Remote MCP Server Quickstart

beta

This quickstart guide shows you how to create and host a managed MCP server inside your Redpanda Cloud cluster. The server includes two tools: one for generating user event data and another for publishing that data to a Redpanda topic.

Prerequisites

For a complete developer guide, see Build Remote MCP Servers in Redpanda Cloud.

Prepare your cluster

Before creating the MCP server, you need to set up a topic and user for event publishing. Use the Redpanda CLI to perform these steps.

  1. Log in to your Redpanda Cloud account:

    rpk cloud login

    This opens a browser window to authenticate. The token is saved locally inside your rpk configuration file. It is valid for 4 hours. You can refresh it by running rpk cloud login again.

  2. Create a topic called events for storing user event data:

    rpk topic create events --partitions 3 --replicas 3

  3. Create a user called mcp with a strong password:

    rpk acl user create mcp --password <your-secure-password>

    Save the password securely. You need it later when configuring the MCP server.

  4. Grant the mcp user permissions to produce and consume from the events topic:

    rpk acl create --allow-principal User:mcp --operation all --topic events

Create a Remote MCP Server in Redpanda Cloud

  1. Log in to the Redpanda Cloud Console.

  2. Navigate to Remote MCP.

    This page shows a list of existing servers.

  3. Click Create new MCP Server. In Metadata add:

    • Display Name: A human-friendly name such as event-data-generator. This name is shown in the Redpanda Cloud Console. It is not the name of the MCP server itself.

    • Description: Explain what the server does. For example, Generates fake user event data and publishes it to Redpanda topics.

    • Tags: Add key/value tags such as owner=platform or env=demo.

    • Resources: Choose a size (XSmall / Small / Medium / Large / XLarge). Larger sizes allow more concurrent requests and faster processing, but cost more. You can change this later.

  4. Click Next to define tools.

Add tools

Tools define the actions your MCP server can perform. In this example, you create two tools: one for generating user event data and another for publishing that data to Redpanda.

  1. From the Template dropdown, select Generate Input.

    The template populates the configuration with YAML for the tool definition.

  2. Click Add Tool to create a second tool.

  3. From the Template dropdown, select Redpanda Output.

    The template populates the configuration for publishing to Redpanda and a section for adding the required secrets is displayed.

  4. Enter the values for the mcp user’s credentials in the Add Required Secrets section.

  5. Click Lint to check the configuration. You should see no errors.

  6. Click Create MCP Server to deploy the server.

    It may take a few seconds to start. The status changes from Starting to Running when it’s ready.

  7. Open the MCP Inspector tab to test the tools:

    • For the generate_input tool, click Run Tool to generate sample event data.

    • For the redpanda_output tool, enter some sample event data such as user_id=user123, event_type=login, and timestamp=2025-10-21T10:30:00Z then click Run Tool to publish it to the events topic.

Connect a client

You can connect any MCP-compatible client to your Remote MCP server. This example uses Claude Code.

The Redpanda CLI acts as a local proxy, forwarding requests from your AI client to your own Remote MCP server running in the Redpanda Cloud cluster.

  1. Log in to your Redpanda Cloud account:

    rpk cloud login

    This opens a browser window to authenticate. The token is saved locally inside your rpk configuration file. It is valid for 4 hours. You can refresh it by running rpk cloud login again.

  2. Open the Connection tab in Redpanda Cloud to get connection details and run the rpk command for Claude Code.

    For BYOC and Dedicated clusters, use:

    rpk cloud mcp proxy \
--cluster-id <cluster-id>\
--mcp-server-id <server-id> \
--install --client claude-code

    For Serverless clusters, use:

    rpk cloud mcp proxy \
--serverless-cluster-id <cluster-id>\
--mcp-server-id <server-id> \
--install --client claude-code

  3. Restart Claude Code and invoke your tool.

    claude

  4. Ask Claude Code to use your tools. For example:

    • "Generate 10 user events and then publish them to the events topic."

    • "Create sample login events for users user001, user002, and user003, then publish them to Redpanda."

    • "Generate purchase events with metadata and publish them to the events topic."

You should see Claude Code calling your MCP server tools to generate and publish event data. You may need to respond to prompts for permissions to call the tools.

When complete, you can verify the events were published by consuming from the events topic:

rpk topic consume events --num 10

Troubleshoot

MCP server not starting

If your server is not starting or shows an error state:

  • Check the Logs tab for specific error messages.

  • Verify your YAML syntax by clicking Lint.

  • Verify that the mcp user exists and has the correct permissions.

Connection issues

If Claude Code can’t connect to your server:

  • Verify you’re logged in with rpk cloud login.

  • Check that your rpk version is 25.2.5 or later: rpk version.

  • Ensure your server status shows Running in Redpanda Cloud.

  • Try restarting Claude Code after running the proxy command.

Publishing failures

If the publish tool returns errors:

  • Verify the events topic exists:

    rpk topic list

  • Check that the mcp user has the correct ACLs:

    rpk acl list

  • Use the MCP Inspector in Redpanda Cloud to test with different event data.

  • Check the MCP server logs for authentication or authorization errors.

Next steps

Write your own tools to extend the MCP server functionality. For more information, see: Build Remote MCP Servers in Redpanda Cloud