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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://radarhq.io/docs/llms.txt

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Beta - This feature is new and may evolve. Feedback welcome via GitHub Issues.
Radar includes a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI assistants query your Kubernetes cluster.

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Why MCP instead of raw kubectl?

Giving an AI assistant raw kubectl access has problems:
  • Token waste - kubectl get pod -o yaml returns verbose YAML full of managed fields, status conditions, and metadata noise that burns through LLM context windows
  • No enrichment - raw output lacks topology relationships, health assessments, or cross-resource correlation
  • Write access risk - kubectl can modify and delete resources
Radar’s MCP server solves these:
  • Token-optimized - resources are minified, stripping noise (managed fields, internal annotations, redundant status) while preserving what matters
  • Enriched data - topology graphs, health assessments, deduplicated events, filtered logs (prioritizing errors/warnings)
  • Safe operations - read tools are read-only; write tools (restart, scale, sync) are clearly annotated and non-destructive
  • Secret-safe - Secret data is never exposed, environment values are redacted, log output is scrubbed for API keys and tokens
  • RBAC-aware - respects your cluster’s RBAC permissions
  • Vendor-neutral - works with any MCP-compatible AI tool

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Enabling / Disabling

The MCP server is enabled by default when Radar starts. To disable it: 
radar --no-mcp

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MCP Endpoint

http://localhost:9280/mcp
The port matches your --port flag (default 9280). The MCP server uses HTTP transport with JSON-RPC.

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Setup Instructions

Connect your AI tool to Radar’s MCP server. Radar must be running first (radar or kubectl radar).

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Claude Code

Run this command: 
claude mcp add radar --transport http http://localhost:9280/mcp

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Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "url": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "serverUrl": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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VS Code Copilot

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace: 
{
  "servers": {
    "radar": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Cline

Add via the Cline MCP settings UI: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "url": "http://localhost:9280/mcp",
      "type": "streamableHttp"
    }
  }
}

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JetBrains AI

Add via Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "url": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

​
OpenAI Codex

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml: 
[mcp_servers.radar]
url = "http://localhost:9280/mcp"

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Gemini CLI

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "radar": {
      "httpUrl": "http://localhost:9280/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Available Tools

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Read Tools

ToolDescriptionParameters
get_dashboardCluster health overview - resource counts, problems, warning events, Helm status. Includes recent changes correlated with detected problems.namespace (optional)
list_resourcesList resources of a kind with minified summaries (pods, deployments, services, CRDs, etc.)kind (required), namespace (optional)
get_resourceDetailed view of a single resource - minified spec, status, metadata. Optionally include related context to avoid extra tool calls.kind (required), namespace (required), name (required), include (optional: events,relationships,metrics,logs)
get_topologyTopology graph showing resource relationships (nodes and edges). Use summary format for LLM-friendly text descriptions of resource chains.namespace (optional), view (optional: traffic or resources), format (optional: graph or summary)
get_eventsRecent Kubernetes events, deduplicated and sorted by recency. Filter by resource kind/name to scope to a specific resource.namespace (optional), limit (optional, default 20, max 100), kind (optional), name (optional)
get_pod_logsFiltered pod logs prioritizing errors/warnings, with secret redactionnamespace (required), name (required), container (optional), tail_lines (optional, default 200)
list_namespacesList all namespaces with status(none)
get_changesRecent resource changes (creates, updates, deletes) from the cluster timeline. Use to investigate what changed before an incident.namespace (optional), kind (optional), name (optional), since (optional, e.g. 1h, 30m; default 1h), limit (optional, default 20, max 50)
list_helm_releasesList all Helm releases with status and healthnamespace (optional)
get_helm_releaseDetailed Helm release info with optional values, history, and manifest diffnamespace (required), name (required), include (optional: values,history,diff), diff_revision_1 (required when include=diff) / diff_revision_2 (optional)
get_workload_logsAggregated, AI-filtered logs from all pods of a workload (Deployment, StatefulSet, DaemonSet)kind (required), namespace (required), name (required), container (optional), tail_lines (optional, default 100 per pod)

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Write Tools

ToolDescriptionParameters
apply_resourceCreate or update a Kubernetes resource from YAML. Supports multi-document YAML and server-side dry run.yaml (required), mode (optional: apply or create, default apply), dry_run (optional, default false), namespace (optional, override)
manage_workloadRestart, scale, or rollback a Deployment, StatefulSet, or DaemonSet. Note: scale is not supported for DaemonSets.action (required: restart, scale, rollback), kind (required), namespace (required), name (required), replicas (for scale), revision (for rollback)
manage_cronjobTrigger, suspend, or resume a CronJobaction (required: trigger, suspend, resume), namespace (required), name (required)
manage_gitopsManage ArgoCD and FluxCD resources - sync, reconcile, suspend, resumeaction (required), tool (required: argocd or fluxcd), namespace (required), name (required), kind (FluxCD only)
manage_nodeCordon, uncordon, or drain a Kubernetes nodeaction (required: cordon, uncordon, drain), name (required), delete_empty_dir_data (optional, default true), force (optional), timeout (optional, seconds, default 60)

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Available Resources

URIDescription
cluster://healthCluster health summary (same data as get_dashboard)
cluster://topologyFull cluster topology graph
cluster://eventsRecent warning events (up to 50)

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Security

  • Safe by design - read tools are strictly read-only; write tools perform non-destructive operations (restart, scale, sync) and are annotated with MCP tool hints so AI clients can distinguish them
  • Local-only - MCP server runs on localhost alongside Radar
  • RBAC-aware - respects your kubeconfig’s RBAC permissions; returns 403 for unauthorized resources
  • Secret redaction - Secret .data and .stringData are never exposed; only key names are shown
  • Value redaction - environment variable values are scrubbed for known secret patterns (API keys, tokens, passwords, base64 blocks)
  • Log redaction - pod log output is scrubbed for secret patterns before being returned