Deployment¶

Deployment Options¶

tunnel-manager supports local stdio, a loopback-only development listener, a least-privilege stdio container, and a remote authenticated HTTPS boundary. Provider endpoint, credential, selector, identity, and trust material are supplied at runtime through AgentConfig; none is stored in this repository.

Installed stdio process¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tunnel-manager": {
      "command": "tunnel-manager-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {"MCP_TOOL_MODE": "intent"}
    }
  }
}

Loopback development listener¶

tunnel-manager-mcp --transport streamable-http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Do not expose this listener beyond loopback. Network deployments require direct TLS or an explicitly trusted TLS-terminating ingress, configured authentication, exact MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS, and an exact trusted-proxy CIDR policy.

Least-privilege local container¶

docker run -i --rm \
  --read-only \
  --cap-drop=ALL \
  --security-opt=no-new-privileges \
  --pids-limit=256 \
  --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=64m \
  -e TRANSPORT=stdio \
  registry.example.invalid/tunnel-manager@sha256:<digest> tunnel-manager-mcp

The operator projects the selected AgentConfig profile into the process at runtime; the image remains immutable and contains no environment connection profile.

Remote authenticated HTTPS endpoint¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tunnel-manager": {"url": "https://service.example.invalid/mcp"}
  }
}

Store the real remote URL, outbound identity reference, and TLS-profile reference in AgentConfig, not in MCP client JSON or documentation.

This page covers running tunnel-manager as a long-lived server: the transports, a Docker Compose stack, putting it behind a Caddy reverse proxy, and giving it a DNS name with Technitium. tunnel-manager ships both an MCP server (console script tunnel-manager-mcp) and a Pydantic-AI agent server (console script tunnel-manager-agent); both are covered below.

Run the MCP server¶

The transport is selected with --transport (or the TRANSPORT env var):

stdio (default)streamable-httpsse

tunnel-manager-mcp

For IDE / desktop MCP clients that launch the server as a subprocess.

tunnel-manager-mcp --transport streamable-http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

A network server with a /health endpoint and /mcp route.

tunnel-manager-mcp --transport sse --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Health check (HTTP transports):

curl -s http://localhost:8000/health

Bind to a non-loopback address only inside an isolated container network or behind an authenticated, authorization-enforcing gateway. Never publish the raw MCP listener directly. The shared server boundary requires a supported AUTH_TYPE, exact MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS, and either direct TLS material or an explicit trusted TLS-termination proxy before any non-loopback listener starts.

Configuration (environment)¶

tunnel-manager is configured from the environment (or a sibling .env file). The required / commonly set variables:

Var	Default	Meaning
`HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	Loopback bind for HTTP transports; use an authenticated gateway for remote access
`PORT`	`8000`	Listen port for HTTP transports
`TRANSPORT`	`stdio`	`stdio`, `streamable-http`, or `sse`
`TUNNEL_IDENTITY_FILE`	`~/.ssh/id_ed25519`	SSH private key used to connect to hosts
`TUNNEL_KNOWN_HOSTS`	`~/.ssh/known_hosts`	Independently verified SSH server-key trust store
`TUNNEL_PASSWORD_REF`	—	Opaque runtime password reference; literal passwords are rejected
`ENABLE_OTEL`	`True`	Emit OpenTelemetry traces
`EUNOMIA_TYPE`	`none`	Authorization mode — `none`, `embedded`, or `remote`
`DEBUG`	`False`	Verbose logging

Each action-routed tool can be toggled independently:

Var	Default	Tool
`TM_HOSTS_TOOL`	`True`	Host inventory management (`tm_hosts`)
`TM_REMOTE_TOOL`	`True`	Single-host SSH operations (`tm_remote`)
`TM_INVENTORY_TOOL`	`True`	Bulk inventory operations (`tm_inventory`)
`TM_OPERATIONS_TOOL`	`True`	Operation lifecycle / sessions (`tm_operations`)
`TM_SYSTEM_TOOL`	`True`	Remote system intelligence (`tm_system`)
`TM_FILES_TOOL`	`True`	Advanced file operations (`tm_files`)
`TM_SECURITY_TOOL`	`True`	Security and compliance auditing (`tm_security`)

The complete set, including the OTEL and Eunomia connection settings, is documented in .env.example. Copy it to .env and populate only what you use.

Docker Compose¶

The repo ships docker/mcp.compose.yml. It reads a sibling .env and publishes the HTTP server on :8000:

services:
  tunnel-manager-mcp:
    image: example/tunnel-manager@sha256:<digest>
    container_name: tunnel-manager-mcp
    hostname: tunnel-manager-mcp
    restart: always
    env_file:
      - ../.env
    environment:
      - PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
      - PORT=8000
      - TRANSPORT=streamable-http
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "python3", "-c", "import urllib.request; urllib.request.urlopen('http://localhost:8000/health')"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

cp .env.example .env          # then edit TUNNEL_IDENTITY_FILE and toggles
docker compose -f docker/mcp.compose.yml up -d
docker compose -f docker/mcp.compose.yml logs -f

Agent server¶

tunnel-manager includes a Pydantic-AI graph agent (console script tunnel-manager-agent) that connects to the MCP server and exposes the Agent Control Protocol plus an optional web UI. Run it standalone:

export MCP_URL=http://tunnel-manager-mcp:8000/mcp
export PROVIDER=openai
export MODEL_ID=gpt-4o
tunnel-manager-agent --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9002

The combined docker/agent.compose.yml provisions the MCP server and the agent together; the agent reaches the MCP server by container name through MCP_URL and is published on :9002:

services:
  tunnel-manager-agent:
    image: example/tunnel-manager@sha256:<digest>
    container_name: tunnel-manager-agent
    depends_on:
      - tunnel-manager-mcp
    env_file:
      - ../.env
    command: ["tunnel-manager-agent"]
    environment:
      - PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
      - PORT=9002
      - MCP_URL=http://tunnel-manager-mcp:8000/mcp
      - PROVIDER=${PROVIDER:-openai}
      - MODEL_ID=${MODEL_ID:-gpt-4o}
      - ENABLE_WEB_UI=True
    ports:
      - "9002:9002"

docker compose -f docker/agent.compose.yml up -d

Behind a Caddy reverse proxy¶

Expose the HTTP server on a hostname with automatic TLS. Add to your Caddyfile:

# Internal (self-signed) — private .example.invalid zone
tunnel-manager.example.invalid {
    tls internal
    reverse_proxy tunnel-manager-mcp:8000
}

# Public — automatic Let's Encrypt
tunnel-manager.example.com {
    reverse_proxy tunnel-manager-mcp:8000
}

Reload Caddy:

docker compose -f services/caddy/compose.yml exec caddy caddy reload --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

DNS with Technitium¶

Point the hostname at the host running Caddy. Via the Technitium API:

curl -s "http://technitium.example.invalid:5380/api/zones/records/add" \
  --data-urlencode "token=$TECHNITIUM_DNS_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "domain=tunnel-manager.example.invalid" \
  --data-urlencode "zone=arpa" \
  --data-urlencode "type=A" \
  --data-urlencode "ipAddress=192.0.2.10" \
  --data-urlencode "ttl=3600"

…or add an A record tunnel-manager.example.invalid → <caddy-host-ip> in the Technitium web console (http://technitium.example.invalid:5380). The ecosystem technitium-dns-mcp automates this as a tool.

Register with an MCP client¶

Add to your client's mcp_config.json (multiplexer nickname tun):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tunnel-manager": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "tunnel-manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TUNNEL_IDENTITY_FILE": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519"
      }
    }
  }
}

For a remote HTTP server, point the client at http://tunnel-manager.example.invalid/mcp instead.