VIRP MCP Server

Cryptographic trust primitives for any AI agent.

Give your AI agent the ability to prove what it saw on your network. Every observation is HMAC-SHA256 signed at the point of collection, before the AI ever touches it. The AI cannot fabricate what the network never said.

VIRP MCP Server exposes the VIRP protocol as standard MCP tools. Any MCP-compatible client — Claude, GPT, Ollama, OpenClaw, or your own agent — connects and gets signed, verified infrastructure observations out of the box.

What This Solves

Every AI operations platform on the market trusts its own telemetry implicitly. The AI says "I checked your firewall." Did it? Can you prove it?

VIRP MCP Server adds a cryptographic trust layer between your AI agent and your infrastructure:

Any AI Agent (Claude, GPT, Ollama, h-cli, OpenClaw)
        │
        │  MCP protocol (stdio or SSE)
        ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  VIRP MCP Server    │  ← You are here
│  (Python)           │
└────────┬────────────┘
         │  TCP / Unix socket
         ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  VIRP O-Node        │  Isolated C daemon
│  HMAC-SHA256 signing │  chain.db audit trail
│  Device SSH access   │  Key management
└────────┬────────────┘
         │  SSH
         ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  Network Devices    │  Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto, ...
└─────────────────────┘

The MCP server is a translation layer. It takes tool calls from your AI agent, forwards them to the VIRP O-Node, and returns cryptographically signed results. The O-Node does all signing — this server never touches keys.

Quick Start

Install

pip install virp-mcp-server

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/nhowardtli/virp.git
cd virp/mcp-server
pip install -e .

Configure

# Point to your O-Node (TCP via socat bridge)
export VIRP_ONODE_HOST=10.0.0.211
export VIRP_ONODE_PORT=9999

# Or use Unix socket for local O-Node
# export VIRP_ONODE_SOCKET=/tmp/virp-onode.sock

Run

virp-mcp

Connect from Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "virp": {
      "command": "virp-mcp",
      "env": {
        "VIRP_ONODE_HOST": "10.0.0.211",
        "VIRP_ONODE_PORT": "9999"
      }
    }
  }
}

Connect from Claude Code

claude mcp add virp -- virp-mcp

Tools

Tool	Description
virp_collect	Collect a signed observation from a device. Returns output + HMAC + sequence + trust tier.
virp_verify	Verify a previously collected observation against the chain.
virp_devices	List all devices registered with the O-Node.
virp_baseline	Get baseline state for a device, flag deviations from known-good.
virp_intent	Submit a proposed change. Trust-tier gated: GREEN/YELLOW/RED/BLACK.
virp_chain	Query the immutable audit trail. Each entry hashes the previous one.
virp_status	Check O-Node health and connection status.

Trust Tiers

VIRP enforces structural limits on what the AI can do:

Tier	What it means	Example
GREEN	Auto-execute. Read-only.	show ip bgp summary, ping
YELLOW	Flagged for review.	Restart a non-critical service
RED	Human approval required.	Firewall rule change, interface shutdown
BLACK	Structurally impossible.	Factory reset, delete keys, disable VIRP

BLACK tier operations cannot be approved. The O-Node refuses them at the protocol level.

Resources and Prompts

MCP Resources (agents can read for context):

• virp://trust-tiers — Trust tier definitions and examples
• virp://protocol-info — Protocol overview, version, DOI, links

Built-in Prompts:

• network_audit — Full VIRP-verified audit across all devices
• investigate_device — Deep investigation of a specific device

Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
VIRP_ONODE_HOST	127.0.0.1	O-Node TCP host
VIRP_ONODE_PORT	9999	O-Node TCP port
VIRP_ONODE_SOCKET	—	Unix socket path (overrides TCP)
VIRP_ONODE_TIMEOUT	30	Command timeout (seconds)
VIRP_LOG_LEVEL	INFO	Logging level
VIRP_TRANSPORT	stdio	MCP transport: stdio or sse

Also supports YAML config files. See virp-mcp.example.yaml.

Prerequisites

A running VIRP O-Node with registered devices. See the VIRP repository for O-Node setup.

Or use the built-in Mock O-Node to test without any hardware:

# Terminal 1: Start mock O-Node (simulates Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto devices)
virp-mock-onode

# Terminal 2: Start MCP server pointing at mock
VIRP_ONODE_PORT=9999 virp-mcp

Testing

pip install virp-mcp-server[dev]
pytest tests/ -v

28 tests covering connection, collection, verification, intents, trust tiers, chain integrity, and baselines. All tests run against the Mock O-Node, no hardware required.

How It Works

1. Your AI agent calls virp_collect("r1", "show ip bgp summary") via MCP
2. The MCP server forwards the request to the O-Node
3. The O-Node SSHs into the device, executes the command
4. The O-Node signs the raw output with HMAC-SHA256
5. The observation is stored in chain.db with a sequence number
6. The MCP server returns the signed observation to your agent
7. Your agent makes claims about the network with cryptographic proof

If the AI references a device without a matching signed observation, the Observation Gate catches it. No signed observation = no verified claim.

Protocol

VIRP — Verified Infrastructure Response Protocol

• RFC: draft-howard-virp-01 (submitted to IETF)
• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18830236
• Repository: github.com/nhowardtli/virp
• Author: Nate Howard, Third Level IT LLC
• License: Apache 2.0