Camel MCP Server
The Camel MCP Server exposes the Apache Camel Catalog and a set of specialized tools through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard that allows AI coding assistants to call external tools. This enables AI tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, and JetBrains AI to query live Camel catalog data, validate endpoint URIs, analyze routes for security concerns, browse Kamelets, and more.
The server is built on Quarkus using the quarkus-mcp-server extension and ships as a single uber-JAR that can be launched via JBang.
| This module is in Preview status as of Camel 4.18. |
Transport
The server supports two transports:
-
STDIO — The default transport for CLI-based AI tools. The server communicates over stdin/stdout using the MCP protocol. All logging goes to stderr to keep stdout clean for protocol messages.
-
HTTP/SSE — An optional transport for web-based clients and remote access scenarios. Useful when running the MCP server as a shared service for a team or in a container.
By default, the HTTP server is disabled. To enable it, set quarkus.http.host-enabled=true.
Available Tools
The server exposes 13 tools organized into six functional areas.
Catalog Exploration
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| List available Camel components with filtering by name, label (e.g., |
| Get detailed documentation for a specific component including all endpoint options, component-level options, Maven coordinates, and URI syntax. |
| List available data formats (JSON, XML, CSV, Avro, Protobuf, and others). |
| List expression languages (Simple, JsonPath, XPath, JQ, Groovy, and others). |
| List Enterprise Integration Patterns with filtering by category. |
| Get detailed documentation for a specific EIP including all its options. |
Kamelet Catalog
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| List available Kamelets from the Kamelet Catalog with filtering by name, description, and type ( |
| Get detailed documentation for a specific Kamelet including all properties/options, their types, defaults, examples, and the Kamelet’s Maven dependencies. |
Route Understanding
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Given a Camel route (YAML, XML, or Java DSL), extracts all components and EIPs used, looks up their documentation from the catalog, and returns structured context. |
Security Analysis
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Analyzes a route for security concerns. Identifies security-sensitive components, assigns risk levels, detects issues like hardcoded credentials or plain-text protocols, and returns structured security findings alongside best practices. |
Validation and Transformation
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Validates Camel endpoint URIs against the catalog schema. Catches unknown options, missing required parameters, invalid enum values, and type mismatches. Also provides suggestions for misspelled option names. |
| Assists with route DSL format transformation between YAML and XML. |
Setup
The MCP server requires JBang to be installed and available on your PATH.
Claude Code
Add the following to your project’s .mcp.json (or ~/.claude/mcp.json for global configuration):
{
"mcpServers": {
"camel": {
"command": "jbang",
"args": [
"-Dquarkus.log.level=WARN",
"org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runner"
]
}
}
}OpenAI Codex
Add the server to your MCP configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"camel": {
"command": "jbang",
"args": [
"-Dquarkus.log.level=WARN",
"org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runner"
]
}
}
}VS Code with Copilot
Configure MCP servers in your .vscode/mcp.json or in the user settings:
{
"servers": {
"camel": {
"command": "jbang",
"args": [
"-Dquarkus.log.level=WARN",
"org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runner"
]
}
}
}JetBrains IDEs
JetBrains IDEs support MCP servers starting from 2025.1. Configure them in Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP Servers, or create an .junie/mcp.json file in your project root:
{
"mcpServers": {
"camel": {
"command": "jbang",
"args": [
"-Dquarkus.log.level=WARN",
"org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runner"
]
}
}
}Generic STDIO Client
Any MCP client that supports the STDIO transport can launch the server directly:
jbang org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runnerHTTP/SSE Transport
To start the server with the HTTP/SSE transport enabled:
jbang -Dquarkus.http.host-enabled=true -Dquarkus.http.port=8080 org.apache.camel:camel-jbang-mcp:4.18.0:runnerMCP clients that support HTTP/SSE can then connect to the server at http://localhost:8080/mcp/sse.
Examples
Listing Components
Prompt your AI assistant with:
List all Camel components in the messaging category
The assistant calls camel_catalog_components with label=messaging and receives structured results with name, title, description, label, deprecation status, and support level for each matching component.
Getting Component Documentation
Show me the documentation for the Kafka component, including all endpoint options
The assistant calls camel_catalog_component_doc with component=kafka and receives the full component model including the URI syntax, Maven coordinates, and every endpoint option with types, defaults, and descriptions.
Browsing Kamelets
Show me all available source kamelets related to AWS
The assistant calls camel_catalog_kamelets with type=source and filter=aws and returns matching Kamelets with their name, type, support level, and description.
To drill into a specific Kamelet:
What options does the aws-s3-source kamelet accept?
The assistant calls camel_catalog_kamelet_doc with kamelet=aws-s3-source and returns the complete property list including required fields, types, defaults, and Maven dependencies.
Validating an Endpoint URI
Validate this Kafka endpoint: kafka:myTopic?brkers=localhost:9092&groupId=myGroup
The assistant calls camel_validate_route and detects the typo (brkers), reports the URI as invalid, and suggests the correct option name (brokers).
Understanding a Route
Paste a route and ask:
Explain what this route does
The assistant calls camel_route_context which extracts all components and EIPs used in the route, looks up their documentation from the catalog, and returns enriched context so the AI can provide an accurate explanation.
Security Hardening
Analyze this route for security concerns and suggest hardening measures
The assistant calls camel_route_harden_context which analyzes the route for security-sensitive components, detects issues (hardcoded credentials, HTTP instead of HTTPS, plain FTP, etc.), assigns risk levels, and returns structured findings with remediation recommendations.