Mattermost MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI agents and automation tools with secure access to Mattermost channels, users, and content.

Features

  • MCP Protocol Support: Implements the Model Context Protocol for standardized AI agent communication

  • Authentication: Personal Access Token (PAT) authentication

  • Transport: Configurable transport layer (currently stdio JSON-RPC for local desktop clients like Claude Desktop)

  • Comprehensive Mattermost Integration: Read posts, channels, search, create content

  • Dual Mode Operation: Runs standalone or embedded in the AI plugin

Tools Available

The MCP server exposes the following tools to AI agents:

read_post

Read a specific post and its thread from Mattermost.

Parameters:

  • post_id (required): The ID of the post to read

  • include_thread (optional): Whether to include the entire thread (default: true)

read_channel

Read recent posts from a Mattermost channel.

Parameters:

  • channel_id (required): The ID of the channel to read from

  • limit (optional): Number of posts to retrieve (default: 20, max: 100)

  • since (optional): Only get posts since this timestamp (ISO 8601 format)

search_posts

Search for posts in Mattermost.

Parameters:

  • query (required): The search query

  • team_id (optional): Team ID to limit search scope

  • channel_id (optional): Channel ID to limit search to a specific channel

  • limit (optional): Number of results to return (default: 20, max: 100)

create_post

Create a new post in Mattermost.

Parameters:

  • channel_id (required): The ID of the channel to post in

  • message (required): The message content

  • root_id (optional): Root post ID for replies

  • props (optional): Post properties

  • attachments (optional): Array of file paths or URLs to attach to the post

    • Note: File paths only work with Claude Code; Claude Desktop cannot access local files

create_channel

Create a new channel in Mattermost.

Parameters:

  • name (required): The channel name (URL-friendly)

  • display_name (required): The channel display name

  • type (required): Channel type - ‘O’ for public, ‘P’ for private

  • team_id (required): The team ID where the channel will be created

  • purpose (optional): Channel purpose

  • header (optional): Channel header

get_channel_info

Get information about a channel. If you have a channel ID, use that for fastest lookup. If the user provides a human-readable name, try channel_display_name first (what users see in the UI), then channel_name (URL name) as fallback.

Parameters:

  • channel_id: The exact channel ID (fastest, most reliable method)

  • channel_display_name + team_id: The human-readable display name users see (e.g. ‘General Discussion’)

  • channel_name + team_id: The URL-friendly channel name (e.g. ‘general-discussion’)

get_team_info

Get information about a team. If you have a team ID, use that for fastest lookup. If the user provides a human-readable name, try team_display_name first (what users see in the UI), then team_name (URL name) as fallback.

Parameters:

  • team_id: The exact team ID (fastest, most reliable method)

  • team_display_name: The human-readable display name users see (e.g. ‘Engineering Team’)

  • team_name: The URL-friendly team name (e.g. ‘engineering-team’)

search_users

Search for existing users by username, email, or name.

Parameters:

  • term (required): Search term (username, email, first name, or last name)

  • limit (optional): Maximum number of results to return (default: 20, max: 100)

get_channel_members

Get all members of a specific channel with their details.

Parameters:

  • channel_id (required): ID of the channel to get members for

get_team_members

Get all members of a specific team with their details.

Parameters:

  • team_id (required): ID of the team to get members for

Development Tools (Dev Mode Only)

The following tools are only available when the -dev flag is enabled:

create_user

Create a new user account for testing scenarios.

  • Parameters: username, email, password, first_name (optional), last_name (optional), nickname (optional), profile_image (optional): File path or URL to set as profile image (supports .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif)

    • Note: File paths only work with Claude Code; Claude Desktop cannot access local files

create_team

Create a new team.

  • Parameters: name, display_name, type (O for open, I for invite only), description (optional), team_icon (optional): File path or URL to set as team icon (supports .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif)

    • Note: File paths only work with Claude Code; Claude Desktop cannot access local files

add_user_to_team

Add a user to a team.

  • Parameters: user_id, team_id

add_user_to_channel

Add a user to a channel.

  • Parameters: user_id, channel_id

create_post_as_user

Create a post as a specific user using username/password login. Simply provide the username and password of created users.

  • Parameters:

    • username (required), password (required)

    • channel_id (required), message (required)

    • root_id (optional), props (optional)

    • attachments (optional): Array of file paths or URLs to attach to the post

    • Note: File paths only work with Claude Code; Claude Desktop cannot access local files

Installation and Usage

Build

  1. Build the server:

    # Using the Makefile (recommended)
    make mcp-server
    
    # Or manually from the project root
    go build -o bin/mattermost-mcp-server ./mcpserver/cmd/main.go
    
  2. Set up authentication:

    • Create a Personal Access Token in Mattermost (User Settings > Security > Personal Access Tokens)

    • Note your Mattermost server URL

Configuration Options

Required:

  • --server-url: Mattermost server URL (or set MM_SERVER_URL env var)

  • --token: Personal Access Token (or set MM_ACCESS_TOKEN env var)

Optional:

  • --transport: Transport type (currently only ‘stdio’ is supported, default: ‘stdio’)

  • --logfile: Path to log file (logs to file in addition to stderr, JSON format)

  • --debug: Enable debug logging (recommended for troubleshooting)

  • --dev: Enable development mode with additional tools for setting up test data

  • --version: Show version information

Notes:

  • Token validation occurs at startup for fast failure detection

  • Logging output goes to stderr to avoid interfering with JSON-RPC communication on stdout

  • File logging (when --logfile is used) outputs structured JSON logs in addition to stderr

  • Debug logging includes tool call tracing and detailed operation logs

Integration with AI Clients

Claude Code Integration

claude mcp add mattermost -e MM_SERVER_URL=https://mattermost-url MM_ACCESS_TOKEN=<token> -- /path/to/mattermost-plugin-ai/bin/mattermost-mcp-server --dev --debug

Claude Desktop Integration

To use with Claude Desktop, add the server to your MCP configuration:

macOS/Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mattermost": {
      "command": "/path/to/mattermost-plugin-ai/bin/mattermost-mcp-server",
      "args": ["--debug"],
      "env": {
        "MM_SERVER_URL": "https://your-mattermost.com",
        "MM_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-pat-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development Mode

Development mode (--dev flag) enables additional tools for setting up realistic test data and user scenarios. This is particularly useful for Mattermost developers who need to bootstrap development environments or create sophisticated test scenarios.

Enable development mode:

./bin/mattermost-mcp-server --dev --server-url https://your-mattermost.com --token your-admin-pat-token

Security Note: Development mode should only be used in development environments with admin-level access tokens, never in production.