Mcptrace

🚀 bpftrace MCP Server: generate eBPF to trace linux kernel

A minimal MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides AI assistants with access to bpftrace kernel tracing capabilities.

Now implemented in Rust using the rmcp crate for better performance and type safety. The Python implementation is still available in the git history.

✨ Features

• list_probes: List available bpftrace probes with optional filtering
• list_helpers: Get information about bpftrace helper functions
• exec_program: Execute bpftrace programs with buffered output
• get_result: Retrieve execution results asynchronously

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install Rust (if not already installed):

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

2. Ensure bpftrace is installed:

sudo apt-get install bpftrace  # Ubuntu/Debian
# or
sudo dnf install bpftrace      # Fedora

3. Build the server:

cargo build --release

Quick Setup

Use our automated setup scripts:

• Claude Desktop: ./setup/setup_claude.sh
• Claude Code: ./setup/setup_claude_code.sh

For detailed setup instructions and manual configuration, see setup/SETUP.md.

🚀 Quick Start

Direct Execution

./target/release/bpftrace-mcp-server

Through Cargo

cargo run --release

Manual Configuration

For manual setup instructions for Claude Desktop or Claude Code, see setup/SETUP.md.

💻 Usage Examples

Basic Usage

List System Call Probes

await list_probes(filter="syscalls:*read*")

Get BPF System Information

info = await bpf_info()
# Returns system info, kernel helpers, features, map types, and probe types

Advanced Usage

Execute a Simple Trace

result = await exec_program(
    'tracepoint:syscalls:sys_enter_open { printf("%s\\n", comm); }',
    timeout=10
)
exec_id = result["execution_id"]

Get Results

output = await get_result(exec_id)
print(output["output"])

🔧 Technical Details

The Rust server uses:

• Tokio async runtime for concurrent operations
• Subprocess management for bpftrace execution
• DashMap for thread-safe in-memory buffering
• Automatic cleanup of old buffers
• rmcp crate for MCP protocol implementation

⚠️ Important Note

• The server requires sudo access for bpftrace
• Password Handling: Create a .env file with your sudo password:

  echo "BPFTRACE_PASSWD=your_sudo_password" > .env
  

• Alternative: Configure passwordless sudo for bpftrace:

  sudo visudo
  # Add: your_username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/bpftrace
  

• No script validation - trust the AI client to generate safe scripts
• Resource limits: 60s max execution, 10k lines buffer
• See SECURITY.md for detailed security configuration

📚 Documentation

• Setup Guide - Detailed installation and configuration
• Claude Code Setup - Claude Code specific instructions
• CLAUDE.md - Development guidance for AI assistants
• Design Document - Architecture and design details

📄 Limitations

• No real-time streaming (use get_result to poll)
• Simple password handling (improve for production)
• No persistent storage of executions
• Basic error handling

🚀 Future Enhancements

• Add SSE transport for real-time streaming
• Implement proper authentication
• Add script validation and sandboxing
• Support for saving/loading trace sessions
• Integration with eBPF programs