scm-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Palo Alto Networks Strata Cloud Manager (SCM). Exposes 149 tools covering the full SCM configuration lifecycle — policy objects, security rules, NAT, profiles, decryption, QoS, and more — so you can manage firewall configuration through natural language in Claude Code or Claude Desktop.

Features

• 149 tools across 9 functional areas
• Multi-tenant (multi-TSG) support — target different tenants per tool call with named aliases
• Full CRUD for all supported resource types
• Zero infrastructure — runs as a local stdio process, no server to maintain
• Built on the pan-scm-sdk which handles OAuth2 token lifecycle, pagination, and Pydantic validation automatically

Tool Coverage

Requirements

• Python 3.12+
• A Palo Alto Networks SCM tenant with a service account
• Claude Code or Claude Desktop

Installation

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/your-username/scm-mcp.git
cd scm-mcp
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate      # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

2. Configure credentials

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your SCM service account credentials:

SCM_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here
SCM_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here
SCM_TSG_ID=your_default_tsg_id_here

# Optional: named aliases for multi-tenant use
# SCM_TSG_PROD=prod_tsg_id_here
# SCM_TSG_LAB=lab_tsg_id_here

Where to find credentials: SCM portal → Settings → Service Accounts → Create. The TSG ID appears in the tenant URL: https://stratacloudmanager.paloaltonetworks.com/tenants/<TSG_ID>/.

3. Register with Claude Code

claude mcp add scm -- /path/to/scm-mcp/.venv/bin/python -m src.server

Or add to .claude/settings.json manually:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scm": {
      "command": "/path/to/scm-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "src.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/scm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

4. Register with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scm": {
      "command": "/path/to/scm-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "src.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/scm-mcp",
      "env": {
        "SCM_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "SCM_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret",
        "SCM_TSG_ID": "your_tsg_id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Multi-Tenant Usage

Every tool accepts an optional tsg_id parameter. When omitted, the default SCM_TSG_ID is used.

Named aliases — define them in .env:

SCM_TSG_PROD=1234567890
SCM_TSG_LAB=9876543210

Then pass the alias name to any tool:

# List which TSGs are configured
scm_list_tsg_profiles()

# Query the PROD tenant
scm_list_addresses(folder="All", tsg_id="PROD")

# Copy an object between tenants
scm_get_address(address_id="<uuid>", tsg_id="PROD")
scm_create_address(name="web-servers", folder="Texas", ip_netmask="10.0.1.0/24", tsg_id="LAB")

You can also pass a raw TSG ID string directly if no alias is configured.

Project Structure

scm-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── server.py            # MCP server entry point and tool registration
│   ├── client.py            # Per-TSG Scm client factory with alias resolution
│   ├── utils.py             # Serialization (Pydantic → dict) and error handling
│   └── tools/
│       ├── setup.py         # Folders, Snippets
│       ├── objects.py       # Addresses, Address Groups, Services, Service Groups,
│       │                    #   Tags, Log/HTTP/Syslog Server Profiles
│       ├── policy_objects.py# Applications, App Groups, App Filters,
│       │                    #   Schedules, External Dynamic Lists
│       ├── security.py      # Security Rules, Security Zones,
│       │                    #   Decryption Rules, Authentication Rules
│       ├── network.py       # NAT Rules, PBF Rules, QoS Rules
│       ├── profiles.py      # Anti-Spyware, WildFire, Vulnerability, URL Access,
│       │                    #   URL Categories, DNS Security, Decryption,
│       │                    #   File Blocking, Zone Protection Profiles
│       └── operations.py    # Commit, Job Status, List Jobs, List TSG Profiles
├── .env.example             # Credential template (commit this)
├── .env                     # Real credentials (gitignored)
├── pyproject.toml           # Project metadata and dependencies
└── README.md

Example Prompts

Once the MCP server is connected, you can use natural language in Claude Code:

Show me all security rules in the Texas folder.

Create an address object for our web server farm: 10.10.1.0/24 in the Texas folder, tagged "web-tier".

Copy all address objects from the PROD tenant into the LAB tenant under the same folder.

Create a security rule allowing HTTPS from the trust zone to the DMZ zone for the web-servers address group. Use the best-practice security profile group.

What external dynamic lists are configured and when do they refresh?

Commit the changes in the Texas and California folders with description "Q2 policy update".

Tool Reference

Operations

Setup

Objects

Policy Objects

Security

Network

Security Profiles

Environment Variables

Authentication

SCM uses OAuth2 client credentials flow. Tokens have a 15-minute TTL and are automatically refreshed by the underlying pan-scm-sdk. No token management is required.

Service accounts are created in the SCM portal under Settings > Identity & Access > Service Accounts. The account needs appropriate role permissions for the resources you intend to manage.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome. This project is built on pan-scm-sdk — if you need a resource type that isn't covered here, check whether the SDK supports it first.

License

MIT