obambu-cpanel-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets an AI assistant (Claude, etc.) manage a cPanel hosting account through the cPanel UAPI.

It exposes tools for domains, DNS zones, email accounts, MySQL databases, and file listing, plus a generic escape hatch to call any other UAPI module/function.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• A cPanel account with API token access (Security → Manage API Tokens in cPanel)

Setup

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/obambu-cpanel-mcp.git
cd obambu-cpanel-mcp
npm install
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your cPanel details:

CPANEL_HOST=your-server-hostname-or-ip
CPANEL_PORT=2083
CPANEL_USERNAME=your-cpanel-username
CPANEL_API_TOKEN=paste-your-api-token-here

Build and run:

npm run build
npm start

For local development without building first:

npm run dev

Using it with an MCP client

Add it to your MCP client config (e.g. Claude Desktop / Claude Code), pointing at the built entrypoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obambu-cpanel": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/obambu-cpanel-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CPANEL_HOST": "your-server-hostname-or-ip",
        "CPANEL_PORT": "2083",
        "CPANEL_USERNAME": "your-cpanel-username",
        "CPANEL_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available tools

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | get_account_summary | Disk/bandwidth quota usage and general stats | | list_domains | Domains, subdomains, addon domains and parked domains | | list_dns_records | Read a domain's DNS zone | | add_dns_record | Add a DNS record | | edit_dns_record | Edit an existing DNS record | | remove_dns_record | Remove a DNS record | | list_emails | List email accounts | | create_email | Create an email account | | delete_email | Delete an email account | | list_files | List files/directories under the account home directory | | list_databases | List MySQL databases | | list_database_users | List MySQL database users | | create_database | Create a MySQL database | | create_database_user | Create a MySQL database user | | grant_database_privileges | Grant a user privileges on a database | | cpanel_uapi_call | Call any UAPI module/function directly for anything not covered above |

Usage examples

Once connected, just talk to your assistant in plain language — it picks the right tool:

• "Test the connection to my cPanel account" → get_account_summary
• "What domains and subdomains are on this hosting account?" → list_domains
• "Show me the DNS records for example.com" → list_dns_records
• "Add an A record for shop.example.com pointing to 1.2.3.4" → add_dns_record
• "Create a mailbox [email protected]" → create_email
• "Create a MySQL database and user for my new app, then grant privileges" → create_database + create_database_user + grant_database_privileges
• "List the files in public_html" → list_files
• "Read config/filesystems.php and fix this path" → cpanel_uapi_call with module: "Fileman", function: "get_file_content" / save_file_content

Because tool calls map directly to UAPI modules, this is also useful for real migration/deployment workflows — e.g. moving a site to a new cPanel account, provisioning a database for a fresh app, or auditing DNS before a domain cutover.

Notes on Fileman

Only list_files (backed by Fileman::list_files) and, through the cpanel_uapi_call escape hatch, get_file_content / save_file_content are known to work reliably for reading and writing individual files. Bulk filesystem operations (extract_files, rename, mkdir, fileop, delete_files, ...) are not guaranteed to be available depending on your cPanel version/provider — test before relying on them, and prefer cPanel's File Manager UI for bulk moves, extraction, and deletion.

Security

• Never commit your .env file (it's git-ignored by default).
• Scope your cPanel API token as narrowly as your provider allows.
• The cpanel_uapi_call tool can call any UAPI function available to your account — treat it with the same care as direct API/token access.

License

MIT