VMware vSphere MCP

VMware + AI - for ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini, and any agent that speaks MCP

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

[VMware vSphere demo - animated preview]

_{▶ Watch the 30-second demo - demo data is simulated; every command shown exists in the real CLI.}

Read-only vCenter inventory for migration planning: blockers, snapshots, per-core licence exposure and Proxmox mapping, as JSON an agent can use. Works with the AI you already use - ChatGPT (Plus/Pro+), Claude Desktop, Codex, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and GitHub Copilot - plus Microsoft 365 Copilot / Copilot Studio and Google Gemini via the remote path. Free, open source, runs on your laptop. Built for MSP owners. No code required.

Works with your agent

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

For ChatGPT, run vsphere-mcp --transport http with VSPHERE_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN set, on an HTTPS host; every request sends that token. See mcp-install.md.

Also for the Microsoft and Google stacks

Big install base, but an honest heads-up: these are the remote / enterprise path, not the local binary you just installed.

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 VMware MCP (.mcpb) - then open Claude Desktop > Settings > Extensions and select the file. One click, no JSON, no shell. (Browse every VMware 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 vsphere@msp-skills

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

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

Install the VMware 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/vsphere/install.sh). If it uses Windows PowerShell, run iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/vsphere/install.ps1 | iex. Then authenticate per the README and run vsphere-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/vsphere/install.ps1 | iex

macOS / Linux:

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

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

Verify:

vsphere-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/vsphere/install.sh)

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/vsphere/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 vsphere@msp-skills.

Add to Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, 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 remote Microsoft 365 Copilot / Copilot Studio path. 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/vsphere --force

Inside a Hermes chat session:

/skills install servosity/msp-skills/skills/vsphere --force

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

Install for OpenClaw

Tell your OpenClaw agent (copy this):

Install the vsphere skill from https://github.com/servosity/msp-skills/tree/main/skills/vsphere. The skill defines how its required CLI (vsphere-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

Set the credentials the CLI needs (a vCenter SSO user with the Read-Only role is enough; VSPHERE_TLS_FINGERPRINT only for a self-signed certificate):

VSPHERE_BASE_URL=https://<vcenter> VSPHERE_USERNAME=<user> VSPHERE_PASSWORD=<password> vsphere-cli doctor

On Windows (PowerShell):

$env:VSPHERE_BASE_URL = "https://<vcenter>"$env:VSPHERE_USERNAME = "<user>"$env:VSPHERE_PASSWORD = "<password>"vsphere-cli doctor

doctor checks config, paths and API reachability, then verifies the credential by logging in and reading its own session (GET /api/session): valid, invalid (HTTP 401), or an ERROR that names VSPHERE_BASE_URL when the host is not a vCenter Server.

What this skill does

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

Most VMware integrations and MCP servers proxy each question into a live API call. That's fine for one record. It falls short when the question is "which of this client's 400 VMs can move to Proxmox this weekend, and what will Broadcom charge for the rest?"

This skill can sync VMware lists into a local SQLite mirror with full-text search. The compound commands (migration blockers, snapshots audit, licence exposure, migration proxmox-map) read vCenter live through both APIs and join VMs, hosts, hardware, snapshots and disk layouts into one answer, so the AI sees the answer, not the raw data - work a stateless API wrapper can't do. They need a reachable vCenter and refuse --data-source local.

The pain this closes

Broadcom's per-core subscriptions multiplied VMware bills for many MSPs and their clients (ServeTheHome reported 10x or more for cloud service providers). Every client with a vCenter now asks what staying costs and what leaving takes, and answering still means RVTools on a Windows jump box and an afternoon of spreadsheet work.

• vsphere-cli migration blockers --severity block --agent - every VM that cannot move yet, and why.
• vsphere-cli licence exposure --agent - licensable cores under the 16-core-per-CPU minimum.
• vsphere-cli snapshots audit --older-than 7d --agent - forgotten snapshots before they stall a cutover.
• vsphere-cli rvtools export --out ./acme-rvtools - the RVTools CSV layout without Windows.

See pain-point.md for the longer narrative.

Frequently asked questions

Does this work with ChatGPT?

Yes, on Plus, Pro, Team, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans (Free tier does not yet expose Developer Mode). ChatGPT connects to remote MCP servers over HTTPS, not local stdio binaries. The VMware vSphere MCP server runs locally over stdio by default. Its HTTP mode (vsphere-mcp --transport http) serves http://127.0.0.1:7777/mcp, refuses to start until VSPHERE_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN is set, requires Authorization: Bearer <token> on every request, and needs --tls-cert/--tls-key for any other address. Step-by-step in mcp-install.md.

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 VMware credentials once.

Is my VMware 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.

Does it change anything in vCenter?

No. Every vCenter call is a read. A Read-Only role on the vCenter SSO user is enough.

Which vCenter versions does it support?

Inventory reads need vCenter 7.0 Update 2 or later. Snapshots, licence exposure, host hardware and capacity need vCenter 8.0 Update 1 or later; on older vCenters those checks are reported as unknown, never as a pass.

Our vCenter uses a self-signed certificate. Will it connect?

Yes. Set VSPHERE_TLS_FINGERPRINT to the certificate's SHA-256 fingerprint and the CLI accepts only that certificate. Without it, normal certificate checks apply.

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 strongest control is the scope you grant the VMware credentials - the CLI can only do what the credentials are permitted to do. Full details, including how to lock it down, are in governance.md.

Status

Beta. Validated against the VMware 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: 2026-10-28.