SWAG MCP

MCP server for managing SWAG reverse-proxy configuration files, backups, logs, and health checks. Uses a single swag action router backed by local filesystem or SSH-accessible SWAG config storage.

Overview

SWAG MCP generates and manages nginx subdomain proxy configurations for SWAG (Secure Web Application Gateway). Every generated config includes MCP-compatible security headers unconditionally, making configs suitable for both standard web services and MCP/AI services.

What this repository ships

• swag_mcp/: server, config, middleware, models, services, tools, and templates
• config/: local config and test assets
• docs/: template notes, test commands, and design records
• .claude-plugin/, .codex-plugin/, gemini-extension.json: client manifests
• docker-compose.yaml, Dockerfile, entrypoint.sh: container deployment

MCP surface

Tool

Tool	Purpose
swag	Unified action router for config, logs, backups, and health checks

Actions

Action	Purpose	Required params
list	List config files	none
create	Create a new reverse-proxy config	config_name, server_name, upstream_app, upstream_port
view	View config contents	config_name
edit	Replace config contents	config_name, new_content
update	Update a specific field	config_name, update_field, update_value
remove	Remove a config	config_name
logs	Read SWAG logs	none
backups	List or clean up backup files	backup_action
health_check	Probe a service endpoint	domain

Resources

URI	Type	Description
swag://	Directory	All active .conf files (excluding .sample)
swag://configs/live	Stream	Real-time config change events
swag://health/stream	Stream	Real-time health status for monitored services
swag://logs/stream	Stream	Live nginx error log tail

Installation

Marketplace

/plugin marketplace add jmagar/claude-homelab
/plugin install swag-mcp @jmagar-claude-homelab

Docker Compose

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your paths and token
docker compose up -d

The container always runs on internal port 8000. Set SWAG_MCP_PORT to control the host port.

Local development

just setup       # copies .env.example and runs uv sync
just dev         # starts the server

Configuration

Create .env from .env.example. All variables use the SWAG_MCP_ prefix.

Core

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_PATH	no	/swag/nginx/proxy-confs	Local path to SWAG proxy confs directory
SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI	no	``	Overrides PROXY_CONFS_PATH when set. Accepts a local path or SSH URI.
SWAG_MCP_SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH	no	/swag/log	Base path for SWAG log files (local or remote)
SWAG_MCP_TEMPLATE_PATH	no	templates	Path to Jinja2 templates directory

Server

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_HOST	no	127.0.0.1	Bind address for the MCP server
SWAG_MCP_PORT	no	8000	Host-side port (Docker only; container always uses 8000)
SWAG_MCP_TOKEN	no	``	Bearer token. Note: the server itself does not enforce it — secure at the proxy/network layer
SWAG_MCP_NO_AUTH	no	false	Set true to suppress the "no token" warning

Defaults

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_DEFAULT_AUTH_METHOD	no	authelia	Auth method used when create omits auth_method
SWAG_MCP_DEFAULT_QUIC_ENABLED	no	false	QUIC default for new configs

Backups

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS	no	30	Days to keep backup files. Cleanup runs at startup and on backups action=cleanup.

Logging

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_LOG_LEVEL	no	INFO	DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL
SWAG_MCP_LOG_DIRECTORY	no	/app/.swag-mcp/logs	Directory for rotating log files
SWAG_MCP_LOG_FILE_ENABLED	no	true	Write logs to files in addition to stdout
SWAG_MCP_LOG_FILE_MAX_BYTES	no	10485760	Max log file size before rotation (10 MB)
SWAG_MCP_ENABLE_STRUCTURED_LOGGING	no	false	Emit JSON structured logs
SWAG_MCP_LOG_PAYLOADS	no	false	Include request/response bodies in logs
SWAG_MCP_LOG_PAYLOAD_MAX_LENGTH	no	1000	Max payload length when LOG_PAYLOADS=true

Performance

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_SLOW_OPERATION_THRESHOLD_MS	no	1000	Log a warning when any operation exceeds this threshold
SWAG_MCP_ENABLE_RETRY_MIDDLEWARE	no	true	Automatically retry failed operations
SWAG_MCP_MAX_RETRIES	no	3	Max retry attempts

Health checks

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_HEALTH_CHECK_INSECURE	no	false	Skip SSL verification for health probes. Not recommended for production.

Rate limiting

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SWAG_MCP_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED	no	false	Enable the rate-limiting middleware
SWAG_MCP_RATE_LIMIT_RPS	no	10.0	Sustained requests per second
SWAG_MCP_RATE_LIMIT_BURST	no	20	Burst capacity above the RPS limit

Authentication methods

Pass auth_method to create to control which SWAG auth snippet the config includes. The default is set by SWAG_MCP_DEFAULT_AUTH_METHOD.

Method	When to use
none	Public services, or services behind an external SSO not managed by SWAG
basic	Simple HTTP basic auth. Credentials managed by SWAG.
ldap	LDAP/Active Directory authentication via SWAG's built-in LDAP support
authelia	Self-hosted SSO with 2FA. Most common for homelab services.
authentik	Self-hosted identity provider with rich policy engine
tinyauth	Lightweight single-user auth for internal tools
oauth	OAuth 2.1 gateway (mcp-oauth). Use for MCP/AI services that handle their own auth flow.

none exposes the service without authentication. Only use it if access is restricted at the network or proxy layer.

Template system

All configs are generated from a single Jinja2 template: templates/mcp.subdomain.conf.j2. Only subdomain-style configs are supported (service.domain.tld).

Template variables

Variable	Type	Required	Description
service_name	string	yes	Derived from config_name (e.g., jellyfin)
server_name	string	yes	Domain name (e.g., media.example.com)
upstream_app	string	yes	Container name or IP for the main service
upstream_port	integer	yes	Port the main service listens on
upstream_proto	string	yes	http or https
mcp_upstream_app	string	no	Container name or IP for the MCP endpoint. Defaults to upstream_app.
mcp_upstream_port	integer	no	Port for the MCP endpoint. Defaults to upstream_port.
mcp_upstream_proto	string	no	Protocol for the MCP endpoint. Defaults to upstream_proto.
auth_method	string	yes	One of the auth methods listed above
enable_quic	boolean	yes	Add listen 443 quic listeners and Alt-Svc header

MCP security headers

These headers are included unconditionally in every generated config, regardless of auth method:

Header	Value	Purpose
X-MCP-Version	2025-11-25	Advertises the MCP protocol version
Referrer-Policy	strict-origin-when-cross-origin	Limits referrer leakage

DNS rebinding protection is also applied unconditionally. The origin_valid variable is set to 1 only for empty origins, https://$server_name, localhost variants, and *.anthropic.com / *.claude.ai origins. Requests to /mcp with an invalid origin receive a 403 JSON error.

Split routing

Split routing sends the main application traffic to one upstream and MCP traffic to a different upstream. Use it when your MCP/AI service runs on a separate container or host (e.g., a GPU server).

Without split routing, both / and /mcp proxy to the same upstream_app:upstream_port.

With split routing:

• / and /health → upstream_app:upstream_port
• /mcp and /session → mcp_upstream_app:mcp_upstream_port

Example: Jellyfin with a separate AI backend

action=create
config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf
server_name=jellyfin.example.com
upstream_app=jellyfin
upstream_port=8096
upstream_proto=http
mcp_upstream_app=ai-gpu-server
mcp_upstream_port=8080
mcp_upstream_proto=http
auth_method=authelia

This generates:

• location / → http://jellyfin:8096 (protected by Authelia)
• location /mcp → http://ai-gpu-server:8080 (protected by OAuth verify)
• location /health → http://jellyfin:8096 (no auth, for health probes)

If mcp_upstream_app is omitted, all three locations proxy to jellyfin:8096.

SSH / remote configuration

Set SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI to manage configs on a remote SWAG host over SSH.

Supported URI formats:

# Default key, default port 22
SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI=swag-server:/mnt/appdata/swag/nginx/proxy-confs

# Explicit user
SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI=admin@swag-server:/mnt/appdata/swag/nginx/proxy-confs

# Explicit user and port
SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI=admin@swag-server:2222:/mnt/appdata/swag/nginx/proxy-confs

Requirements:

• SSH key-based (passwordless) access to the remote host
• Mount ~/.ssh into the container (see docker-compose.yaml)
• SWAG_MCP_SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH should point to the log base path on the same remote host

When SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_URI is set it takes precedence over SWAG_MCP_PROXY_CONFS_PATH.

Usage examples

List

swag action=list
swag action=list list_filter=active
swag action=list list_filter=samples query=plex offset=0 limit=20

list_filter accepts all (default), active (.conf files only), or samples (.conf.sample files only).

Create

swag action=create
     config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf
     server_name=jellyfin.example.com
     upstream_app=jellyfin
     upstream_port=8096

After creation, a health check runs automatically against server_name.

View

swag action=view config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf

Edit

Replaces the full file content:

swag action=edit
     config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf
     new_content="..."
     create_backup=true

Update

Updates a single field in place:

swag action=update config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf update_field=port update_value=8097
swag action=update config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf update_field=upstream update_value=jellyfin-new
swag action=update config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf update_field=app update_value=jellyfin:8097
swag action=update config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf update_field=add_mcp update_value=/mcp

update_field options:

Value	update_value format	Effect
port	port number	Updates upstream_port
upstream	container name	Updates upstream_app
app	app:port	Updates both upstream_app and upstream_port
add_mcp	path (e.g., /mcp)	Injects an MCP location block into the config

After an update, a health check runs automatically.

Remove

swag action=remove config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf
swag action=remove config_name=jellyfin.subdomain.conf create_backup=false

Logs

swag action=logs log_type=nginx-error lines=100
swag action=logs log_type=nginx-access lines=50
swag action=logs log_type=fail2ban lines=200

Log types and format

log_type	Source file	Format
nginx-access	$SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH/nginx/access.log	Combined nginx access log: IP, timestamp, method, path, status, bytes, referrer, user-agent
nginx-error	$SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH/nginx/error.log	Nginx error format: timestamp, level, PID, message
fail2ban	$SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH/fail2ban/fail2ban.log	fail2ban log: timestamp, level, jail name, action, IP
letsencrypt	$SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log	Certbot output: certificate request, renewal, errors
renewal	$SWAG_LOG_BASE_PATH/letsencrypt/renewal.log	Periodic renewal cron output

lines accepts 1–1000 (default 50).

Backups

swag action=backups backup_action=list
swag action=backups backup_action=cleanup retention_days=7
swag action=backups backup_action=cleanup retention_days=0

backup_action=cleanup removes backup files older than retention_days. Pass retention_days=0 to use the server default (SWAG_MCP_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS).

Backup files are named <original>.backup.<timestamp>. They are created automatically before any edit, update, or remove operation when create_backup=true (the default).

Cleanup also runs at server startup. The startup cleanup uses SWAG_MCP_BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS.

Health check

swag action=health_check domain=jellyfin.example.com
swag action=health_check domain=jellyfin.example.com timeout=10 follow_redirects=false

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	true if the probe reached the service. 2xx is always success; 406 on /mcp is treated as success (MCP endpoint exists but requires POST); any non-404 response is also treated as success.
domain	string	Domain that was checked
status_code	integer or null	HTTP status code returned
response_time_ms	integer or null	Round-trip time in milliseconds
error	string or null	Error message if the probe failed

timeout accepts 1–300 seconds (default 30). The server adds a 10-second buffer on top of timeout for its own wait.

SSL certificate verification can be disabled globally with SWAG_MCP_HEALTH_CHECK_INSECURE=true.

Development commands

just setup        # copy .env.example and install dependencies
just dev          # start the server with uv
just lint         # ruff check
just fmt          # ruff format
just typecheck    # ty check
just test         # pytest
just build        # docker build
just up           # docker compose up -d
just down         # docker compose down
just logs         # docker compose logs -f
just health       # curl http://localhost:8082/health | jq
just gen-token    # generate a random bearer token

Verification

just lint
just typecheck
just test

Check the server health endpoint:

just health
# {"status": "healthy", "service": "swag-mcp", "version": "1.0.1"}

The /health endpoint is also used by the Docker HEALTHCHECK directive. It always returns:

Field	Value
status	"healthy"
service	"swag-mcp"
version	Package version from importlib.metadata

Related plugins

Plugin	Category	Description
homelab-core	core	Core agents, commands, skills, and setup/health workflows for homelab management.
overseerr-mcp	media	Search movies and TV shows, submit requests, and monitor failed requests via Overseerr.
unraid-mcp	infrastructure	Query, monitor, and manage Unraid servers: Docker, VMs, array, parity, and live telemetry.
unifi-mcp	infrastructure	Monitor and manage UniFi devices, clients, firewall rules, and network health.
gotify-mcp	utilities	Send and manage push notifications via a self-hosted Gotify server.
synapse-mcp	infrastructure	Docker management (Flux) and SSH remote operations (Scout) across homelab hosts.
arcane-mcp	infrastructure	Manage Docker environments, containers, images, volumes, networks, and GitOps via Arcane.
syslog-mcp	infrastructure	Receive, index, and search syslog streams from all homelab hosts via SQLite FTS5.
plugin-lab	dev-tools	Scaffold, review, align, and deploy homelab MCP plugins with agents and canonical templates.
axon	research	Self-hosted web crawl, ingest, embed, and RAG pipeline with MCP tooling.

License

MIT