Create and manage networks and VLANs

The UniFi MCP Server lets your AI assistant manage the full lifecycle of your network configuration—from creating a new VLAN for IoT devices to updating DHCP ranges and adding port forwarding rules. Every change that modifies your network requires explicit confirmation, and you can preview any operation before it executes using dry-run mode.

Network configuration tools require the Local Gateway API (UNIFI_API_TYPE=local). Cloud API modes provide read-only access to network information only.

What you can do

List and inspect networks

View all networks, VLANs, and subnets with their DHCP configuration.

Create networks

Create new networks and VLANs with custom DHCP, subnets, and purposes.

Update and delete

Modify existing network settings or remove networks you no longer need.

Port forwarding

Configure external port forwarding rules for internal services.

Listing networks and VLANs

Example prompts:

“Show me all VLANs on this site”
“What networks are configured?”
“What is the DHCP range for the guest network?”

List all VLANs
Get network details
Subnet and DHCP info

result = await mcp.call_tool("list_vlans", {
    "site_id": "default"
})

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea",
    "name": "LAN",
    "purpose": "corporate",
    "vlan_id": 1,
    "ip_subnet": "192.168.1.0/24",
    "dhcpd_enabled": true
  },
  {
    "id": "507f191e810c19729de860eb",
    "name": "IoT",
    "purpose": "corporate",
    "vlan_id": 20,
    "ip_subnet": "192.168.20.0/24",
    "dhcpd_enabled": true
  }
]

result = await mcp.call_tool("get_network_details", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea"
})

result = await mcp.call_tool("get_subnet_info", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea"
})

Response:

{
  "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea",
  "name": "LAN",
  "ip_subnet": "192.168.1.0/24",
  "vlan_id": 1,
  "dhcpd_enabled": true,
  "dhcpd_start": "192.168.1.100",
  "dhcpd_stop": "192.168.1.254",
  "dhcpd_leasetime": 86400,
  "dhcpd_dns_1": "8.8.8.8",
  "dhcpd_dns_2": "8.8.4.4",
  "dhcpd_gateway": "192.168.1.1",
  "domain_name": "local"
}

Network usage statistics

Get per-network bandwidth and client counts in one call. Example prompt: “How much bandwidth is each VLAN using right now?”

result = await mcp.call_tool("get_network_statistics", {
    "site_id": "default"
})

Response:

{
  "site_id": "default",
  "networks": [
    {
      "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea",
      "name": "LAN",
      "vlan_id": 1,
      "client_count": 15,
      "total_tx_bytes": 10240000,
      "total_rx_bytes": 20480000,
      "total_bytes": 30720000
    }
  ]
}

Creating a network

Use create_network to add a new network or VLAN. Always pass confirm=True to execute. Pass dry_run=True first to preview the payload that will be sent. Example prompts:

“Create a VLAN 20 for IoT devices with the subnet 192.168.20.0/24”
“Add a new guest network on VLAN 100”

Creating, updating, or deleting networks requires confirm=True. Without it, the tool returns an error. All changes are logged to audit.log.

Preview the change

preview = await mcp.call_tool("create_network", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "name": "IoT Devices",
    "vlan_id": 20,
    "subnet": "192.168.20.0/24",
    "purpose": "corporate",
    "dhcp_enabled": True,
    "dry_run": True
})

Response:

{
  "dry_run": true,
  "would_create": {
    "name": "IoT Devices",
    "vlan_id": 20,
    "ip_subnet": "192.168.20.0/24",
    "purpose": "corporate",
    "dhcpd_enabled": true
  }
}

Create the network

result = await mcp.call_tool("create_network", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "name": "IoT Devices",
    "vlan_id": 20,
    "subnet": "192.168.20.0/24",
    "purpose": "corporate",
    "dhcp_enabled": True,
    "confirm": True
})

Network creation parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`site_id`	string	Site identifier
`name`	string	Network name
`vlan_id`	integer	VLAN ID (1–4094)
`subnet`	string	Subnet in CIDR notation (e.g., `192.168.20.0/24`)
`purpose`	string	`corporate`, `guest`, or `vlan-only`
`dhcp_enabled`	boolean	Enable DHCP server
`confirm`	boolean	Required: must be `true` to execute
`dry_run`	boolean	Preview changes without applying

Updating a network

Example prompt: “Change the DHCP lease time on the LAN to 48 hours”

result = await mcp.call_tool("update_network", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ea",
    "dhcp_lease_time": 172800,
    "confirm": True
})

Deleting a network

Example prompt: “Delete the old test VLAN 99”

# Preview first
preview = await mcp.call_tool("delete_network", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ec",
    "dry_run": True
})

# Execute
result = await mcp.call_tool("delete_network", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "network_id": "507f191e810c19729de860ec",
    "confirm": True
})

Deleting a network removes all associated DHCP leases and may disconnect clients on that VLAN. Use dry_run=True to validate before executing.

Port forwarding

Port forwarding rules let external traffic reach internal services. You can list, create, and delete rules through the AI assistant. Example prompts:

“Forward port 8080 from the internet to my web server at 192.168.2.100”
“Show all port forwarding rules”
“Remove the old Minecraft server port forward”

List rules

result = await mcp.call_tool("list_port_forwards", {
    "site_id": "default"
})

Response:

[
  {
    "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "name": "Web Server",
    "dst_port": "80",
    "fwd": "192.168.2.100",
    "fwd_port": "8080",
    "proto": "tcp",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Create a port forward

result = await mcp.call_tool("create_port_forward", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "name": "Home Assistant",
    "dst_port": 8123,
    "fwd_ip": "192.168.2.50",
    "fwd_port": 8123,
    "protocol": "tcp",
    "confirm": True
})

Delete a port forward

result = await mcp.call_tool("delete_port_forward", {
    "site_id": "default",
    "rule_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "confirm": True
})

Safety mechanisms

Mechanism	Parameter	Effect
Confirmation	`confirm=True`	Required to execute any change
Dry run	`dry_run=True`	Preview the change without executing
Audit log	Automatic	All changes recorded in `audit.log`

When asking your AI assistant to make network changes, it will automatically show you a dry-run preview and ask for confirmation before applying anything. This gives you a chance to review every change before it affects your live network.

Getting Started

Installation

MCP Client Setup

Features

Advanced

Create and manage networks and VLANs

What you can do

List and inspect networks

Create networks

Update and delete

Port forwarding

Listing networks and VLANs

Network usage statistics

Creating a network

Network creation parameters

Updating a network

Deleting a network

Port forwarding

List rules

Create a port forward

Delete a port forward

Safety mechanisms

​What you can do

List and inspect networks

Create networks

Update and delete

Port forwarding

​Listing networks and VLANs

​Network usage statistics

​Creating a network

​Network creation parameters

​Updating a network

​Deleting a network

​Port forwarding

​List rules

​Create a port forward

​Delete a port forward

​Safety mechanisms

What you can do

Listing networks and VLANs

Network usage statistics

Creating a network

Network creation parameters

Updating a network

Deleting a network

Port forwarding

List rules

Create a port forward

Delete a port forward

Safety mechanisms