POX MCP Server: Bridge Your SDN Infrastructure with AI Workflows

Stop context-switching between your SDN controller and AI tools. This MCP server connects the POX SDN controller directly to Claude, giving you conversational control over your OpenFlow infrastructure.

The Problem with SDN Development Today

Managing SDN networks means juggling multiple interfaces - POX's Python APIs, OpenFlow command-line tools, and separate monitoring dashboards. When you're prototyping network behaviors or debugging flow rules, you're constantly switching between contexts, losing momentum every time you need to query switch states or analyze topology changes.

Network automation scripts work for known scenarios, but what about exploratory analysis? When you're researching new routing algorithms or teaching SDN concepts, you need interactive control that adapts to your thinking process.

Direct Network Control Through Natural Language

This MCP server eliminates the context switching by bringing your entire POX-controlled network into Claude's workspace. Ask questions about your topology, configure flow tables, and analyze network behavior - all in natural conversation.

Real-time network insight: Query active datapaths, check flow statistics, and monitor link status without leaving your AI workflow. The server maintains live connections to your POX controller, so topology changes and flow updates appear immediately in your conversation.

Guided network programming: Use the built-in prompts for learning-switch and hub implementations. Instead of hunting through POX documentation, get step-by-step guidance tailored to your specific datapath IDs and network configuration.

Persistent network memory: The server maintains a network configuration memo that accumulates insights across sessions. Your observations about network behavior, flow rule optimizations, and topology discoveries persist and inform future conversations.

Real-World Implementation Scenarios

Network Research & Prototyping: You're implementing a new load-balancing algorithm. Instead of writing separate monitoring scripts, query flow statistics directly in Claude: "Show me packet counts for DPID 0x1a, then suggest flow modifications to balance traffic across ports 1-4." The server provides real-time stats and lets you implement changes immediately.

SDN Education: Teaching OpenFlow concepts becomes interactive. Students can ask "Why is this switch flooding packets?" and get both the learning-switch implementation and real flow table analysis for their specific topology. The prompts guide them through POX's event-driven architecture with their actual network data.

Network Debugging: When flows aren't behaving as expected, paste error symptoms into Claude and get targeted datapath queries. "Check if DPID 0x2b has the expected flow rules for VLAN 100" runs instantly, with results formatted for human analysis rather than raw JSON dumps.

Automated Network Analysis: Build conversational workflows that combine multiple network operations. "Analyze all switches for suboptimal routing, then suggest flow table updates" becomes a natural dialogue rather than a complex script.

Integration That Actually Works

Adding POX control to your MCP setup takes minutes, not hours. The server runs as a POX component, so it inherits your existing network permissions and component loading order. Your current POX modules (topology discovery, forwarding logic) continue working unchanged.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pox": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "path/to/pox-mcp-server", "run", "server.py"],
      "env": { "POX_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:8000" }
    }
  }
}

Start POX with your usual components, add mcp_server at the end. Your network topology, flow statistics, and switch configurations become immediately available in Claude.

Why This Matters for SDN Development

Traditional network management tools force you into their mental model - predefined dashboards, rigid query interfaces, batch processing scripts. This MCP server inverts that relationship. Your network infrastructure adapts to your thinking process, not the other way around.

Whether you're researching novel routing protocols, teaching network concepts, or debugging production OpenFlow deployments, conversational network control eliminates the friction between ideas and implementation. Your SDN network becomes as responsive as your development workflow demands.

The POX ecosystem's modularity means this integration scales with your needs. Start with basic switch queries, add custom flow analysis, build sophisticated network reasoning - all through the same conversational interface that grows with your network complexity.