How to Use the Kong Gateway MCP in Claude Code

Q: Can I use Claude Code to run deleteservice on my Kong Gateway in a script?

Yes, absolutely. The deleteservice tool is available just like any other. You can incorporate it into cleanup scripts for your CI/CD pipeline to tear down temporary environments automatically.

Automate your Kong Gateway operations from the command line with Claude Code.

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Create your Vinkius account to connect Kong Gateway to Claude Code and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup Kong Gateway with Claude Code

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Script Your Entire Gateway Setup

The `create_service`, `create_route`, and `create_upstream` tools let you script a full gateway deployment. Forget about maintaining huge declarative YAML files. You can now manage your gateway imperatively. Pipe a list of microservices into a shell script that calls these tools. You can stand up a new environment in seconds. This makes it a perfect fit for CI/CD pipelines and creating ephemeral review apps.

Automate Certificate and Consumer Management

Use this MCP server in a cron job to handle routine maintenance. A simple script can call `list_certificates` to check expiration dates, then use `create_certificate` and `update_sni` to rotate them automatically. It's the same for API consumers. Build a script that provisions a new partner by calling `create_consumer`, applies a rate-limiting policy with `create_plugin`, and pipes the result to your logging system. It's set-and-forget.

Pipe Gateway Status into Monitoring Tools

These tools are designed to work with the command line you already know. Use `get_status` and `get_info` in a script and pipe the raw JSON output into systems like Prometheus or Datadog. You can get more specific, too. A script could run `list_targets` every minute for a critical upstream and check their health status. If a target goes down, the script can trigger a PagerDuty alert.

Setup guide

Set up Kong Gateway MCP in Claude Code

Prerequisites

Claude Code CLI installed (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Run the add command

Open your terminal and run the command shown on the right. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com. Use --scope user to make it available across all projects.
2

Verify the connection

Start a Claude Code session and type /mcp to list connected servers. You should see kong-gateway-mcp with a green status indicator.
3

Start using tools

Ask Claude Code something like "Check my latest Kong Gateway transactions." It will automatically discover and invoke the available Kong Gateway tools.

Terminal

claude mcp add --transport http kong-gateway-mcp https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp

Get your connection token →

Prerequisites

Claude Code CLI installed
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Open the config file

Create or edit .mcp.json in your project root for project-level scope, or ~/.claude.json for user-level scope.
2

Add the Kong Gateway MCP

Paste the JSON snippet shown on the right into the mcpServers object. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Restart Claude Code

Start a new Claude Code session. Type /mcp to confirm the server is connected. The tools will be automatically available in your conversation.

.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kong-gateway-mcp": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Get your connection token →

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by Kong Gateway. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

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Common questions about Kong Gateway MCP in Claude Code

You don't. You add the MCP server using the Vinkius URL and your Vinkius token. Vinkius manages the connection to Kong securely on the backend, so your Kong credentials are never exposed on the command line.

Yes, absolutely. The `delete_service` tool is available just like any other. You can incorporate it into cleanup scripts for your CI/CD pipeline to tear down temporary environments automatically.

Errors from the Kong API are passed through and printed to stderr, and the command will exit with a non-zero status code. This makes it easy to add error handling and conditional logic to your shell scripts.

The tools themselves don't have a dry-run flag, as they directly manipulate the gateway. The best practice is to target a non-production Kong Gateway instance first to validate your Claude Code scripts before running them against production.

No. Your interaction is with the Vinkius MCP endpoint over a secure transport. Vinkius proxies your requests to Kong, handling the credentials. The only data exposed is the output you see in your terminal, which is sent over a TLS-encrypted connection.

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