space.vars.ionos\_cloud\_mcp\_server is a local binary that implements the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) (MCP). It connects your AI assistant or autonomous AI agent to your IONOS CLOUD account, letting you inspect your resources through natural language prompts or programmatic agentic loops.
## How it works
The MCP server runs as a local process on your machine. Your AI client communicates with it over [stdio](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#standard-input-output-stdio) using the MCP [JSON-RPC](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#json-rpc) protocol. The server translates your AI assistant's tool calls into space.vars.ionos\_cloud\_api requests and returns the results as structured text.
```mermaid
flowchart TB
subgraph workstation["Your workstation"]
clients["AI Client\nClaude · Cursor · VS Code · more"]
server["IONOS CLOUD MCP Server\nLocal binary · stdio"]
clients <-->|"MCP / JSON-RPC (local)"| server
end
subgraph ionos["IONOS CLOUD (German data centers)"]
cloud["IONOS CLOUD API\n6 products · 100+ tools"]
end
subgraph model["AI model provider\n(varies by client)"]
llm["LLM inference backend"]
end
server <-->|"IONOS CLOUD API / HTTPS"| cloud
clients <-->|"Prompts + tool outputs"| llm
```
## Data sovereignty
The MCP server runs entirely on your workstation and calls the space.vars.ionos\_cloud\_api directly over HTTPS. No third-party AI provider sits in the data path between the binary and IONOS CLOUD.
The AI client is separate. It sends your prompts and the JSON returned by MCP tools to its own model backend for inference. For Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code (GitHub Copilot), that backend is operated by a US-headquartered vendor and may be subject to non-EU jurisdiction (for example, the US CLOUD Act) regardless of the inference region. Treat tool outputs (resource names, IDs, IP addresses, billing figures) as data that leaves the IONOS perimeter once the AI assistant reads them.
If you need a path where neither the API calls *nor* the inference reach a non-EU provider, pair the MCP server with the [IONOS CLOUD AI Model Hub](/cloud/ai/ai-model-hub.md), which serves open-weight LLMs from IONOS's German data centers. For more information, see [Fully Sovereign AI Workflow](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/use-cases/sovereign-ai-workflow.md).
## Supported products
| Product | Tools | What you can do |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Compute Engine](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/compute-services/compute-engine) | 50 | List and inspect data centers, servers, volumes, NICs, LANs, load balancers, NAT gateways, security groups, IP blocks, and more |
| [IONOS CLOUD Object Storage](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/backup-and-storage/ionos-object-storage) | 23 | List buckets and objects, inspect bucket configuration (CORS, encryption, lifecycle, replication), and check access keys |
| [Cloud DNS](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/network-services/cloud-dns) | 14 | List and inspect zones, records, reverse records, secondary zones, and DNSSEC keys |
| [Billing](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/management/usage/cost-and-usage) | 15 | View invoices, usage, traffic, the product pricing catalog, and the FOCUS v1.3 mapping |
| [Certificate Manager](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/security/certificate-manager) | 6 | List and inspect certificates, auto-certificates, and providers |
| [Activity Log](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/activity-logs) | 2 | Query the full audit trail: who did what, when, on which resource |
## Read-only scope (initial release)
This release is **read-only by design**. All [100+ tools](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/tool-reference.md) across 6 products are inspection and query operations; the server cannot create, update, or delete any space.vars.ionos\_cloud resources. This is a deliberate security posture: you can safely connect the MCP server to a production account and share project configurations with teammates without risk of accidental modifications.
The server runs **locally** on your machine. It does not require a cloud-hosted component.
## MCP resources
In addition to tools, the MCP specification defines **resources**: structured data that the server exposes for AI clients to read as context. The MCP server exposes one resource:
| Resource URI | Content |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ionos://billing/focus-v1.3` | Full FOCUS v1.3 column mapping for all billing tools; use this to build standards-compliant cost pipelines. For more information, see [FinOps and FOCUS Billing](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/use-cases/finops-focus-billing.md). |
Ask your AI assistant to read a resource by name: *"Read the resource ionos\://billing/focus-v1.3."*
## IONOS CLOUD Documentation MCP
The space.vars.ionos\_cloud documentation site at [docs.ionos.com](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud) exposes a **built-in MCP server** at:
```
https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/~gitbook/mcp
```
This is a separate, complementary MCP server powered by GitBook that exposes documentation search and retrieval tools; your AI assistant can query guides, how-tos, reference pages, and release notes by topic. No authentication required. The two servers are independent: use either one alone or both together.
Configure both servers together to combine live infrastructure data with documentation knowledge:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"ionoscloud-docs": {
"url": "https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/~gitbook/mcp"
},
"ionoscloud": {
"command": "/usr/local/bin/ionoscloud-mcp",
"env": {
"IONOS_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
}
}
}
}
```
| Server | What it answers |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ionoscloud-docs` | "How does FOCUS billing work?"
"What are the firewall rule limits?"
"What changed in the June 2026 release?"
"List my data centers"
"What is my invoice total?"
"Which certificates expire this month?"
space.vars.ionos\_cloud Certificate Manager documentation and tell me the recommended renewal process.
The AI assistant calls `list_cert_certificates` on the infrastructure server for live data, and searches the documentation server for the renewal guide, all in a single conversation.
For more information, see [Composing Multiple MCP Servers](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/use-cases/agentic-workflows.md#composing-multiple-mcp-servers).
## Next steps
* [Quick Start](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/quick-start.md): install the binary and connect your first client in under five minutes
* [Connect to an AI Client](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/connect-to-an-ai-client.md): per-client setup guides
* [Tool Reference](/cloud/ai/mcp-server/tool-reference.md): full list of all tools
---
# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.
## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/ai/mcp-server/overview.md?ask=