generated: '2026-08-16'
method: searched
status: published
source: https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/agents/mcp-server
server:
  name: foxglove
  transport: http
  scope: loopback-only
  local_endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:7333/mcp
  description: >-
    Foxglove Desktop can run a Model Context Protocol server so external agents
    (Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and other MCP clients) can see and control
    the running app. It is desktop-only — the web app does not host it — and it
    binds to loopback on port 7333. It is NOT a hosted, internet-reachable MCP
    endpoint: an agent can only reach it on the same machine, after a human installs
    the desktop app, signs in, and turns on the "Local MCP server" toggle under
    Settings > Personal > Agents & MCP.
deployment:
  mode: local-stdio
  endpoint: null
  install: >-
    Install the Foxglove desktop app (https://foxglove.dev/download), sign in, then
    Settings > Personal > Agents & MCP > enable "Local MCP server". Register it with
    a client, e.g.
    `claude mcp add --transport http foxglove http://127.0.0.1:7333/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>"`
  package: https://foxglove.dev/download
  auth: api-key
  verified: searched
  note: >-
    Recorded as local-stdio rather than remote because it is not an agent-reachable
    surface on the public internet. The transport is streamable HTTP rather than
    stdio, but the deployment shape is the local one: a human must install and run
    software on a machine before any agent sees it. `endpoint` is deliberately null
    — http://127.0.0.1:7333/mcp is a loopback address, not a URL an MCP client can
    POST to across a network.
requirements:
- Foxglove desktop app (not available in the web app)
- Pro, Enterprise or Academic plan
- A developer seat — the Local MCP server toggle stays disabled on a basic seat
- Signed-in session; cloud-backed tools are forwarded through the signed-in user's
  own permissions, and appear in audit logs as that user
authentication:
  scheme: http-bearer
  header: Authorization
  token: >-
    The desktop app generates a random access token the first time the MCP server
    starts; every client presents it as a bearer token. Regeneratable from
    Settings > Personal > Agents & MCP.
tools:
  introspection: gated
  introspection_note: >-
    tools/list could not be called: the server exists only on a licensed user's own
    machine behind a locally-generated bearer token, so there is no anonymous
    endpoint to introspect and no published tools/list manifest. The catalog below
    is the capability table Foxglove publishes at
    https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/agents#what-agents-can-do — real, provider-stated
    capabilities grouped by area. Exact tool names and inputSchemas require
    authenticated introspection of a running desktop app.
  annotations: >-
    Foxglove marks every tool with the standard MCP annotations — read-only tools
    are flagged read-only, and anything that modifies a layout, a user script or an
    event is flagged destructive. Foxglove adds no approval step of its own; the MCP
    client is the control point.
  catalog:
  - area: Data source
    capabilities: List topics, read schemas and messages, summarize the loaded data
      source
    kind: read
  - area: Playback
    capabilities: Read playback state, pause, seek, set the playback range
    kind: write
  - area: Layouts
    capabilities: Read, create, modify, rename and validate layouts; configure
      individual panels; capture the app, layout or a panel as an image
    kind: write
  - area: User scripts
    capabilities: List, read, create, update and delete user scripts
    kind: write
  - area: Events
    capabilities: Read, create, update and delete events that annotate moments in
      the data
    kind: write
  - area: Data search
    capabilities: Search the organization's recordings, sessions and events
    kind: read
  - area: Devices
    capabilities: List devices and look one up by name or ID (read-only)
    kind: read
  - area: Projects and Sites
    capabilities: List the organization's Projects, Primary Sites and Edge Sites
    kind: read
  - area: Navigation
    capabilities: Take the app to a specific page or view
    kind: write
  - area: Documentation
    capabilities: Search the Foxglove docs and cite sources
    kind: read
  - area: Skills
    capabilities: Foxglove's built-in task playbooks — layouts, panel configuration,
      FoxQL, search syntax, user scripts and MCAP diagnostics
    kind: read
related:
- https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/agents
- https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/agents/agent-sidebar
- https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/agents/slack