Kubernetes MCP Server

Unauthorized: server has asked for client credentials

Verify kubeconfig file is correctly configured at ~/.kube/config. Check IAM entity is authenticated by cluster. Run kubectl config view to verify context and credentials are set properly.

Connection refused: localhost:8080 error

Set KUBECONFIG environment variable to correct path. Export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config or specify in MCP server config. Verify kubeconfig file exists and has valid cluster endpoint, not localhost:8080.

RBAC permission denied for cluster operations

Verify your user has appropriate RBAC permissions. Check if IAM principal needs system:masters group for admin access. For EKS, use access entries with API or API_AND_CONFIG_MAP authentication mode.

kubectl version incompatibility with cluster

Ensure kubectl version within ±1 minor version of cluster. For Kubernetes 1.29 cluster, use kubectl 1.28-1.30. Run kubectl version to check client and server versions. Update kubectl if needed.

TLS certificate errors or chain of trust invalid

Check certificate hasn't expired: kubectl config view --raw. Verify CA certificate in kubeconfig matches cluster CA. For EKS, regenerate kubeconfig: aws eks update-kubeconfig --name cluster-name.