Temporal MCP Server

Overview

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides tools for interacting with Temporal workflow orchestration. It enables AI assistants and other MCP clients to manage Temporal workflows, schedules, and workflow executions through a standardized interface. The server supports both local and remote Temporal instances.

Read more on the Temporal Code Exchange

Distributions

• PyPI - https://pypi.org/project/temporal-mcp-server/
• Docker - https://hub.docker.com/r/mcp/temporal

Tools

Workflow Execution

• start_workflow - Start a new Temporal workflow execution with specified parameters, workflow ID, and task queue
• get_workflow_result - Retrieve the result of a completed workflow execution
• describe_workflow - Get detailed information about a workflow execution including status, timing, and metadata
• list_workflows - List workflow executions based on a query filter with pagination support (limit/skip)
• get_workflow_history - Retrieve the complete event history of a workflow execution

Workflow Control

• query_workflow - Query a running workflow for its current state without affecting execution
• signal_workflow - Send a signal to a running workflow to change its behavior or provide data
• cancel_workflow - Request cancellation of a running workflow execution
• terminate_workflow - Forcefully terminate a workflow execution with a reason
• continue_as_new - Signal a workflow to continue as new (restart with new inputs while preserving history link)

Batch Operations

• batch_signal - Send a signal to multiple workflows matching a query (configurable batch size)
• batch_cancel - Cancel multiple workflows matching a query (configurable batch size)
• batch_terminate - Terminate multiple workflows matching a query with a specified reason (configurable batch size)

Schedule Management

• create_schedule - Create a new schedule for periodic workflow execution using cron expressions
• list_schedules - List all schedules with pagination support (limit/skip)
• pause_schedule - Pause a schedule to temporarily stop workflow executions
• unpause_schedule - Resume a paused schedule
• delete_schedule - Permanently delete a schedule
• trigger_schedule - Manually trigger a scheduled workflow immediately

Temporal Documentation

For more information about Temporal, refer to the official Temporal documentation:

• Temporal Documentation: https://docs.temporal.io/
• Workflows: https://docs.temporal.io/workflows
• Activities: https://docs.temporal.io/activities
• Python SDK: https://docs.temporal.io/dev-guide/python

VS Code MCP Config

Add a .vscode/mcp.json file to your workspace. Choose the approach that fits your setup.

Docker (environment variables)

Recommended when running via Docker. Configuration is passed through environment variables.

{
  "servers": {
    "temporal": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_HOST",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_TLS_ENABLED",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_CERT_PATH",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_KEY_PATH",
        "-e", "TEMPORAL_API_KEY",
        "mcp/temporal"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TEMPORAL_HOST": "localhost:7233",
        "TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE": "default",
        "TEMPORAL_TLS_ENABLED": "false",
        "TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_CERT_PATH": "/path/to/client.pem",
        "TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_KEY_PATH": "/path/to/client.key",
        "TEMPORAL_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Python via uvx (CLI arguments)

Recommended when running from PyPI via uvx. No local install required — uvx fetches and runs the package automatically. Configuration is passed as CLI arguments.

{
  "servers": {
    "temporal": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "temporal-mcp-server",
        "--host", "localhost:7233",
        "--namespace", "default",
        "--tls-enabled", "false",
        "--tls-cert", "/path/to/client.pem",
        "--tls-key", "/path/to/client.key",
        "--api-key", "your-api-key"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

Option	CLI Argument	Environment Variable	Default
Temporal host	--host	TEMPORAL_HOST	localhost:7233
Namespace	--namespace	TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE	default
TLS	--tls-enabled	TEMPORAL_TLS_ENABLED	auto-detect
mTLS cert path	--tls-cert	TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_CERT_PATH	—
mTLS key path	--tls-key	TEMPORAL_TLS_CLIENT_KEY_PATH	—
API key	--api-key	TEMPORAL_API_KEY	—

CLI arguments take precedence over environment variables. When TEMPORAL_API_KEY is set, TLS is enabled automatically. When mTLS cert/key paths are provided, TLS is also enabled automatically.

Development

Running Tests

Install development dependencies:

pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Run the test suite:

pytest test.py -v

Building the Docker Image

docker build -t mcp/temporal:latest .