will be valuable to you. Try using this prompt: "think of creative prompts I can use to showcase the power of Port's MCP, based on the data available in Port"

Installing Port MCP​

Installing Port's MCP is simple. Follow the instructions for your preferred tool, or learn about the archived local MCP server.

To connect Cursor to Port's remote MCP, follow these steps:

  1. Open Cursor settings

    Go to Cursor settings, click on Tools & Integrations, and add a new MCP server.

  2. Configure the MCP server

    Add the appropriate configuration for your Port region:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "port-eu": {
      "url": "https://mcp.port.io/v1"
    }
  }
}

  1. Authenticate with Port

    Click on "Needs login" and complete the authentication flow in the window that opens.

  2. Verify connection

    After successful authentication, you'll see the list of available tools from the MCP server.

Authentication window behavior

In some cases, after clicking "Accept" in the authentication popup, the window won't get closed but the connection is established successfully. You can safely close the window.

If you still don't see the tool, try it a couple of times. We are aware of this behavior and working to improve it.

Token-based authentication​

You can also connect using token-based authentication for automated environments like CI/CD pipelines where interactive authentication isn't possible:

curl -X POST "https://api.getport.io/v1/auth/access_token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"clientId":"YOUR_CLIENT_ID","clientSecret":"YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"}'

For complete examples and detailed setup instructions, see our token-based authentication guide.

Connecting to AI Agents​

To connect the Port MCP server to AI agents in CI/CD environments or other automated contexts where interactive authentication isn't possible, see our token-based authentication.