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UniFi MCP Server can connect to your UniFi infrastructure in three different ways, controlled by the UNIFI_API_TYPE environment variable. Each mode uses a different API endpoint, has different capabilities, and suits different use cases. The mode you choose determines what your AI assistant can do. Local Gateway mode gives full read and write access to your network. The two cloud modes are limited to reading high-level site statistics.

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Comparison

Cloud API modes (both cloud-v1 and cloud-ea) are read-only. They can list sites and retrieve aggregate statistics, but cannot modify networks, configure devices, change firewall rules, or perform any other write operations. Use Local Gateway mode for full functionality.

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Local Gateway

Local Gateway mode connects directly to your UniFi gateway over your local network. This gives the MCP server access to the full UniFi Network API, including all 77 tools. You need to be on the same network as your gateway, or have a route to it (such as a VPN), for this mode to work. When to use it: Whenever you want to do more than read site statistics — creating networks, configuring WiFi, managing firewall rules, controlling devices, running backups, and so on. Configuration:
UNIFI_LOCAL_HOST is required when using local mode and must be the IP address or hostname of your UniFi gateway. UNIFI_LOCAL_PORT defaults to 443. UNIFI_LOCAL_VERIFY_SSL defaults to false because most home gateways use self-signed certificates. Example MCP client config:

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Cloud v1

Cloud v1 connects to the official stable UniFi cloud API at https://api.ui.com. It is the more permissive of the two cloud modes, with a rate limit of 10,000 requests per minute. However, it is limited to listing sites and retrieving aggregate statistics such as device counts, client counts, and bandwidth summaries. When to use it: When you need to build a high-level monitoring dashboard across many sites and don’t require device-level data or any configuration changes. Configuration:
You can optionally override the cloud API URL:
Example MCP client config:

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Cloud EA

Cloud EA connects to the Early Access cloud API, also at https://api.ui.com. This is a testing-phase API that Ubiquiti uses to gather feedback before stabilizing features in v1. It has the same read-only limitations as Cloud v1 but a much lower rate limit of 100 requests per minute. The API may change without notice. When to use it: When you are evaluating new UniFi cloud API features or testing integrations against the EA tier. Not recommended for production use. Configuration:
Example MCP client config:

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Recommendation

Use Local Gateway mode for any real network management work. It is the only mode that gives your AI assistant full access to devices, clients, networks, firewall rules, WiFi SSIDs, QoS profiles, and backups. Cloud modes are useful only when you cannot run the server on a machine with local network access to your gateway, and you only need site-level statistics.
Your API key is the same across all three modes. The UNIFI_API_KEY you generate at unifi.ui.com works for Local Gateway, Cloud v1, and Cloud EA.