mcp-pfsense

MCP server for managing pfSense firewalls through AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and Copilot.

Requires: pfrest package installed on your pfSense instance (provides the REST API).

Features

19 tools across 7 categories:

Category	Tools	Description
System	`get_system_status`, `get_interfaces`	Version, CPU, memory, uptime, temperature, network interfaces
Firewall	`list_firewall_rules`, `add_firewall_rule`, `delete_firewall_rule`, `list_firewall_aliases`	Rule management with interface filtering, alias listing
DHCP	`list_dhcp_leases`, `list_dhcp_static_mappings`, `add_dhcp_static_mapping`, `delete_dhcp_static_mapping`	Active leases, IP reservations
DNS	`list_dns_host_overrides`, `add_dns_host_override`, `delete_dns_host_override`	Unbound DNS Resolver host overrides
Pending changes	`get_pending_changes`, `apply_changes`	See what is staged per subsystem (firewall, dhcp, dns) and apply it
Monitoring	`get_gateway_status`, `get_arp_table`, `list_services`	Gateway health, connected devices, service status
Services	`restart_service`	Restart any pfSense service

Safety

Two-step confirmation for destructive operations (delete rules, delete mappings, restart services, apply changes): the tool returns a warning on first call and only executes when called again with confirm=true.
Writes are staged, not live. Like the pfSense WebGUI, add_* and delete_* store the change in the config but do not activate it. The tool response says so (applied: false, plus a pending note). Activate with apply_changes(subsystem, confirm=true) — which reloads that subsystem, including anything a human left staged in the WebGUI — or pass apply=true on the write itself when you explicitly want a one-shot change. Nothing the assistant does reaches the packet filter without one of those two explicit steps.
delete_dhcp_static_mapping takes the mapping's interface (its parent_id in list_dhcp_static_mappings) and mapping_id; a mapping is addressed by both.

Installation

bash

# Using uvx (recommended)
uvx mcp-pfsense

# Using pip
pip install mcp-pfsense

Prerequisites

pfSense with pfrest package installed
A user account with API access (typically admin)

Configuration

Set environment variables:

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`PFSENSE_HOST`	Yes	—	pfSense hostname or IP
`PFSENSE_PASSWORD`	Yes	—	API user password
`PFSENSE_USERNAME`	No	`admin`	API username
`PFSENSE_PORT`	No	`443`	API port
`PFSENSE_SCHEME`	No	`https`	`http` or `https`
`PFSENSE_VERIFY_SSL`	No	`false`	Verify SSL certificate

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pfsense": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-pfsense"],
      "env": {
        "PFSENSE_HOST": "10.10.10.1",
        "PFSENSE_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Terminal

claude mcp add pfsense -- uvx mcp-pfsense

Then set environment variables in your shell or .env file.

Usage Examples

Once connected, ask your AI assistant:

"What's the pfSense system status?"
"Show me all firewall rules on the LAN interface"
"List active DHCP leases"
"Add a DNS entry for nas.home.lan pointing to 10.10.10.50"
"What devices are connected to the network?" (ARP table)
"Show gateway health and latency"
"Create a firewall rule to allow TCP port 8080 on LAN"
"Reserve IP 10.10.10.60 for MAC aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:20"

API Compatibility

pfSense: 2.7.x and 2.8.x
pfrest: REST API v2 — any v2.x release, except list_dhcp_static_mappings, which needs v2.7.0 or later (it uses the /services/dhcp_server/static_mappings collection endpoint added in that release).
Python: 3.11+

The endpoint, parameters and encoding each tool uses are pinned by tests/test_client_endpoints.py and tests/test_wire_format.py, derived from the pfrest v2 endpoint definitions. Versions before 0.2.0 called several endpoints that do not exist in pfrest v2 (see Troubleshooting).

Note: pfrest runs on nginx (port 80 by default), separate from the pfSense WebGUI (lighttpd on port 443). If your pfrest is configured on a non-standard port, set PFSENSE_PORT and PFSENSE_SCHEME accordingly.

Troubleshooting

Only `get_system_status` and `get_arp_table` work; everything else returns 400/404

mcp-pfsense 0.1.1 and earlier called singular endpoints for listing (/interface, /firewall/rule, /firewall/alias) and legacy paths that pfrest v2 does not serve (/status/dhcp_leases, /services/dhcpd/static_mapping, /services/unbound/host_override, /status/gateway, /status/service for GET). Upgrade to 0.2.0 or later.

`403` on `list_services` or other reads

pfrest checks the privileges of the API user per endpoint. Grant the user the api-v2-* privileges for the endpoints you need (or page-all for full access) under System → User Manager.

`ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mcp.server.fastmcp'`

The MCP Python SDK 2.0 removed the module that mcp-pfsense 0.1.1 and earlier import, so fresh installs (uvx mcp-pfsense, pip install) failed on startup. Upgrade to 0.2.0 or later, which pins mcp<2. If you must stay on an older mcp-pfsense: uvx --with "mcp<2" mcp-pfsense.

A rule / mapping / override was created but is not in effect

That is the default: writes are staged (see Safety). Check with get_pending_changes(subsystem) and activate with apply_changes(subsystem, confirm=true), or in the WebGUI. If a write returns 200 but nothing is stored at all, the pfrest read_only setting is on (System → REST API → Settings).

Development