arcgis-portal-mcp

MCP server for ArcGIS Portal and ArcGIS Online. Lets AI assistants search content, query feature layers, manage features, handle content operations, and administer users and groups.

Built on the Model Context Protocol for integration with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and other MCP clients.

Disclaimer: This is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Esri Inc. "ArcGIS" is a registered trademark of Esri.

Features

• Connect to any ArcGIS Enterprise Portal or ArcGIS Online
• Search for items (feature services, web maps, layers, dashboards)
• Inspect item metadata, tags, and descriptions
• List layers in a feature service with geometry types and counts
• Query features with attribute filters, spatial filters, field selection, and pagination
• Add, update, and delete features in hosted feature layers
• Manage content: update item properties, share/unshare, delete items, read web map definitions
• Manage users: list users, get detailed user profiles
• Manage groups: list groups, create groups, invite users
• Publish services: upload files and publish as hosted feature services
• Run geoprocessing: execute synchronous and asynchronous GP tasks
• Portal admin: system info, license management, usage statistics
• Batch operations: bulk delete, share, and update multiple items
• Health check portal system status (requires admin privileges)

Design Principles

• No arcgis Python package dependency: uses raw REST API calls via requests for maximum compatibility (no need for arcgis package installation)
• Works with Enterprise Portal AND ArcGIS Online: same tools, same API
• Token-first auth: supports existing tokens, username/password, and OAuth2 for full flexibility
• Auto-connect: reads .env file on startup, no manual auth needed per session
• 2FA-friendly: works with Enterprise portals that require two-factor authentication (client_credentials, no browser)
• Self-signed cert friendly: handles Enterprise portals with self-signed certificates

Installation

# From source
cd arcgis-portal-mcp
pip install -e .

# Or install from GitHub
pip install git+https://github.com/Asem-D/arcgis-portal-mcp.git

Windows users: pywin32 is installed automatically as a platform-specific dependency.

Configuration

.env File (recommended)

Create a .env file in the project root for automatic connection on startup. A template is provided:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your portal credentials

portal_url=https://gis.example.com/portal
# Option 1: Username/password (recommended for most users)
username=your-portal-username
password=your-portal-password
# Option 2: OAuth2 app credentials (app-level, limited permissions)
# oauth_client_id=your-oauth-app-client-id
# oauth_client_secret=your-oauth-app-client-secret

The server reads these on startup and connects automatically. If username + password are provided, it uses generateToken (user-level, full permissions). Otherwise, it falls back to client_credentials (app-level, limited). No manual connect_portal call needed.

Note: The .env file is gitignored. Never commit credentials. .env.example is safe to commit.

MCP Client Configuration

For MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.), the simplest setup uses a .env file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arcgis-portal": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "arcgis_portal_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/arcgis-portal-mcp"
    }
  }
}

The server auto-connects from .env in the working directory. No env vars needed in the MCP config.

Alternatively, pass credentials via MCP client env vars:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arcgis-portal": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "arcgis_portal_mcp.server"],
      "env": {
        "portal_url": "https://gis.example.com/portal",
        "username": "your-portal-username",
        "password": "your-portal-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

connect_portal Tool Parameters

The connect_portal tool accepts these auth_method values:

Value	Behavior
auto	Read from .env (default) — tries username/password first, then client_credentials
username_password	Portal username + password -> generateToken (user-level)
token	Use explicit portal token
client_credentials	Use explicit client_id/secret
oauth2	Browser-based OAuth2 (blocks ~2 min)

Usage

Connect and Search

User: Search for all feature services in my portal
Agent: [calls connect_portal, then search_content with item_type="Feature Service"]

Query a Layer

User: Show me the first 10 parcels from the cadastral layer
Agent: [calls list_layers to find the parcel layer, then query_features with limit=10]

Audit Users

User: Who are the administrators in our portal?
Agent: [calls list_users, filters by role]

Add Features

User: Add these 3 buildings to the infrastructure layer
Agent: [calls add_features with the feature service URL and JSON features]

Share a Web Map

User: Share item abc123 with the "Planning Team" group and the whole org
Agent: [calls share_item with org=true and groups=<planning-team-id>]

Read a Web Map

User: What basemap and layers are in this web map?
Agent: [calls get_item_data to read the web map JSON, summarizes basemap and operational layers]

Publish a Shapefile

User: Publish this shapefile as a hosted feature service
Agent: [calls upload_item to upload the .zip, then publish_from_item to create the service]

Run a Geoprocessing Task

User: Run the buffer analysis on the parcels layer with a 100m distance
Agent: [calls execute_gp_task with the GP service URL and input parameters]

Bulk Operations

User: Delete all my draft items
Agent: [calls search_content to find items, then batch_delete_items to remove them]

Portal Administration

User: How many licenses do we have left?
Agent: [calls list_licenses to show license allocation and usage]

Available Tools

Phase 1: Read-only (v0.1)

Tool	Description
connect_portal	Authenticate with the portal (auto, token, client_credentials, or OAuth2)
search_content	Search items by keyword, type, and owner
get_item_details	Get detailed metadata for a specific item
list_layers	List layers in a feature/map service
query_features	Query features with filters and pagination
list_users	List portal users with roles and status
list_groups	List portal groups with access levels
portal_health	Check portal health and system status
server_status	Check MCP server connection state

Phase 2: Feature CRUD, User/Group & Content Management (v0.2)

Tool	Description
add_features	Add new features to a hosted feature layer
update_features	Update existing features (by OBJECTID)
delete_features	Delete features by OBJECTIDs or WHERE clause
get_user_details	Get detailed user profile (role, privileges, storage, last login)
create_group	Create a new group with access control
invite_to_group	Invite users to a group with a role assignment
update_item	Update item properties (title, description, tags, access)
delete_item	Delete an item from the portal
share_item	Share/unshare an item with everyone, org, or specific groups
get_item_data	Read item data (web map JSON, app config, feature collections)

Phase 3: Publishing, Geoprocessing, Admin & Batch (v1.0)

Tool	Description
upload_item	Upload a local file (CSV, Shapefile, etc.) to portal content
publish_from_item	Publish an uploaded item as a hosted feature service
create_service	Create an empty hosted feature service with schema
execute_gp_task	Run a synchronous geoprocessing task
submit_gp_job	Submit an async GP job and get a job ID for polling
get_gp_job_status	Check status of a running async geoprocessing job
portal_system_info	Get portal version, platform, and system info (admin)
list_licenses	Get license information and assignments (admin)
portal_usage	Get portal usage statistics: users, API calls, storage (admin)
batch_delete_items	Delete multiple items at once
batch_share_items	Share/unshare multiple items with the same audiences
batch_update_items	Update properties of multiple items at once

Authentication Methods

Method	Pros	Cons
Auto (default)	Zero-config, reads .env on startup	App-level only (no user identity)
Token	Quick, no dependencies	Tokens expire, must be obtained separately
Client Credentials	No browser needed, auto-refresh	App-level only (no user identity)
OAuth2	Full user permissions, 14-day tokens	Opens browser, blocks for ~2 min

Recommendation for Enterprise portals with 2FA: Use auto (.env with client_credentials). Token auth won't work because 2FA blocks token generation. The client_credentials flow uses app-level OAuth2, no browser, no 2FA, no user interaction.

For ArcGIS Online or portals without 2FA: Token auth is the fastest for MCP. Use OAuth2 once to get a long-lived token, then use that token for MCP sessions.

Development

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run linting
ruff check arcgis_portal_mcp/

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Author

Asem Daaboul (asem.daaboul@gmail.com)