This article describes how to set up Kentik’s AI Advisor MCP Server.
🏃♀️ Tip: Already familiar with the Model Context Protocol (MCP)? Go to Configuration Examples and follow the steps for your preferred agent.
Prerequisites
An active Kentik account with AI Advisor enabled.
Kentik API credentials (email and API token), if you use API token authentication.
An MCP-compatible AI agent or development tool, such as Claude Desktop or GitHub Copilot (see Configuration Examples).
Your MCP client must use version 2026-07-28 or 2025-11-25. Clients using earlier versions, such as 2024-11-05, time out when connecting to AI Advisor.
Get Your API Token
To authenticate with an API token, copy the token from your user profile.
Note: This step does not apply if you authenticate with OAuth.
In the Kentik portal, navigate to your User Profile (top-right menu).
Select the Authentication tab.
Copy your API Token.
Connect the MCP Server
To connect a client, paste a JSON snippet or run a terminal command, depending on the client:
Select the Configuration Example for your agent and authentication method (OAuth or API token).
For API token authentication, replace the endpoint and header values in the example with the Endpoint URL for your region and the Required Headers.
Follow the instructions to apply the configuration in the AI agent or development tool.
Start a conversation with AI Advisor. Remember to mention "Kentik" in your prompts.
Note: If you’re using a custom AI agent framework, see Custom Applications and MCP Payload Reference for additional details.
Endpoints
Choose the URL for your region or cluster.
Region | Endpoint URL |
|---|---|
US Cluster |
|
EU Cluster |
|
Required Headers for API Token Authentication
OAuth does not require these headers.
Header Name | Value |
|---|---|
| <your-email@company.com> |
| <your-api-token> |
AI Advisor MCP Usage
Here are some tips on interacting with the AI Advisor MCP Server via your AI agent.
Effective Prompting
Mentioning "Kentik" in your initial prompts helps ensure the external AI agent invokes the Kentik MCP tools. Otherwise, the agent might return a generic or incorrect response.
Examples: "Show me vmx devices from Kentik" or "What is the status of my Kentik devices?".
Real-Time Progress
While AI Advisor processes your query, you see real-time progress updates in supported MCP clients (like Claude Desktop and GitHub Copilot). These notifications show the AI’s reasoning process:
🔍 Created session...- Initial session created⏱️ [2s] Analyzing device health metrics...- Processing updates⏱️ [4s] Checking interface utilization...- Continued progress✅ Completed- Final answer ready
Next, see Configuration Examples for the AI Advisor MCP Server.