Using clijson from AI assistants (MCP)¶

clijson ships a Model Context Protocol server. Any MCP client can then turn router output into structured JSON by calling clijson as a tool. That includes Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and your own agents. The assistant gets exact, schema'd data instead of guessing at column layouts.

pip install "clijson[mcp]"      # or: uv tool install "clijson[mcp]"
clijson mcp                     # stdio transport (what desktop clients launch)
clijson mcp -t http --port 8000 # Streamable HTTP at http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

The server is built on the official mcp Python SDK (v2). It speaks every protocol revision the SDK supports, including the stateless 2026-07-28 revision and the 2025 revisions.

Tools¶

Every tool is read-only and makes no network connections. It only transforms the text you pass in. The tools are annotated as such (readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, no openWorldHint), so clients can run them without extra confirmation.

Tool	What it does	Key arguments
`parse_output`	Parse one command's output into JSON. It adds the vendor-neutral model when one exists.	`output`, `command`?, `platform`?, `normalize` (default `true`)
`parse_session`	Parse a terminal log with many `prompt# command` blocks	`output`, `platform`?
`detect_platform`	Work out which OS produced some output, with a confidence and reasons	`output`, `command`?
`diff_outputs`	Structural pre/post comparison. Counters and timers are ignored unless asked.	`before`, `after`, `command`?, `platform`?, `include_counters`
`list_commands`	Commands with dedicated parsers	`platform`?, `search`?
`get_model_schema`	JSON Schema of a normalized model	`intent` (e.g. `bgp.summary`)
`check_pseudowire_redundancy`	Verdict on L2VPN PW redundancy: one forwarding PW per service, backups in standby, nothing down. With `before`, it also checks the pre-change capture and lists the changes.	`output`, `command`?, `platform`?, `before`?, `require_backup`

Large results are capped at 500 records per list and flagged with truncated, so a full BGP table doesn't flood the model's context.

Resources¶

URI	Content
`clijson://commands`	The full catalog of supported commands (JSON)
`clijson://models/{intent}`	JSON Schema of a normalized model

Client configuration¶

Claude Code

claude mcp add clijson -- uvx --from "clijson[mcp]" clijson mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf (claude_desktop_config.json, .cursor/mcp.json, ...)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clijson": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "clijson[mcp]", "clijson", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

{
  "servers": {
    "clijson": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "clijson[mcp]", "clijson", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

uvx runs clijson in an isolated, cached environment, so nothing needs to be installed globally. If clijson is already installed, use "command": "clijson", "args": ["mcp"] instead.

Remote / shared (Streamable HTTP):

clijson mcp --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Then point the client at http://<host>:8000/mcp. The server has no authentication of its own, so put it behind your usual reverse proxy or VPN before exposing it beyond localhost.

Example conversation¶

You: here's show bgp summary from pe1 and pe2, which peers are down?

Assistant calls parse_output(output=..., command="show bgp summary") for each capture. It then reads normalized[*].established and answers from the exact data, whatever the vendor.

You: here's show l2vpn bridge-domain detail from before and after adding the backup PW. Did it work?

Assistant calls check_pseudowire_redundancy(output=<after>, before=<before>, require_backup=true). Before the change it finds "no backup pseudowire". After the change it gets ok: true: one forwarding PW and the new backup in standby. The changes list shows the backup that was added.

Embedding the server¶

from clijson.mcp_server import build_server

server = build_server()          # an mcp MCPServer instance; add your own tools, then:
server.run("stdio")

The tool functions are plain Python and can be used without the SDK: tool_parse_output, tool_diff_outputs, tool_detect_platform, ... in clijson.mcp_server.