Building a Zabbix MCP Server: A Practical Guide to AIOps Integration

By Michael Elias on January 7, 2026

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I was never really a Zabbix guy; I was always more of a Nagios guy. But when a colleague asked how to better manage a Zabbix solution running in AWS, my ears perked up. I’m all in on AI these days—the new shiny toy isn't getting old anytime soon.

I suggested a test drive of the Gemini CLI paired with a Zabbix Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. The goal was to see if we could bridge the gap between a conversational LLM and rigid monitoring infrastructure.

We landed on the Python-based Zabbix MCP server to start. Here is the high-level architecture of how we built it, secured it, and what happened when we turned it loose.

Architecture diagram showing Gemini CLI connecting to Zabbix Server 7.0 via MCP on AWS.

The "Centaur" workflow: How Gemini CLI orchestrates Zabbix configuration via MCP on AWS infrastructure, balancing AI automation with human oversight.

Phase 1: Security First – Validating the Code

Before giving an AI agent keys to the monitoring kingdom, security is paramount. We didn't want to blindly install a repository found on GitHub without vetting it. I asked Gemini to use my standard Python code review prompt to audit the MCP server code, specifically looking for known vulnerabilities, unexpected external network connections, or any obfuscated logic.

Prompt: Comprehensive Python Code Review for Security and Quality

  Your Persona:
  You are an expert Senior Python Developer and Security Analyst. Your primary responsibility is to conduct a thorough code review of the provided Python script. Your analysis must be meticulous, identifying not only overt malicious
  behavior but also subtle vulnerabilities, insecure patterns, and deviations from best practices.

  Your Objective:
  Analyze the provided Python source code and generate a detailed report covering the following areas. For each finding, you must explain the potential risk, cite the relevant code, and suggest a clear remediation.

  ---

  Primary Review Checklist

  1. Security Vulnerabilities & Malicious Indicators

   * Remote Code Execution (RCE) and Command Injection:
       * Scrutinize the code for any use of subprocess, os.system, os.popen, eval(), and exec().
       * If found, determine if user-controllable input is ever passed to these functions without rigorous sanitization. Any unsanitized input passed to a shell is a critical vulnerability.

   * Unauthorized Network Communication ("Call Home"):

Comprehensive Python Code Review for Security and Quality

The analysis confirmed that the script was a secure proxy to the Zabbix API, utilizing environment variables for credentials and defaulting to a safe posture. There were a few minor issues called out, but nothing that prevented deployment.

 I have completed the security and quality code review of the provided Python script. Here is the detailed report:

  1. Overall Assessment

  The provided Python script is a well-structured and generally secure Zabbix MCP server. The code is clean, readable, and follows good practices for configuration and secret
  management by using environment variables. The inclusion of a read-only mode is a commendable security feature that significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized changes.

  The primary dependencies, fastmcp and zabbix_utils, are reputable libraries, which is a good sign. However, the lack of pinned dependencies in a requirements.txt or pyproject.toml
  file is a potential risk.

  While there are no critical vulnerabilities such as Remote Code Execution (RCE) or command injection, there are a few areas that could be improved to further harden the server and
  enhance its robustness.

  2. Detailed Findings

  Here is a breakdown of the findings, categorized by severity:

  ---

  Severity: Medium

I have completed the security and quality code review of the provided Python script

Phase 2: Tuning the Agent (Prompt Engineering)

Not being a Zabbix engineer myself, I wanted to lower the risk of misconfiguration. Before hacking away at the server, I needed to tune the LLM on the specifics of Zabbix 7.0.

I prompted the agent to act as a prompt engineer, ingesting the official Zabbix 7.0 Documentation PDF to create a specific system tuning prompt. This helps to ensure the LLM understands the specific API versions and limitations of the software it is controlling.

 **Zabbix 7.0 LLM Tuning Prompt**

**Persona:**
You are "ZabbixExpert-7.0," a specialized AI assistant with deep expertise in Zabbix 7.0. Your primary function is to help system administrators, IT managers, and monitoring specialists manage, configure, and troubleshoot their Zabbix 7.0 environment. Your responses must be accurate, context-aware, and strictly adhere to the concepts and architecture of Zabbix 7.0.

**Core Knowledge Base (Based on Zabbix 7.0 Documentation):**

*   **High-Level Overview:** Zabbix 7.0 is an enterprise-grade, open-source distributed monitoring solution. It is designed to monitor a wide range of IT infrastructure, including servers, networks, virtual machines, applications, and websites. Its core strengths are flexible data collection, highly configurable problem detection (triggers), automated alerting (actions), and powerful visualization features.

*   **Core Architecture Components:**
    *   **Zabbix Server:** The central brain. It polls for data, calculates triggers, sends alerts, and stores all configuration and collected data in a backend database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.).
    *   **Zabbix Proxy:** An optional but crucial component for distributed monitoring. A proxy collects data from agents on behalf of the server, buffers it, and then sends it to the server. This reduces the load on the server and is essential for monitoring remote locations. Zabbix 7.0 introduces proxy groups for automatic load balancing and high availability.
    *   **Zabbix Agent:** A small daemon installed on monitored targets (hosts). It actively collects local data (CPU, memory, disk, etc.) and reports it. The modern "Zabbix Agent 2" (written in Go) is preferred for its concurrency and plugin-based extensibility.
    *   **Web Interface (Frontend):** The PHP-based GUI for managing all aspects of Zabbix.
    *   **Other Components:** Includes Zabbix Java Gateway (for JMX), Zabbix Sender/Get (command-line tools), and Zabbix Web Service (for scheduled reports).

*   **Fundamental Workflow (The Monitoring Loop):**
    1.  **Host:** You define a device or service to be monitored as a "Host."
    2.  **Item:** On that Host, you define an "Item," which is a specific metric you want to collect (e.g., 'CPU utilization').
    3.  **Data Collection:** The Zabbix Server or Proxy collects data for that Item from the Host's Agent.

Zabbix 7.0 LLM Training Prompt

With the training complete, we launched a session and asked the agent to execute a monitoring plan:

  1. CPU: Alert at 100% for 10 minutes.
  2. Disk: Alert at 90% usage.
  3. Network: Alert on saturation > 5 minutes.

The agent didn't just fire off commands; it proposed a plan.

CLI screenshot of an AI agent outlining a 6-step plan to configure Zabbix monitoring.

Collaborative Planning: The agent outlines the strategy—finding templates and creating hosts—before execution.

Phase 3: The "Real World" & Tool Limitations

The agent successfully created the host and assigned it to the correct host groups. However, when it came to configuring complex triggers and actions, the Python MCP server hit a wall—it lacked specific tools for the "Actions" API endpoints.

I attempted to switch to a Node.js based MCP server which boasted a larger toolset (90 tools vs 40). Again, we started with a security review.

 Prompt: Comprehensive Node.js Code Review for Security and Quality

  Your Persona:
  You are an expert Senior Node.js Developer and Security Analyst with deep expertise in the V8 engine, libuv, and the broader JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem. Your primary responsibility is to conduct a thorough code review of the
  provided Node.js project. Your analysis must be meticulous, identifying not only overt malicious behavior but also subtle vulnerabilities, insecure patterns, and deviations from modern best practices.

  Your Objective:
  Analyze the provided Node.js source code and generate a detailed report covering the following areas. For each finding, you must explain the potential risk, cite the relevant code, and suggest a clear, idiomatic remediation.

  ---

  Primary Review Checklist

  1. Security Vulnerabilities & Malicious Indicators

   * Remote Code Execution (RCE) and Command Injection:
       * Scrutinize the code for any use of the child_process module (exec, spawn, execFile, fork).
       * Pay special attention to exec, which spawns a shell. Determine if user-controllable input is ever passed to these functions without rigorous sanitization and parameterization. Any unsanitized input passed to a shell is a
         critical vulnerability.
       * Look for the use of eval() and new Function(), especially when processing input from any external source.

prompt: Comprehensive Node.js Code Review for Security and Quality

Comprehensive Node.js Code Review for Security and Quality

  1. Overall Assessment

  The zabbix-mcp-server-nodejs project is a well-structured and modern Node.js application that demonstrates a strong commitment to code quality and security best practices. The use of TypeScript, ESLint with a security plugin, Prettier,
  and a comprehensive testing suite are all indicators of a mature and well-maintained codebase. The application also leverages zod for robust input validation, which is a significant security strength.

  However, the project is not without its flaws. The most critical issues are the presence of several high-severity vulnerabilities in its dependencies and a DNS rebinding vulnerability in the @modelcontextprotocol/sdk. Additionally, a
  hardcoded API URL and the potential for NoSQL injection and IDOR vulnerabilities require immediate attention.

  2. Detailed Findings

  Severity: Critical

   * Finding: The project's dependencies contain several high-severity vulnerabilities, as identified by npm audit.
       * Impact: These vulnerabilities could expose the application to a variety of attacks, including Denial of Service (DoS), command injection, and prototype pollution.
       * Recommendation: Run npm audit fix to automatically fix the vulnerabilities. For those that cannot be fixed automatically, manually update the affected dependencies to the latest secure versions.

   * Finding: The @modelcontextprotocol/sdk library has a DNS rebinding vulnerability (CVE-2025-66414).
       * Impact: A malicious website could exploit this vulnerability to bypass the same-origin policy and send requests to the local MCP server, potentially invoking tools or accessing resources exposed by it.

Comprehensive Node.js Code Review for Security and Quality

Unfortunately, the Node.js version had compatibility issues with Zabbix 7.0. We reverted to the original Python MCP server but adjusted our strategy. I tuned the training prompt to explicitly tell the agent: If you cannot do it via tools, guide me through the console.

A log comparing tasks completed by the Zabbix Agent versus manual user tasks.

The Hybrid Workflow: The AI handles the bulk setup, while the engineer steps in for complex configurations like specific alert actions.

When the agent couldn't programmatically configure the alert action for user eliasm, it provided clear, step-by-step documentation for me to finish the job manually.

Step-by-step text instructions provided by AI for manually configuring Zabbix actions.

When the MCP toolset falls short, the agent pivots to providing documentation for manual remediation.

Phase 4: Day-2 Operations and Remediation

Configuration is only half the battle. We tested the MCP's ability to handle Day-2 operations. I asked the agent, "Are there any critical alerts currently?"

The agent promptly retrieved a list of "Disaster" severity alerts, identifying multiple "Link Down" events across the network.

Command line output listing critical Zabbix alerts including link down events.

Instant Visibility: The agent retrieves live telemetry, identifying critical network outages without requiring UI navigation.

We then tested remediation. I asked the agent to "stop the trigger" for a noisy SSL VPN interface. The agent correctly identified the Trigger ID, warned me that this would permanently disable monitoring for that item, and asked for confirmation.

AI agent asking for confirmation to disable a specific Zabbix trigger via CLI.

The agent executes a state change, disabling a specific trigger to silence noise.

I also played around with a few other tools to see how the agent handled simple day-to-day admin tasks. It wasn't just about fighting fires; I wanted to see if it could handle the mundane stuff. I asked it to create a maintenance window to pause all alerts for 30 minutes, and it handled the request seamlessly. It's surprisingly refreshing to just "tell" the system to go into maintenance mode rather than clicking through five different calendar menus.

Conclusion

The final result? A fully configured host, successfully monitoring the server, created primarily through natural language conversation.

Zabbix 7.0 frontend dashboard showing a newly created Linux host with enabled status.

Success: The host is active, linked to templates, and reporting data.

Is this a replacement for a seasoned Zabbix administrator? Not yet. The process can be sluggish for full configurations, and tool limitations require human intervention. However, for day-to-day tasks—like querying alerts, putting hosts into maintenance mode, or silencing noisy triggers—the Zabbix MCP server is a powerful addition to the toolkit.

Check out our other experiments in AI Engineering at The Factory System.

Michael Elias is a Senior Principal Operations Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet with a history of entrepreneurship in the ISP and consulting spaces. A veteran of the dot-com era with certifications from Cisco, Red Hat, and Fortinet, Michael specializes in high-compliance infrastructure and enterprise architecture.

- Michael Elias (Read full bio)

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