mcp-tailscale

This MCP server provides a set of tools to manage and inspect your Tailscale tailnet via MCP-compatible clients (including Claude Code). It exposes commands to list devices, get device details, filter by online status, and check updates. The available tools include: tailscale_list_devices to list all devices, tailscale_get_device to retrieve details about a specific device, tailscale_list_online_devices and tailscale_list_offline_devices to filter by connectivity, tailscale_check_updates to identify devices with available updates, and tailscale_device_summary to obtain a quick summary of devices by status and OS. Use these tools from any MCP client to integrate Tailnet information into your workflows.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (v16+ recommended) and npm
• Access to a Tailscale API key with read-only permissions

Installation steps:

1. Install the package:

npm install

2. Build the project (if the repository uses a build step):

npm run build

3. Run the MCP server locally (example):

TAILSCALE_API_KEY=tskey-api-your-key-here npm start

4. Configure your MCP client or Claude Desktop using the generated index.js path as shown in the Claude Desktop Configuration example. Ensure the environment variable TAILSCALE_API_KEY is set in the environment or configuration.

Notes and tips:

• This server operates with read-only access to the Tailscale API. The API key must have permission to view devices and status.
• TAILSCALE_TAILNET is optional; if not provided, the server uses the current user’s tailnet by default.
• Ensure the dist/index.js path in mcp_config points to the built server entry file after npm run build.
• If you encounter authentication errors, verify that the API key is valid, not expired, and correctly referenced in your environment.
• In Claude Code/Desktop configurations, keep your API key secure and avoid committing keys to version control.