cisco_connectLABSCO SUMMARY
Several device sessions held open at once, so a change can be checked before and after on each one.
Connection IDs are what make this more than a remote shell: an agent can hold sessions to a handful of switches, run the same show command across them, and compare the outputs — and the parsed-output option means the comparison is on fields rather than on text.
What it is
An SSH client for Cisco devices exposed as tools: named connections to multiple devices, command execution, configuration mode, show commands with optional parsing, and raw terminal writes.
What you get
- Connections to several devices at once, each held under a connection ID you choose
- Any CLI command run on a named connection, with a timeout you set
- Configuration mode entered with an array of commands, and an option to save afterwards
- Show commands run with output optionally parsed into structured form rather than returned as text
- Raw text sent to the session, with an option to wait for the prompt — for the interactive prompts scripts trip over
- Active connections listed, and any one of them closed
Requirements
SSH reach to the devices and credentials for them — a password or a private key, passed per connection along with host, username and port. Node, with the project built locally before first use.
Setup effort
Build from source — git clone https://github.com/aroshak/cisco-ssh-mcp
USE CASES
01
Checking the same thing across a set of switches
Open a named connection to each, run the show command on all of them, and read the parsed output side by side.
02
Applying a config change you have already agreed
Send the command array into configuration mode and save it in the same call.
03
Chasing a fault on a device you are already logged into
Run the diagnostic commands on the open connection rather than reconnecting for each one.
04
Getting through an interactive prompt
Send raw text and wait for the prompt, for the confirmations a plain command call cannot answer.
05
Cleaning up after a maintenance window
List what is still connected and close the sessions you no longer need.
7 tools
Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.
cisco_execcisco_configcisco_showcisco_send_rawcisco_list_connectionscisco_disconnectBEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
7 tools named in the project's documentation.
Requires
node on PATH
Where it runs
Both documented clients run the server on your machine.
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
You clone and build this one yourself.
Server setup
TERMINAL
git clone https://github.com/aroshak/cisco-ssh-mcp
cd cisco-ssh-mcp
npm install
npm run buildAdd the block for your client below; <YOUR_PATH_TO_CISCO_SSH_MCP> is the absolute path of your clone
MCP Clients
Cline, Claude Desktop
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"cisco-ssh": {
"command": "node",
"args": [
"<YOUR_PATH_TO_CISCO_SSH_MCP>/dist/index.js"
]
}
}
}
