Cisco Duo MCP

Cisco Duo + AI - for Claude, the ChatGPT desktop app, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, and any agent that speaks MCP

Unofficial. Community-built Claude Code Skill and MCP server for the Cisco Duo API. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cisco Systems, Inc.

[Cisco Duo - MCP server and Claude Code Skill]

_{Full skill page - install, outcomes, safety model.}

Fix Duo MFA lockouts in one command and see every MSP subaccount at once, with signed Admin API calls. Works with the AI you already use - ChatGPT (desktop app), Claude Desktop, Codex, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and GitHub Copilot - plus Gemini CLI. Free, open source, runs on your laptop. Built for MSP owners. No code required.

Works with your agent

Security note (until this connector is reprinted). Do not run HTTP mode (--transport http), not even on localhost. This build checks a token, but it predates the fix release's request size and time limits. The MCP tools can also make changes with your credentials. Use the default stdio transport. If you set up a tunnel for a remote agent, shut it down. A fix is on the way.

The six agents MSP owners actually use (self-serve, works today):

The ChatGPT desktop app runs cisco-duo-mcp locally and shares MCP configuration with Codex (OpenAI). ChatGPT on the web needs a remote (HTTP) server, and this connector's HTTP mode is paused until it is reprinted (see the security note in mcp-install.md), so msp-skills does not support it yet. If your team works there, a hosted gateway is the better pick; check that your AI app is on the gateway's setup list.

Also for the Microsoft and Google stacks

Big install base, but an honest heads-up: Gemini CLI runs the local binary you just installed, while Microsoft 365 Copilot and the Gemini app need a remote server, which msp-skills does not support yet.

Skill-native agents (also covered): Hermes and OpenClaw read this skill's SKILL.md directly and speak MCP - see their install sections below. Also works with Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Continue.dev, and Zed via MCP. Full per-tool wire-up: docs/which-agent.md.

Run more than one agent? Install across all 51+ supported agents in one command: npx skills add Servosity/msp-skills@latest (requires Node.js, then run the per-skill installer for the CLI/MCP binaries). See docs/which-agent.md.

Install in 60 seconds

Fastest for Claude Desktop - one-click .mcpb

Download Cisco Duo MCP (.mcpb) - then open Claude Desktop > Settings > Extensions and select the file. One click, no JSON, no shell. (Browse every Cisco Duo release on the releases page.)

Prefer the Claude Code plugin? Add the marketplace once, then install - works immediately, no directory listing required:

/plugin marketplace add Servosity/msp-skills/plugin install cisco-duo@msp-skills

Path A - paste one prompt into your AI agent (recommended)

Copy this into Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Claude Cowork:

Install the Cisco Duo Skill and MCP server from Servosity/msp-skills in this agent workspace. If this workspace uses a POSIX shell (macOS, Linux, WSL, or Bash), run bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.sh). If it uses Windows PowerShell, run iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.ps1 | iex. Then authenticate per the README and run cisco-duo-cli --help to explore.

The same prompt works in any agent that can run shell.

Path B - run the installer yourself

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.ps1 | iex

macOS / Linux:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.sh)

The installer drops both cisco-duo-cli (the CLI) and cisco-duo-mcp (the MCP server) into your user bin path. Claude Code, Codex, and Cowork discover the Skill via SKILL.md in this directory.

Verify:

cisco-duo-cli --version

Upgrade to the latest version

The installer always fetches the current release - re-run it to upgrade:

macOS / Linux:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.sh)

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/cisco-duo/install.ps1 | iex

Claude Desktop .mcpb users: download the latest .mcpb (top of this section) and re-select it in Settings > Extensions. Claude Code plugin users: /plugin update cisco-duo@msp-skills.

Add to Claude Desktop, the ChatGPT desktop app, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, or another MCP client

After the installer runs, see mcp-install.md and docs/which-agent.md for the per-agent wire-up - one section per agent, including the GitHub Copilot servers key and the ChatGPT desktop app. Claude Desktop's Settings > Extensions panel is the simplest path; the MCP config block (for users who prefer editing JSON) is documented in mcp-install.md.

Install for Hermes

From the Hermes CLI:

hermes skills install servosity/msp-skills/skills/cisco-duo --force

Inside a Hermes chat session:

/skills install servosity/msp-skills/skills/cisco-duo --force

Hermes speaks MCP natively, so it can also use the cisco-duo-mcp server directly - same install path, same env vars.

Install for OpenClaw

Tell your OpenClaw agent (copy this):

Install the cisco-duo skill from https://github.com/servosity/msp-skills/tree/main/skills/cisco-duo. The skill defines how its required CLI (cisco-duo-cli) can be installed via the openclaw: frontmatter block.

OpenClaw isn't generally available yet; the frontmatter wiring is pre-shipped and will activate the moment OpenClaw launches.

Authenticate

In the Duo Admin Panel, go to Applications > Protect an Application > Admin API and create an Admin API application. An MSP creates it in the parent account and grants subaccount permissions. Copy its three values:

export CISCO_DUO_API_HOST="api-XXXXXXXX.duosecurity.com"   # API hostnameexport CISCO_DUO_IKEY="<integration key>"export CISCO_DUO_SKEY="<secret key>"cisco-duo-cli doctor

doctor checks the API host, then sends one signed read (GET /admin/v1/users?limit=1) and reports the credential as valid, rejected (HTTP 401), or scope-limited (HTTP 403: the application lacks Grant resource - Read). It exits 0 by default; scripts should add --fail-on error (fails on a rejected key) or --fail-on warn (also fails on a scope-limited one). The secret key only signs requests; it is never sent to Duo.

Grant only the permissions your workflow needs: read-only work needs Grant resource - Read, Grant read log and Grant read information; as an MSP, --account-id and the fleet commands also need Grant accounts - Read, and fleet summary's user-limit column needs Grant user limits - Read. Unlocking users, issuing bypass codes and swapping phones add Grant resource - Write. See governance.md.

Work with one customer, or all of them

As an MSP, add --account-id to any command (a subaccount ID, or its exact name from accounts list) or set CISCO_DUO_ACCOUNT_ID. The CLI looks the customer up in your parent account, sends the request to that customer's own API host, and keeps a separate local store per customer. That store is keyed by exactly what you pass, so pick one form per customer and stick to it (the account ID is safest): a sync run with the name and an audit run with the ID read different stores. fleet summary, fleet risk and fleet find-user always cover every customer.

Sync before you audit

audit bypass, audit stale and search read a local mirror. Populate it once per tenant:

cisco-duo-cli sync --resources users,admins,phones,bypass_codes --account-id DA9VZOC5X63I2W72NRP9

sync only reads from Duo and writes a SQLite file under your user account. The audits report complete=false when a resource they need was never synced or its last sync stopped part-way, so an empty result is never mistaken for a clean tenant. The lockout, phone-swap, fleet and failures commands always read live.

What this skill does

lockout fix, phone-swap and enrollment chase print a plan and change nothing until you add --apply.

Full command reference: guide.md. For the AI-agent operating contract (--agent, --dry-run, when to confirm before mutating), see AGENTS.md.

What makes this different

Duo's official client libraries (duo_client_python, duo_api_golang) sign requests and leave the workflow to you, and a thin MCP wrapper maps one tool to one endpoint. That is fine for one record. It breaks down on the two questions an MSP actually asks: "why can't this user log in" (the answer spans the user, their groups, phones, bypass codes and recent failures) and "across all our customers, who..." (every customer is a separate subaccount with its own API host).

This skill signs every Duo v5 request itself, routes any command to a customer by name, and ships the composite answers. lockout triage reads the user, their groups, phones, bypass codes and recent failures and returns the one fix that applies, including the Disabled group that would make an unlock pointless. fleet risk and fleet summary fan out across every subaccount in one call and list any customer they could not read under fetch_failures instead of counting it as zero. audit bypass and audit stale answer from a local SQLite mirror, so a tenant-wide "who can skip MFA" is one local query.

The pain this closes

• A lockout ticket is never one lookup. The user's status, a group that overrides it, their phones, any bypass codes already issued, and the last day of failed logins each live on a different Admin Panel page. cisco-duo-cli lockout triage returns all of it plus the next command to run.
• The fix is a sequence: unlock, a short-lived bypass code, or a phone reactivation, without wiping codes issued earlier. cisco-duo-cli lockout fix plans it, and --apply runs it with a before/after receipt.
• A lost or new phone means create, attach, activate, and later retire the old one. cisco-duo-cli phone-swap does it in two runs and never deletes a phone another user shares.
• Every customer is a separate Duo subaccount, so "which customer is this caller in" means searching account after account (MSPs on the Duo Community ask about that per-client split). cisco-duo-cli fleet find-user searches all of them at once.
• Bypass codes outlive the emergency. cisco-duo-cli audit bypass lists every standing code in a tenant with the admin who issued it, and cisco-duo-cli fleet risk counts them per customer.

See pain-point.md for the longer narrative.

Frequently asked questions

Does this work with ChatGPT?

Yes, in the ChatGPT desktop app. It runs MCP servers locally (STDIO), the way cisco-duo-mcp runs, and shares MCP configuration with Codex (OpenAI): add cisco-duo-mcp under Settings > MCP servers as a STDIO server, or add it once to Codex's ~/.codex/config.toml. ChatGPT on the web is not supported by msp-skills yet: it needs a remote (HTTP) server, and this connector's HTTP mode is paused until it is reprinted; the security note in mcp-install.md explains why. If your team works there, a hosted gateway is the better pick; check that your AI app is on the gateway's setup list.

Does this work with Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, or Gemini?

Yes - all of them speak MCP. Cross-tool install commands are in the matrix above and the deep-dive in docs/which-agent.md.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. The recommended install is to paste one sentence into Claude Code or Codex - your agent reads SKILL.md and does the install. The fallback is a one-line installer per OS (bash or PowerShell). Neither path requires writing code. You'll enter your Cisco Duo credentials once.

Is my Cisco Duo data safe?

Your data stays on your machine. The CLI and MCP server are local binaries. The SQLite mirror sits in a directory under your user account. The AI agent only sees what the CLI returns - typically a query result, not raw bulk data. Credentials are read from your environment or your agent's config; never bundled into this repo or transmitted anywhere by MSP Skills.

Do I need a Duo MSP (parent) account?

No. With an Admin API application in a single Duo account, every command except the fleet commands works against that account. As an MSP, create the Admin API application in your parent account with subaccount permissions (at least Grant accounts - Read): --account-id (or CISCO_DUO_ACCOUNT_ID) then runs any command against one customer, and fleet summary, fleet risk and fleet find-user cover every customer at once.

Which Duo Admin API permissions does it need?

Grant only what your workflow uses; the permission set is the strongest control you have. Read-only work (triage, audits, failures) needs Grant resource - Read, Grant read log and Grant read information. As an MSP, --account-id and the fleet commands also need Grant accounts - Read, because the CLI looks each customer up in your parent account's subaccount list, and the user-limit column of fleet summary needs Grant user limits - Read. Unlocking users, issuing bypass codes, swapping phones and re-sending enrollment emails add Grant resource - Write. Administrator commands need Grant administrators - Read or - Write, and billing set-user-limit needs Grant user limits - Write.

Is it safe to let an AI issue bypass codes?

Only with a human in the loop, and the commands are built for that. lockout fix, phone-swap and enrollment chase print a plan and change nothing until you add --apply. A bypass code from lockout fix is single-use, expires in an hour by default and keeps any existing codes. Verify the caller through a channel other than the ticket first (users send-verification-push sends them a Duo Push). Set CISCO_DUO_MCP_READ_ONLY=1 and the MCP server hides lockout fix, phone-swap and enrollment chase, and its API tool refuses every non-GET call.

Will this hit my Duo API rate limits?

Rarely. The client paces itself to Duo's rate-limit responses and backs off and retries when Duo answers 429. The fleet commands make a few calls per customer subaccount; fleet risk also pages users and bypass codes, caps that scan with --max-scan-pages, and flags any customer where the cap stopped it. Duo recommends polling authentication logs at most once a minute, so do not loop failures faster than that.

Will this replace the Duo Admin Panel?

No, it complements it. Policies, applications and directory sync stay in the Admin Panel. This skill answers the help-desk and MSP questions the panel makes you click through - lockout diagnosis, phone swaps, cross-customer risk and capacity - from your AI.

What does it cost?

Free. Apache-2.0 licensed. You pay only for whichever AI agent you use (Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, etc.), and that's billed by your AI provider, not by us.

Safety model

The MFA access tier matters most: a caller who says "I'm locked out" may be the attacker MFA was there to stop. Verify them through a separate channel (cisco-duo-cli users send-verification-push sends a Duo Push to a device they already have) before an agent issues a bypass code, an activation link or a new phone, and have a human approve the plan. For agents that only diagnose, set CISCO_DUO_MCP_READ_ONLY=1: the MCP server hides lockout fix, phone-swap and enrollment chase, and its API tool refuses every non-GET call.

The strongest control is the permission set of the Admin API application - an application without Grant resource - Write cannot unlock a user, issue a code or touch a phone, and one without Grant administrators - Write or Grant accounts - Write cannot change administrators or customer accounts. Full details, including how to lock it down, are in governance.md.

Status

Beta. Validated against the Cisco Duo API surface and being validated with MSPs running it live against their own production tenant in our weekly Build Sessions. RSVP at compoundingteams.com/build-sessions.

Standards. Conforms to the open Agent Skills spec (Anthropic, Dec 2025; 40+ agents). MCP-compatible - works with any MCP-capable agent including Hermes. OpenClaw-ready (frontmatter pre-wired, awaiting OpenClaw launch).

Maintained by Servosity. Apache-2.0 licensed. Built with CLI Printing Press. Last updated: 2026-10-13.