Frappe Bench & Site Manager — MCP Server
Manage your local Frappe benches and sites directly from Claude.ai (web + mobile). Uses FastMCP over HTTP with an Ngrok static tunnel.
📱 Claude.ai → 🌐 Ngrok (permanent URL) → 🖥️ MCP Server (localhost:8000) → 🔧 Frappe Benches
Tools Available
| Tool | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
bench_restart |
Bench Ops | Restart supervisor/bench services |
list_sites |
Site Management | List benches, sites, apps, status |
frappe_api |
DocType Data | Authenticated REST API calls |
bench_execute |
Console | Run Python in Frappe context |
get_logs |
Logs | Fetch and filter site/bench log files |
get_config_overview |
Config | Show configured benches (no secrets exposed) |
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10+
- One or more Frappe benches already set up and working locally
- ngrok account (free tier works)
Step 1: Install dependencies
git clone <this-repo>
cd frappe-mcp
pip install -r requirements.txt
Step 2: Configure
cp config.example.json config.json
Edit config.json:
{
"benches": [
{
"id": "bench1",
"label": "Main Dev Bench",
"path": "/home/youruser/frappe-bench",
"bench_cmd": "/home/youruser/frappe-bench/env/bin/bench"
}
],
"site_credentials": {
"mysite.localhost": {
"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"api_secret": "YOUR_API_SECRET",
"port": 8000
}
}
}
Important: config.json is gitignored — never commit it.
Step 3: Get Frappe API Credentials
For each site you want to access via frappe_api or bench_execute:
- Open the Frappe site in your browser
- Go to Settings → API Access
- Click Generate Keys (for your admin user)
- Copy
api_keyandapi_secretintoconfig.json → site_credentials
Step 4: Start the MCP Server
python main.py
You should see:
🚀 Frappe MCP Server starting...
Benches configured : 1
Sites with creds : 1
Listening on : http://0.0.0.0:8000
MCP endpoint : http://0.0.0.0:8000/mcp
Audit log : mcp_audit.log
Step 5: Setup Ngrok (one-time)
Install ngrok
macOS (Homebrew):
brew install ngrok/ngrok/ngrok
Linux:
curl -sSL https://ngrok-agent.s3.amazonaws.com/ngrok.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/ngrok.asc >/dev/null
echo "deb https://ngrok-agent.s3.amazonaws.com buster main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ngrok.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ngrok
Or download directly: https://ngrok.com/download
Add your auth token
ngrok config add-authtoken YOUR_AUTHTOKEN
Get your token from: https://dashboard.ngrok.com/get-started/your-authtoken
Start tunnel with your free static domain
ngrok http 8000 --domain=yourname.ngrok-free.app
Get a free static domain: ngrok Dashboard → Cloud Edge → Domains → New Domain
Your permanent MCP URL becomes:
https://yourname.ngrok-free.app/mcp
Step 6: Connect to Claude.ai
- Open claude.ai → Settings → Integrations
- Click Add Integration
- Enter URL:
https://yourname.ngrok-free.app/mcp - Click Add — that's it
Works from your phone and laptop anywhere as long as your laptop is running.
Step 7: Auto-start on Boot (optional)
Linux (systemd)
Create /etc/systemd/system/frappe-mcp.service:
[Unit]
Description=Frappe MCP Server
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=youruser
WorkingDirectory=/home/youruser/frappe-mcp
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /home/youruser/frappe-mcp/main.py
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable frappe-mcp
sudo systemctl start frappe-mcp
macOS (launchd)
Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.frappe.mcp.plist:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.frappe.mcp</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/bin/python3</string>
<string>/Users/youruser/frappe-mcp/main.py</string>
</array>
<key>WorkingDirectory</key>
<string>/Users/youruser/frappe-mcp</string>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>KeepAlive</key>
<true/>
<key>StandardOutPath</key>
<string>/Users/youruser/frappe-mcp/mcp_stdout.log</string>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/Users/youruser/frappe-mcp/mcp_stderr.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.frappe.mcp.plist
Running Tests
python test_tools.py
No real Frappe bench needed — all tools are tested with a mock config.
Security Notes
config.jsonis never committed (gitignored)- API keys are never exposed in tool responses (
get_config_overviewshows"configured"/"missing"only) - All subprocess calls use
shell=False— no shell injection possible bench_executehas a two-tier security scanner: hard blocks and soft warnings- Blocked patterns (configurable):
DROP,TRUNCATE,os.system,exec(,eval(, etc. - Rate limit: 30 requests/minute per IP (configurable)
- All tool calls are appended to
mcp_audit.log
Example Claude Prompts
List all my Frappe sites and their status.
How many NGO records are on site1.localhost in bench1?
Show me the last 50 error log lines for site1.localhost — filter for "PermissionError".
Restart the web worker on bench1.
What's in the mGrant Settings module field for site1.localhost?
Show me all active Grants on site1.localhost with fields name, grant_name, grant_status.
File Structure
frappe-mcp/
├── main.py # FastMCP server + tool registration
├── config.py # Config loader + validator + singleton
├── security.py # Input sanitizer, command blocker, rate limiter
├── logger.py # Audit logger → mcp_audit.log
├── tools/
│ ├── bench_ops.py # bench_restart (+ Phase 2 stubs)
│ ├── site_manager.py # list_sites (+ Phase 2 stub)
│ ├── frappe_api.py # frappe_api (+ Phase 2 stub)
│ ├── executor.py # bench_execute
│ └── log_reader.py # get_logs
├── config.json # Your config (gitignored)
├── config.example.json # Template (committed)
├── requirements.txt
├── .gitignore
├── test_tools.py # Test suite (mock config, no bench needed)
└── README.md
Troubleshooting
config.json not found → Run cp config.example.json config.json and fill in your bench paths.
Bench path '/home/...' does not exist → The path in config.json → benches must be an existing directory.
bench command not found → Use the full path to the bench binary, e.g. /home/user/frappe-bench/env/bin/bench.
No credentials configured for site → Add api_key/api_secret for that site to config.json → site_credentials.
Authentication failed (401) → Regenerate API keys in the Frappe site: Settings → API Access.
Ngrok shows ERR_NGROK_3200 → Your static domain may not be activated. Check ngrok Dashboard → Domains.