connectwise-automate-mcp

ConnectWise Automate MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for ConnectWise Automate with decision tree architecture for Claude.

One-Click Deployment

[!IMPORTANT] Before you click: this server depends on @wyre-ai/node-connectwise-automate, which is hosted on the GitHub Packages npm registry. GitHub Packages has no anonymous access — even though the package is public, every npm install needs a token. The cloud builder runs npm install for you, so you must give it one, or the build fails with npm error 401 Unauthorized ... npm.pkg.github.com.

1. Create a GitHub Personal Access Token with the read:packages scope (classic token). Any GitHub account works — you do not need to be a member of the WYRE-AI org to read its public packages.
2. Add it as a build variable when prompted by the deploy flow:
   • Cloudflare Workers → set a build variable named NODE_AUTH_TOKEN to your PAT (Workers → Settings → Build → Variables and Secrets).
   • DigitalOcean App Platform → set an encrypted env var named GITHUB_TOKEN with scope Build Time to your PAT (the .do/deploy.template.yaml already declares it).

[!NOTE] The DigitalOcean target builds the full Docker image and runs the complete MCP server over HTTP — this is the recommended path for operators. Set CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET (and the CW_AUTOMATE_* secrets) before the first boot; HTTP mode exits if the S2S secret is missing. The template sets AUTH_MODE=env for that single-tenant deploy. This repo has no supported Cloudflare Workers target yet; prefer DigitalOcean or the prebuilt container image (ghcr.io/wyre-ai/connectwise-automate-mcp).

Features

• Decision Tree Architecture: Navigate between domains (computers, clients, alerts, scripts) to access relevant tools
• Lazy Loading: Client initialization and domain handlers are loaded on demand
• Comprehensive API Coverage: Manage computers, clients, alerts, and scripts
• Interactive Device Card (MCP Apps): cwautomate_computers_get renders as a read-only interactive card in MCP Apps hosts (Claude Desktop/web); neutral by default, brandable via window.__BRAND__ injection or MCP_BRAND_* env vars; plain-JSON behavior is unchanged in other hosts

Installation

This package is published to the GitHub Packages npm registry, which requires a token even for public packages. Authenticate once, then install:

# Authenticate npm to GitHub Packages (token needs the read:packages scope)
export NODE_AUTH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)   # or a PAT with read:packages

npm install @wyre-ai/connectwise-automate-mcp

The repo's .npmrc already points the @wyre-ai scope at GitHub Packages and reads the token from NODE_AUTH_TOKEN, so no further config is needed.

Configuration

Copy .env.example and set the variables below. The stdio transport reads CW_AUTOMATE_* and does not use CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET.

Variable	Required	Description
CW_AUTOMATE_SERVER_URL	For stdio and AUTH_MODE=env	ConnectWise Automate server URL (e.g. https://your-server.hostedrmm.com)
CW_AUTOMATE_CLIENT_ID	For stdio and AUTH_MODE=env	ConnectWise Automate Client ID
CW_AUTOMATE_USERNAME	For stdio and AUTH_MODE=env	Integrator username or user login
CW_AUTOMATE_PASSWORD	For stdio and AUTH_MODE=env	Integrator password or user password
CW_AUTOMATE_2FA_CODE	No	Two-factor authentication code (forces user authentication)
CW_AUTOMATE_AUTH_METHOD	No	integrator (default) or user
MCP_TRANSPORT	No	stdio (default) or http
AUTH_MODE	No	gateway (Docker image and Compose default) or env. Gateway mode requires X-CWA-Server, X-CWA-Client-ID, X-CWA-Username, and X-CWA-Password on each /mcp request and never falls back to CW_AUTOMATE_*. env uses those variables only after S2S auth succeeds.
CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET	Yes for HTTP	Service-to-service secret. Generate with openssl rand -hex 32. The HTTP server logs an error and exits non-zero when this is empty or a known placeholder (replace-with-a-real-secret, changeme, and the other example values). The value is never logged. Compose will not start without it. Never commit a real value.
MCP_ALLOW_INSECURE_DEV	No	Set to exactly 1 only for local development to start HTTP without CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET. The process logs a warning and does not enforce X-Gateway-S2S. The listener is forced to 127.0.0.1; a wider MCP_HTTP_HOST (including 0.0.0.0) is ignored and the override is logged. A placeholder secret still refuses to start.
MCP_HTTP_HOST	No	Bind address when MCP_TRANSPORT=http and CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET is set. Defaults to 127.0.0.1. The container image sets 0.0.0.0.
MCP_HTTP_PORT	No	HTTP port. Defaults to 8080.

/health stays unauthenticated and does not read credentials.

HTTP authentication

With MCP_TRANSPORT=http and a real CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET, every /mcp request must include X-Gateway-S2S. The header value is t=<unix seconds>,v1=<hex>, where the hex is HMAC-SHA256 of the literal string t=<unix seconds> keyed with CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET (64 lowercase hex characters). The timestamp must be within 300 seconds of the server clock. A missing or invalid header is HTTP 401, before vendor credentials are read.

TS=$(date +%s)
SIG=$(printf 't=%s' "$TS" | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET" -hex | awk '{print $NF}')
curl -sS http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "X-Gateway-S2S: t=${TS},v1=${SIG}" \
  -H "X-CWA-Server: https://your-server.hostedrmm.com" \
  -H "X-CWA-Client-ID: your-client-id" \
  -H "X-CWA-Username: your-username" \
  -H "X-CWA-Password: your-password" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}'

In AUTH_MODE=gateway, those X-CWA-* headers are the only credential source (X-CWA-2FA and X-CWA-Auth-Method are optional). A request missing any required header is HTTP 401 and does not use CW_AUTOMATE_* from the environment. With AUTH_MODE=env, the signed request uses the CW_AUTOMATE_* variables instead.

Docker

The image listens on 0.0.0.0 inside the container (MCP_HTTP_HOST) and defaults to AUTH_MODE=gateway. Publish the port on loopback and pass the S2S secret. In gateway mode, Automate credentials arrive on each request as headers; they are not read from the environment.

docker build -t connectwise-automate-mcp .
docker run \
  -e CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET=your-s2s-secret \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
  connectwise-automate-mcp

Compose refuses to start when CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET is unset, sets AUTH_MODE=gateway, does not inject CW_AUTOMATE_*, and publishes 127.0.0.1:8080:8080:

CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET=your-s2s-secret docker compose up

Single-tenant HTTP (AUTH_MODE=env) still requires the S2S secret, then uses CW_AUTOMATE_*:

docker run \
  -e CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET=your-s2s-secret \
  -e AUTH_MODE=env \
  -e CW_AUTOMATE_SERVER_URL=https://your-server.hostedrmm.com \
  -e CW_AUTOMATE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id \
  -e CW_AUTOMATE_USERNAME=your-username \
  -e CW_AUTOMATE_PASSWORD=your-password \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
  connectwise-automate-mcp

Local HTTP without a secret is development-only. It binds 127.0.0.1 only and logs a warning. A non-loopback MCP_HTTP_HOST is overridden to 127.0.0.1:

MCP_TRANSPORT=http MCP_ALLOW_INSECURE_DEV=1 node dist/index.js

The DigitalOcean App Platform template is single-tenant: it sets AUTH_MODE=env so the CW_AUTOMATE_* secrets stay the credential source, and it declares CONDUIT_S2S_SECRET. Set that secret in the App Platform UI or the container exits on boot.

Authentication methods

The server supports both ConnectWise Automate authentication methods:

• integrator (default) – machine-to-machine integrator account. Recommended for automation. Does not use 2FA.
• user – interactive user login, which can supply a two-factor code.

You normally don't need to set CW_AUTOMATE_AUTH_METHOD: integrator auth is used by default, and user auth is selected automatically when CW_AUTOMATE_2FA_CODE is provided.

Usage

As an MCP Server

Add to your Claude configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "connectwise-automate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@wyre-ai/connectwise-automate-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CW_AUTOMATE_SERVER_URL": "https://your-server.hostedrmm.com",
        "CW_AUTOMATE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "CW_AUTOMATE_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "CW_AUTOMATE_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Navigation

The server uses a decision tree pattern. Start by navigating to a domain:

1. Use cwautomate_navigate to select a domain (computers, clients, alerts, scripts)
2. Domain-specific tools become available
3. Use cwautomate_back to return to the main menu

Available Domains

Computers

• List computers with filtering options
• Get computer details
• Search computers by name
• Reboot computers remotely
• Run scripts on computers

Clients

• List all clients
• Get client details
• Create new clients
• Update existing clients

Alerts

• List alerts with filtering (read-only in the Automate API)
• Get alert details

Scripts

• List available scripts
• Get script details
• Execute scripts on computers

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run tests
npm test

# Type check
npm run typecheck

# Lint
npm run lint

License

Apache-2.0