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perfsonar-mcp

An MCP server for perfSONAR that enables querying historical network measurements, discovering global testpoints, and scheduling active network tests. It provides tools for monitoring throughput, latency, and packet loss through integration with measurement archives and pScheduler.

Updated
Feb 18, 2026

perfsonar-mcp

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for perfSONAR - Query measurements, discover testpoints, and schedule network tests.

🚀 Features

Measurement Archive Queries

  • Query historical measurements with filters
  • Get throughput, latency, and packet loss data
  • Access raw time-series data with summaries
  • Discover available measurement types

Lookup Service Integration

  • Find perfSONAR testpoints globally
  • Search by location (city, country)
  • Locate pScheduler services for testing

Test Scheduling (pScheduler)

  • Schedule throughput tests (iperf3)
  • Schedule latency tests (owping)
  • Schedule RTT tests (ping)
  • Monitor test status and retrieve results

📦 Installation

pip install -e .

For development with additional tools:

pip install -e '.[dev]'

⚙️ Configuration

Required environment variable:

export PERFSONAR_HOST=perfsonar.example.com

Optional:

export LOOKUP_SERVICE_URL=https://lookup.perfsonar.net/lookup
export PSCHEDULER_URL=https://perfsonar.example.com/pscheduler

🏃 Usage

Local (stdio transport)

Standard MCP stdio transport for local AI clients:

python -m perfsonar_mcp
# or
perfsonar-mcp

Web Access (SSE/HTTP transport)

FastMCP enables web-accessible MCP server via SSE (Server-Sent Events) or HTTP:

# SSE transport (recommended for web)
export PERFSONAR_HOST=perfsonar.example.com
fastmcp run src/perfsonar_mcp/fastmcp_server.py --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

# HTTP transport (alternative)
fastmcp run src/perfsonar_mcp/fastmcp_server.py --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

# Or use the convenience command
perfsonar-mcp-web

The server will be accessible at:

  • SSE: http://your-host:8000/sse
  • HTTP: http://your-host:8000/mcp/

Docker

docker-compose up -d

Kubernetes

helm install perfsonar-mcp ./helm/perfsonar-mcp \
  --set config.perfsonarHost=perfsonar.example.com

🤖 Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perfsonar": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "perfsonar_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "PERFSONAR_HOST": "your-perfsonar-host.example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

For web-based access, use the SSE endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perfsonar-web": {
      "url": "http://your-server:8000/sse",
      "transport": "sse"
    }
  }
}

🔧 Available Tools (13)

Measurement Archive (6)

  • query_measurements - Search measurements
  • get_throughput - Throughput data
  • get_latency - Latency data
  • get_packet_loss - Packet loss data
  • get_measurement_data - Raw time-series
  • get_available_event_types - List types

Lookup Service (2)

  • lookup_testpoints - Find testpoints
  • find_pscheduler_services - Find pScheduler

pScheduler (5)

  • schedule_throughput_test - Run throughput test
  • schedule_latency_test - Run latency test
  • schedule_rtt_test - Run RTT test
  • get_test_status - Check status
  • get_test_result - Get results

💡 Example Queries

Ask Claude:

"Find perfSONAR testpoints in Europe"

"Schedule a 30-second throughput test to host.example.com"

"Get hourly throughput averages between host1 and host2 for the last week"

🏗️ Architecture

Standard MCP (stdio)

AI Agent (Claude)
    ↓ MCP Protocol (stdio)
perfSONAR MCP Server (Python)
    ├── Measurement Archive Client
    ├── Lookup Service Client  
    └── pScheduler Client
        ↓
    perfSONAR Services

Web-Accessible MCP (SSE/HTTP)

Web Clients / AI Agents
    ↓ HTTP/SSE
FastMCP Web Server (uvicorn)
    ↓ MCP Protocol
perfSONAR MCP Server (Python)
    ├── Measurement Archive Client
    ├── Lookup Service Client  
    └── pScheduler Client
        ↓
    perfSONAR Services

Both transports expose the same tools and capabilities. The web transport enables:

  • Remote access from any HTTP client
  • Multiple concurrent connections
  • Integration with web-based AI applications
  • RESTful API-like access patterns

🛠️ Development

Logging

The server includes comprehensive logging for development and debugging. By default, logs are written to stderr at INFO level.

To enable DEBUG logging for more detailed output:

import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

Or set the log level via environment variable:

export PYTHONLOGLEVEL=DEBUG
python -m perfsonar_mcp

Log output includes:

  • Server initialization and configuration
  • API requests and responses
  • Tool invocations with arguments
  • Error details with stack traces

DevContainer

Open in VS Code → Reopen in Container

Local Development

# Install with dev dependencies
pip install -e '.[dev]'

# Format code
black src/perfsonar_mcp/

# Lint code
ruff check src/perfsonar_mcp/

# Type check
mypy src/perfsonar_mcp/

# Run tests
pytest tests/

📚 Documentation

🌐 Resources

📄 License

MIT

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