synology-mcp

A Rust MCP server for Synology NAS (DSM 7). Single static binary with no runtime dependencies. Runs as a Docker container on the Synology itself and exposes an HTTP MCP endpoint, accessible from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT etc.

This MCP implementation focuses on home lab monitoring: storage health, disk SMART status, and system utilisation.

Demo

Supported DSM version

Tested on DSM 7.2+.

Prerequisites

• Synology NAS with Container Manager enabled
• A dedicated DSM user for MCP (see Security)
• DSM reverse proxy configured for HTTPS (Control Panel → Login Portal → Advanced)
• A domain pointing to your NAS

Installation

1. Download docker-compose.yml from this repo onto your Synology.

2. Create a project in Container Manager

Container Manager → Projects → Create → select the docker-compose.yml. In the environment variables section set:

SYNOLOGY_PASSWORD=your_dsm_password
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=your_secret_token

Generate a token: openssl rand -hex 32

3. Start the project

Container Manager will pull the image and start the container automatically.

4. Configure DSM reverse proxy

Control Panel → Login Portal → Advanced → Reverse Proxy:

• Source: https, hostname mcp.yourdomain.com, port 443
• Destination: http, hostname localhost, port 3006

5. Configure your MCP client

~/.mcp.json (Claude Code) or equivalent:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "synology": {
      "type": "https",
      "url": "https://mcp.yourdomain.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

| Tool | Description | Returns | |------|-------------|---------| | get_system_info | Model, serial, DSM version, uptime, hostname, temperature, RAM | JSON object | | get_system_utilisation | Real-time CPU%, memory usage, network throughput | JSON object | | list_packages | All installed DSM packages with version and status | JSON array | | get_volumes | Storage volumes: total/used/free GB, status, filesystem | JSON array | | get_disks | Every drive: model, serial, temperature, health, SMART status, size | JSON array |

Environment variables

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | SYNOLOGY_HOST | — | NAS IP or hostname, e.g. 127.0.0.1 | | SYNOLOGY_PORT | 5001 | DSM API port | | SYNOLOGY_USER | — | DSM username | | SYNOLOGY_PASSWORD | — | DSM password | | SYNOLOGY_HTTPS | true | Use HTTPS for DSM API calls | | MCP_AUTH_TOKEN | — | Bearer token required on all MCP requests | | MCP_PORT | 3000 | Port the MCP server listens on | | RUST_LOG | synology_mcp=info | Log level |

Building from source

Requires the x86_64-unknown-linux-musl target:

rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
cargo build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

To build and push to ghcr.io, see deploy.sh.

Why Rust

Single static binary (~5 MB). Runs from a scratch container. No OS, no shell, no runtime. Starts in under a second. The musl target means zero shared library dependencies, so the Docker image is as small as it gets.

Security

The DSM system and storage APIs require administrator-level access. Create a dedicated DSM admin user for MCP. Do not use the built-in admin account. Do not enable 2FA on the MCP user as DSM API auth does not support it. Treat MCP_AUTH_TOKEN like a password and keep it out of version control.