FlowFuse MCP Server
FlowFuse exposes an MCP server. An AI agent connects as a client to operate the platform and build flows.
Two clients use it:
- FlowFuse Expert, the AI built into the platform and the Node-RED editor.
- Your own agent, such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude, connected over the MCP endpoint.
Both use the same capabilities. What an agent can do depends only on the access you grant.
Note: This is not the same as MCP server nodes, which build MCP servers inside your flows. This page is about operating FlowFuse itself, where FlowFuse is the server and your agent is the client.
Platform Automations
Actions an agent can take on the platform, by resource and access level.
| Resource | Read-only | Full access |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | Members and roles, invitations, audit log, resource counts, bill of materials | Create a team, update settings, change member roles, invite and re-invite members |
| Applications | Applications, audit log, device groups, bill of materials | Create and update applications |
| Hosted instances | Live status, resources, configuration, logs, files, history, HTTP tokens | Create, start, stop, restart, suspend; update settings, environment and config surfaces; import flows; edit files; manage HTTP tokens |
| Remote instances | Remote instances and live status | Register and assign to an application, restart, update settings and operating mode |
| Snapshots | Snapshots, including full flows | Create, export, import, update; set an instance's device target |
| Pipelines | Pipelines and stages | Create and update pipelines; add, update and deploy stages |
| Device groups | Team and application device groups | Create and update groups, change membership and settings |
| FlowFuse Tables | Databases, tables, schemas, row data | Table data is changed through flows, see Flow Building |
| Team broker | Brokers, clients, topics, schema | Start, stop, suspend the broker agent; create and update topics |
| Your account | Profile, notifications, invitations | Update profile, mark notifications read, respond to invitations |
| Blueprints and templates | Blueprints, templates, instance and team types | Starting points for creating instances and teams |
Ask the agent what it can do in a given team or instance. Its tools reflect the access granted and the instance it is connected to.
Flow Building
An agent builds and edits flows inside a running Node-RED instance.
Flow work runs in a live editor session, not as a file to import. Point the agent at an open editor session and it builds on the canvas. Node-RED validates as it goes, so the agent catches its own mistakes.
| Area | Read-only | Full access |
|---|---|---|
| Nodes | Read nodes with validation state | Add, update and remove nodes |
| Wiring | — | Wire nodes on a tab, link nodes across tabs |
| Tabs | List tabs | Add, rename, enable, disable and remove tabs |
| Subflows and subroutines | List subflows | Create and remove subflows, create subroutines |
| Groups | — | Create, update, move and delete groups, change their members |
| Palette | Read the installed palette, describe node type properties | Open the palette manager to install packages |
| Canvas | Read the full flow, list config nodes, read debug output, search and select nodes | Navigate to a tab or subflow, align and distribute nodes |
| FlowFuse Tables | Query table data | Build a Query Node flow that reads and writes tables |
Nothing goes live until you deploy from Node-RED.
Access and permissions
Access comes at one of two levels:
- Read-only sees everything and changes nothing.
- Full access adds every action in the full-access columns above.
With FlowFuse Expert, an agent acts with the same access you have on the team you are working in.
With your own agent, you choose the access when you connect. Signing in over OAuth takes you to a FlowFuse page where you pick read-only or full access, scope it to all your teams or specific teams, and set an expiration date. A personal access token, for clients without a sign-in flow, carries the same read-only or full-access choice.