Name: MCP ZAP Server
Author: dtkmn

LABSCO SUMMARY

The guardrails are the product; ZAP was already there.

An active scan is an attack against a real system, so the interesting design decisions are the limits: scoped tokens, policy dry runs before rule changes, rate limits and an audit trail. The findings diff is the operationally useful piece - it answers whether this release made things worse, which a raw scan report never does.

What it is

A self-hosted server that exposes ZAP over streamable HTTP with an operator in charge. Rather than handing a scanner to a model, it offers guided workflows with defaults, tool scopes, policy bundles, rate limits and audit events around them.

What you get

Crawl and active-scan lifecycles that can each be started, polled and stopped, plus passive-scan status and a wait
Findings as a summary, in detail, as a snapshot, or as a diff between two runs - so a scan can be compared with the previous one
Reports generated and read back, with the available templates listable
Target import from an OpenAPI spec, a GraphQL schema or a SOAP WSDL, each from a file or a URL
Scan policies listed and viewed, individual rules set, and a dry run that shows what a policy change would do before it is applied
Authenticated scanning: prepare and validate a session, and test a user
Scan history listed, retrieved, exported, and packaged as a customer handoff or a release evidence bundle
The site, host and URL inventory ZAP has built up

Requirements

Docker 20.10 or newer with Compose v2, and an MCP-capable client - a bundled Open WebUI client is included. Three scripts are the supported path: one generates the local API keys and prepares the ZAP workspace, one starts the stack, and a doctor script checks authentication, the handshake, the tool listing and a harmless call. Access is by API key or JWT, with per-tool scopes. Kubernetes deployment goes through Helm.

Setup effort

Build from source — git clone https://github.com/dtkmn/mcp-zap-server.git

See installation options

USE CASES

01

Scanning an API you have a spec for

Import the OpenAPI document, crawl the discovered surface, then start the active scan against it.

zap_import_openapi_spec_urlzap_crawl_startzap_attack_startzap_attack_status

02

Answering whether this release got worse

Snapshot the findings, then diff the new run against the previous one instead of re-reading a full report.

zap_findings_snapshotzap_findings_diffzap_findings_summary

03

Reaching pages behind a login

Prepare the authenticated session, validate it and test the user before starting a scan that would otherwise cover only the login page.

zap_auth_session_preparezap_auth_session_validatezap_auth_test_user

04

Changing a scan policy without surprises

View the policy, set the rule, and run the dry run to see what would change before scanning with it.

zap_scan_policies_listzap_scan_policy_viewzap_scan_policy_rule_setzap_policy_dry_run

05

Handing results to someone outside the team

Generate the report, then export the scan history as a customer handoff or a release evidence bundle.

zap_report_generatezap_report_readzap_scan_history_customer_handoff

38 tools

Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.

zap_target_import

zap_crawl_start

zap_crawl_status

zap_crawl_stop

zap_attack_start

zap_attack_status

zap_attack_stop

zap_auth_session_prepare

zap_auth_session_validate

zap_findings_summary

zap_findings_details

zap_report_generate

zap_report_read

zap_passive_scan_status

zap_passive_scan_wait

BEFORE YOU INSTALL

What to know first

Tools you get

38 tools named in the project's documentation.

Requires

Docker 20.10+
Docker Compose v2

INSTALLATION

Connect your client

Server setup

TERMINAL

git clone https://github.com/dtkmn/mcp-zap-server.git
cd mcp-zap-server
./bin/bootstrap-local.sh
./dev.sh

MCP Clients

Cursor

CURSOR · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zap-security": {
      "url": "http://localhost:7456/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "${env:MCP_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Open WebUI

OPEN WEBUI · JSON

{
  "services": {
    "open-webui": {
      "environment": {
        "TOOL_SERVER_CONNECTIONS": "[{\"url\":\"http://mcp-server:7456/mcp\",\"path\":\"\",\"type\":\"mcp\",\"auth_type\":\"none\",\"headers\":{\"X-API-Key\":\"${MCP_API_KEY}\"},\"config\":{\"enable\":true},\"info\":{\"id\":\"zap-security\",\"name\":\"ZAP Security\",\"description\":\"OWASP ZAP tools exposed by the MCP server.\"}}]"
      }
    }
  }
}

Any MCP client — HTTP

ANY MCP CLIENT — HTTP · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zap-security": {
      "protocol": "mcp",
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:7456/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP ZAP Server