node-red

The node-red-mcp-server provides a standardized MCP interface to interact with a running Node-RED instance. It exposes tools to retrieve and update flows, manage tabs (workspaces), inspect and modify nodes, trigger inject nodes, and view runtime state and diagnostics through the MCP protocol. This enables language models or external tools to automate Node-RED operations by issuing MCP commands such as get-flows, update-flow, list-tabs, inject, get-settings, and more. To start using it, ensure your Node-RED instance is reachable by the MCP server and that you supply the Node-RED URL and optional token via CLI, environment variables, or tool configuration in your MCP consumer (e.g., Claude, another LLM integration). The server supports both CLI invocation via Node and integration via npx for quick setup, making it easy to prototype without full installation.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js v16 or newer
• npm (comes with Node.js) or pnpm/yarn if preferred
• A running Node-RED instance (optional for basic validation)

Install globally (optional):

npm install -g node-red-mcp-server

Install locally in a project:

npm install node-red-mcp-server

Run directly with npx (no installation required):

npx node-red-mcp-server --url http://localhost:1880 --token YOUR_TOKEN

Alternatively, run via Node (if you have the script path):

node /path/to/node-red-mcp-server/bin/node-red-mcp-server.mjs --url http://localhost:1880 --token YOUR_TOKEN

Environment variables (optional):

NODE_RED_URL=http://localhost:1880
NODE_RED_TOKEN=YOUR_TOKEN

Notes:

• Ensure Node-RED's HTTP API is accessible from the environment where the MCP server runs.
• If authentication is enabled in Node-RED, provide a valid token via NODE_RED_TOKEN or CLI args.
• The MCP server exposes a rich set of tools under the MCP Tools section for flows, nodes, settings, and utilities.

Tips and caveats:

• Use npx for quick experimentation without installation. If you deploy to production, consider a pinned version to avoid unexpected updates.
• When configuring Claude or another LLM tool, you can preload the server connection details (URL and token) via the tool's configuration environment variables.
• If Node-RED uses a non-standard port or requires TLS, adjust NODE_RED_URL accordingly (e.g., https://host:port).
• For debugging, enable verbose logging if the MCP server supports a verbose flag or set an environment variable as described in the README.
• Common issues include network access between the MCP server and Node-RED, invalid tokens, or Node-RED not exposing its HTTP API. Validate connectivity with a simple curl request before enabling MCP features.