airflow-mcp-server: An MCP Server for controlling Airflow

MCPHub Certification

This MCP server is certified by MCPHub. This certification ensures that airflow-mcp-server follows best practices for Model Context Protocol implementation.

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Overview

A Model Context Protocol server for controlling Airflow via Airflow APIs.

Demo Video

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f3e60fff-8680-4dd9-b08e-fa7db655a705

Setup

Usage with Claude Desktop

Stdio Transport (Default)

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "airflow-mcp-server": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "airflow-mcp-server",
                "--base-url",
                "http://localhost:8080",
                "--auth-token",
                "<jwt_token>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Airflow 3 Plugin (Streamable HTTP at /mcp)

Install the plugin alongside the server to mount an MCP endpoint directly in the Airflow webserver:

pip install "airflow-mcp-server[airflow-plugin]"

• Airflow auto-loads the plugin via entry point
• Endpoint: http(s)://<airflow-host>/mcp
• Stateless: every request must include Authorization: Bearer <access-token>
• Modes (per-request): safe by default, or ?mode=unsafe to enable write operations

HTTP Transport

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "airflow-mcp-server-http": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "airflow-mcp-server",
                "--http",
                "--port",
                "3000",
                "--base-url",
                "http://localhost:8080",
                "--auth-token",
                "<jwt_token>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Note:

• Set base_url to the root Airflow URL (e.g., http://localhost:8080).
• Do not include /api/v2 in the base URL. The server will automatically fetch the OpenAPI spec from ${base_url}/openapi.json.
• Only JWT token is required for authentication. Cookie and basic auth are no longer supported in Airflow 3.0.

Transport Options

The server supports multiple transport protocols:

Stdio Transport (Default)

Standard input/output transport for direct process communication:

airflow-mcp-server --safe --base-url http://localhost:8080 --auth-token <jwt>

HTTP Transport

Uses Streamable HTTP for better scalability and web compatibility:

airflow-mcp-server --safe --http --port 3000 --base-url http://localhost:8080 --auth-token <jwt>

Note: SSE transport is deprecated. Use --http for new deployments as it provides better bidirectional communication and is the recommended approach by FastMCP.

Operation Modes

The server supports two operation modes:

• Safe Mode (--safe): Only allows read-only operations (GET requests). This is useful when you want to prevent any modifications to your Airflow instance.
• Unsafe Mode (--unsafe): Allows all operations including modifications. This is the default mode.

To start in safe mode:

airflow-mcp-server --safe

To explicitly start in unsafe mode (though this is default):

airflow-mcp-server --unsafe

Tool Discovery Modes

The server supports two tool discovery approaches:

• Hierarchical Discovery (default): Tools are organized by categories (DAGs, Tasks, Connections, etc.). Browse categories first, then select specific tools. More manageable for large APIs.
• Static Tools (--static-tools): All tools available immediately. Better for programmatic access but can be overwhelming.

To use static tools:

airflow-mcp-server --static-tools

Command Line Options

Usage: airflow-mcp-server [OPTIONS]

  MCP server for Airflow

Options:
  -v, --verbose      Increase verbosity
  -s, --safe         Use only read-only tools
  -u, --unsafe       Use all tools (default)
  --static-tools     Use static tools instead of hierarchical discovery
  --base-url TEXT    Airflow API base URL
  --auth-token TEXT  Authentication token (JWT)
  --http             Use HTTP (Streamable HTTP) transport instead of stdio
  --sse              Use Server-Sent Events transport (deprecated, use --http
                     instead)
  --port INTEGER     Port to run HTTP/SSE server on (default: 3000)
  --host TEXT        Host to bind HTTP/SSE server to (default: localhost)
  --help             Show this message and exit.

Considerations

Authentication

• Only JWT authentication is supported in Airflow 3.0. You must provide a valid AUTH_TOKEN.

Page Limit

The default is 100 items, but you can change it using maximum_page_limit option in [api] section in the airflow.cfg file.

Transport Selection

• Use stdio transport for direct process communication (default)
• Use HTTP transport for web deployments, multiple clients, or when you need better scalability
• Avoid SSE transport as it's deprecated in favor of HTTP transport

Tasks

• Airflow 3 readiness
• Parse OpenAPI Spec
• Safe/Unsafe mode implementation
• Parse proper description with list_tools.
• Airflow config fetch (specifically for page limit)
• HTTP/SSE transport support
• Env variables optional (env variables might not be ideal for airflow plugins)