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Tools

The following tools are provided by the ONTAP MCP server.

ONTAP MCP provides a set of tools that can be used to interact with the ONTAP API. These tools are designed to help users discover and manage their ONTAP clusters more efficiently. The tools are categorized based on their functionality, such as API discovery, volume management, data protection, CIFS/SMB integration, NFS export policy management, performance management, SVM management, qtree management, network interface management, LUN and igroup management, iSCSI management, FCP management, NVMe management, and multi-cluster management.

All ONTAP MCP tools are annotated with hint metadata: readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, and destructiveHint. The readOnlyHint indicates that the tool does not modify any data and is safe to use for discovery and information retrieval. The destructiveHint indicates that the tool performs actions that can modify or delete data, and should be used with caution.

If you want to run the ONTAP MCP server in read-only mode, you can start the server with the --read-only flag. In this mode, only tools with the readOnlyHint will be available for use, ensuring that no modifications can be made to the ONTAP cluster.

To run without mcp-session-id header validation (e.g. behind proxies that strip session headers), use the --stateless flag. See the configuration documentation for more details.

To respond with application/json instead of text/event-stream (e.g. behind gateways that do not relay SSE/chunked responses), use the --json-response flag. See the configuration documentation for more details.

API Discovery

  • list_ontap_endpoints (available when the API catalog is loaded)
  • search_ontap_endpoints (available when the API catalog is loaded)
  • describe_ontap_endpoint (available when the API catalog is loaded)
  • ontap_get

Volume Management

  • create_volume — FlexVol by default (aggregate_name on CDOT; omit on AFX). FlexGroup on Unified NAS (AFF/FAS) when style=flexgroup with aggregate_names (optional constituents_per_aggregate, optimize_aggr_list, granular_data). Not used to provision ASA r2 (storage units); FlexGroup is not supported on classic ASA.
  • update_volume
  • delete_volume

Data Protection

  • create_snapshot
  • delete_snapshot
  • restore_snapshot
  • create_snapshot_policy
  • update_snapshot_policy
  • delete_snapshot_policy
  • create_schedule
  • add_schedule_in_snapshot_policy
  • update_schedule_in_snapshot_policy
  • remove_schedule_in_snapshot_policy

CIFS/SMB Integration

  • create_cifs_share
  • update_cifs_share
  • delete_cifs_share

CIFS Service Management

  • create_cifs_service
  • update_cifs_service
  • delete_cifs_service

NFS Service Management

  • create_nfs_service
  • update_nfs_service
  • delete_nfs_service

NFS Export Policy Management

  • create_nfs_export_policies
  • update_nfs_export_policies
  • delete_nfs_export_policies
  • create_nfs_export_policies_rules
  • update_nfs_export_policies_rules
  • delete_nfs_export_policies_rules

Performance Management

  • list_qos_policies
  • create_qos_policy
  • update_qos_policy
  • delete_qos_policy

SnapMirror Management

  • create_snapmirror
  • update_snapmirror_transfer
  • abort_snapmirror_transfer (available in multiplex or both mode)
  • modify_snapmirror (available in multiplex or both mode)
  • update_snapmirror
  • delete_snapmirror
  • initialize_snapmirror
  • break_snapmirror
  • resync_snapmirror

The update_snapmirror, delete_snapmirror, initialize_snapmirror, break_snapmirror, and resync_snapmirror tools are available in legacy or both mode. In the default multiplex mode, use modify_snapmirror for these relationship operations. The abort_snapmirror_transfer tool only aborts an active transfer.

SVM Management

  • create_svm
  • update_svm
  • delete_svm

SVM Peer Management

  • delete_svm_peer

DNS Management

  • create_dns
  • delete_dns

Qtree Management

  • create_qtree
  • update_qtree
  • delete_qtree

Network Interface Management

  • create_network_ip_interface
  • update_network_ip_interface
  • delete_network_ip_interface

LUN and igroup Management

  • create_lun
  • update_lun
  • delete_lun
  • create_igroup
  • update_igroup
  • delete_igroup
  • add_igroup_initiator
  • remove_igroup_initiator
  • create_lun_map
  • delete_lun_map

iSCSI Management

  • create_iscsi_service
  • update_iscsi_service
  • delete_iscsi_service

FCP Management

  • create_fcp_service
  • update_fcp_service
  • delete_fcp_service
  • create_fc_interface
  • update_fc_interface
  • delete_fc_interface

NVMe Management

  • create_nvme_service
  • update_nvme_service
  • delete_nvme_service
  • create_nvme_subsystem
  • update_nvme_subsystem
  • delete_nvme_subsystem
  • add_nvme_subsystem_host
  • remove_nvme_subsystem_host
  • create_nvme_namespace
  • update_nvme_namespace
  • delete_nvme_namespace
  • create_nvme_subsystem_map
  • delete_nvme_subsystem_map

Multi-Cluster Management

  • list_registered_clusters
  • create_cluster_peer
  • delete_cluster_peer

Cluster peer relationships

The cluster peer tools create or delete a peer relationship on both clusters in one operation. Both clusters must be registered in the same ONTAP MCP configuration and must have intercluster LIFs configured. Use the cluster identifiers from the Pollers section of ontap.yaml, not necessarily the cluster names reported by ONTAP. Call list_registered_clusters to discover the available identifiers.

Argument Description
source_cluster_name Registered identifier of the source cluster.
destination_cluster_name Registered identifier of the destination cluster.

create_cluster_peer discovers the intercluster LIF addresses on both clusters and generates the authentication passphrase internally. The caller does not provide LIF addresses or a passphrase.

delete_cluster_peer looks up the ONTAP cluster names and removes the matching relationship from both clusters. Deletion fails if either side has no matching relationship or has more than one matching relationship.

Warning

create_cluster_peer and delete_cluster_peer modify both named clusters. delete_cluster_peer is destructive.

Tool Mode

The ONTAP MCP server exposes mutating tools in two naming conventions, controlled by the --tool-mode flag (default: multiplex; env: TOOL_MODE):

Mode Description
legacy Registers separate update_* and delete_* tools for each resource type.
multiplex Registers a single modify_* tool per resource type that handles both update and delete in one call. This is the default.
both Registers both conventions simultaneously.

Tool mode only controls whether the per-resource update_*/delete_* tools and/or the multiplexed modify_* tools are registered. All create_* tools are registered regardless of tool mode.

Modify tools (available in multiplex or both mode)

  • modify_volume
  • modify_snapshot_policy
  • modify_schedule_in_snapshot_policy
  • modify_qos_policy
  • modify_nfs_export_policies
  • modify_nfs_export_policies_rules
  • modify_svm
  • modify_cifs_share
  • modify_nfs_service
  • modify_cifs_service
  • modify_qtree
  • modify_nvme_service
  • modify_iscsi_service
  • modify_lun
  • modify_network_ip_interface
  • modify_nvme_subsystem
  • modify_nvme_namespace
  • modify_fcp_service
  • modify_fc_interface
  • modify_igroup
  • modify_snapmirror
  • modify_snapshot