jenkins-cicd

Jenkins CI/CD with jenkins-mcp-server

This skill tells you when and how to use the jenkins-mcp-server MCP tools (PyPI package: jenkins-mcp-tools). It does not replace the server: the MCP server must be installed and configured first (see Setup).

Setup

1. Install: pip install jenkins-mcp-tools
2. Create a Jenkins API token: Jenkins -> your username -> Configure -> API Token -> Add new Token.
3. Register the server in your agent's MCP config (Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json; Claude Code: claude mcp add):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jenkins": {
      "command": "jenkins-mcp-server",
      "args": ["--url", "https://jenkins.example.com", "--username", "USER", "--token", "TOKEN", "--mode", "read-only"]
    }
  }
}

1. Verify: jenkins-mcp-server --test --url ... --username ... --token ...

Prefer the environment variables JENKINS_URL, JENKINS_USERNAME, JENKINS_TOKEN, JENKINS_MODE over putting the token in a shared config file. Never print, log, or commit the token. Only use --no-verify-ssl / JENKINS_VERIFY_SSL=false for self-signed internal servers, and tell the user you are doing so.

Access modes (check before acting)

Mode	What it allows
read-only	Inspect only: jobs, builds, logs, tests, queue, nodes, views, plugins
standard (default)	Read tools + trigger_build, stop_build
admin	Everything, including create/delete/copy/update jobs, folders, replay

If a tool returns a mode error, do not try to work around it. Tell the user which mode is needed and let them decide whether to change it. Recommend read-only for exploration and shared setups.

Which tool for which question

"What's the state of Jenkins / job X?" list_jobs -> get_job_details -> get_build_info

"Why did build N fail?" (work from cheap to expensive)

1. get_build_info - result, duration, cause
2. get_pipeline_stages - which stage failed (pipelines)
3. get_test_report - failing tests and counts
4. get_build_console - read the tail first (the failure is usually at the end), then page backwards if needed
5. get_build_parameters - did a parameter cause it?