Tailscale MCP Server

mcp-tailscale

Secure MCP access for private infrastructure over Tailscale

The Problem

AI agents need access to internal tools, services, and infrastructure — but exposing private systems to the internet creates unacceptable security risks. VPNs are complex, SSH tunnels are fragile, and API gateways add latency and maintenance overhead.

mcp-tailscale bridges this gap: a lightweight MCP server that gives AI agents secure, authenticated access to your Tailscale-connected infrastructure — without exposing anything to the public internet.

What It Does

mcp-tailscale is an MCP Gateway Runtime that connects AI agents (Claude, GPT, custom) to your private infrastructure through Tailscale's zero-trust network. It provides 48 tools across 9 domains for managing devices, DNS, ACL policies, auth keys, users, webhooks, posture integrations, and tailnet settings — all through the Tailscale API v2.

No SSH. No shell execution. API-only. 4 runtime dependencies.

Use Cases

• DevOps Automation — Let AI agents manage device authorization, subnet routes, and ACL policies across your tailnet
• DNS Management — Configure split DNS, global nameservers, and MagicDNS through natural language
• Security Auditing — Automated ACL policy validation, posture compliance checks, and key rotation
• Fleet Management — Monitor device status, manage tags, and onboard new devices at scale
• Infrastructure as Conversation — Query and modify your private network configuration through AI-driven workflows

Quick Start

Install from npm

npm install -g tailscale-mcp

Or clone and build from source

git clone https://github.com/itunified-io/mcp-tailscale.git
cd mcp-tailscale
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # Edit with your Tailscale API key and tailnet name
npm run build
node dist/index.js     # stdio transport for MCP

Claude Code Integration

Add to .mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tailscale": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp-tailscale/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAILSCALE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "TAILSCALE_TAILNET": "your-tailnet-name"
      },
      "comment": "Or use OAuth: TAILSCALE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID + TAILSCALE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET instead of TAILSCALE_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Features

48 tools across 9 domains:

• Devices — List, get, delete, authorize, expire, rename devices; manage routes, tags, and posture attributes
• DNS — Global nameservers, search paths, split DNS configuration, MagicDNS preferences
• ACL — Get, set, preview, validate, and test ACL policies
• Keys — List, get, create, and revoke auth keys
• Tailnet — Settings (read/write), contacts, Tailnet Lock status
• Users — List and get tailnet users with role/type filtering
• Webhooks — Create, list, get, and delete webhook endpoints
• Posture Integrations — List, get, create, and delete third-party posture provider integrations
• Diagnostics — Tailnet status summary, API connectivity check, log streaming, DERP map

Authentication: API key or OAuth client credentials (auto-refresh)

Skills

Claude Code skills compose MCP tools into higher-level workflows. See `.claude/skills/README.md` for detailed documentation.

SSE