stdio transport

npx -y @havesomecode/kibana-mcp-server serve

stdio is the default: the MCP client starts a child process over standard input/output, serving one global configuration to one caller.

Supply a connection before startup. Otherwise it fails with No saved Kibana connection is available. Run connection bootstrap first.

What it serves

• After guided setup or bootstrap, the default saved profile.
• With --profile <name> or KIBANA_PROFILE, that saved profile.
• With an environment connection, the explicit KIBANA_SOURCE_CATALOG_PATH catalog. No checkout file is selected implicitly.
• With a configuration file that declares a store, the profile named by profile, --profile or KIBANA_PROFILE, falling back to default.

Running from a checkout

KIBANA_BASE_URL=https://kibana.example.com \
KIBANA_USERNAME=elastic \
KIBANA_PASSWORD=secret \
KIBANA_SOURCE_CATALOG_PATH=config/sources.json \
npm run dev

After guided setup, omit the environment values:

npm run dev

When to move to HTTP

Use one HTTP server behind a multi-user gateway with per-user catalogs. stdio needs one process per caller.