Kafka Connect as Tools
mcp-kafka-connect · client connects straight to a Kafka Connect worker's REST API and exposes connector, task, and offset management as a fixed set of intrinsic MCP tools. No OpenAPI spec to register, no options.tools to hand-author, no upstream MCP server standing in front of Connect.
Configuration
mcp_kafka_connect_client:
type: mcp-kafka-connect
kind: client
options:
server: http://kafka-connect.examples.dev:8083
routes:
- when:
- tool: create_connector
- tool: delete_connector
- tool: update_connector_config
- tool: restart_connector
- tool: pause_connector
- tool: resume_connector
- tool: stop_connector
- tool: restart_connector_task
- tool: alter_connector_offsets
- tool: reset_connector_offsets
guarded:
my_guard:
- kafka-connect:admin
- when:
- tool: "*"Route-level guarded: gates the mutating and offset-rewriting tools behind a stricter role, while every other tool, mostly reads, falls through to the open route. options.server is the only required option: point it at the Connect worker's REST API and the full tool set is available immediately.
Tool Set
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Connector lifecycle | list_connectors, create_connector, describe_connector, update_connector_config, delete_connector, validate_connector_config |
| Connector state | describe_connector_status, restart_connector, pause_connector, resume_connector, stop_connector |
| Tasks | list_connector_tasks, restart_connector_task |
| Offsets | describe_connector_offsets, alter_connector_offsets, reset_connector_offsets |
| Plugins | list_connector_plugins |
Every tool's structuredContent mirrors the Kafka Connect REST API's own JSON response, unmodified — nothing here is a separate, curated schema an agent has to learn on top of the one Kafka Connect already exposes. See mcp-kafka-connect · client for the full per-tool argument and response reference.
Stopped, not deleted, before altering offsets
alter_connector_offsets and reset_connector_offsets both require the connector to already be stopped. Call stop_connector first, make the offset change, then resume_connector or restart_connector to bring it back.
When to Reach for It
Reach for mcp-kafka-connect when the operations you need are already in its fixed tool set — connector and task administration against a specific worker, no schema authoring, no upstream server to run. When Connect exposes a plugin-specific REST extension outside this set, front it with mcp-openapi or mcp-http instead. See Backend Bindings for how it compares to the other two backend bindings.