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Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server

Tempo includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides AI assistants and large language models (LLMs) with direct access to distributed tracing data through TraceQL queries and other endpoints.

For examples on how you can use the MCP server, refer to LLM-powered insights into your tracing data: introducing MCP support in Grafana Cloud Traces.

For more information on MCP, refer to the MCP documentation.

Configuration

You can enable the MCP server in your Tempo configuration via YAML:

YAML 
query_frontend:
  mcp_server:
    enabled: true

Or via a command-line flag: --query-frontend.mcp-server.enabled=true.

Warning

Be aware that using this feature may cause tracing data to be passed to an LLM or LLM provider. Consider the content of your tracing data and organizational policies when enabling this feature.

The MCP server uses the same authentication and multi-tenancy behavior as other Tempo API endpoints.

Available tools

The MCP server exposes the following tools that AI assistants can use to interact with your tracing data:

ToolDescription
traceql-searchSearch for traces using TraceQL queries
traceql-metrics-instantRetrieve a single metric value given a TraceQL metrics query
traceql-metrics-rangeRetrieve a metric series given a TraceQL metrics query
get-traceRetrieve a specific trace by ID
trace-diffCompare two complete traces and return their differences
get-attribute-namesGet available attribute names for use in TraceQL queries
get-attribute-valuesGet values for a specific scoped attribute name
docs-traceqlRetrieve TraceQL documentation (basic, aggregates, structural, metrics)
docs-configRetrieve Tempo configuration documentation (overview, reference)

Compare traces

The experimental trace-diff tool compares a baseline trace with another complete trace. Provide base_trace_id and compare_trace_id. By default, the tool returns trace-summary-v0-composed, which always contains a compact summary and includes the full span-level patch when the patch is no larger than 64 KiB. The 64 KiB limit applies only to the attached patch, not to the complete composed response.

Omit format to use the composed response. Set it to trace-summary-v0-native to return only the compact summary, or to trace-patch-v0 when you need the complete span-level patch. An explicitly empty format is invalid. If a composed response contains patchOmitted, use the summary for initial analysis. Request trace-patch-v0 only when span-level evidence is required and the client can accept a patch of patchOmitted.bytes bytes. Full patch responses have no output-size guarantee.

The optional base_start and base_end arguments limit the baseline lookup to an RFC3339 time range; both must be provided together. The same rule applies to compare_start and compare_end for the comparison trace. Tempo searches all blocks for a trace when its range is omitted. Partial traces are rejected because their comparison could be inaccurate.

Available resources

The MCP server also provides the following resources containing TraceQL and configuration documentation:

Resource URIDescription
docs://traceql/basicBasic TraceQL syntax, intrinsics, operators, and attributes
docs://traceql/aggregatesTraceQL aggregate functions (count, sum, etc.)
docs://traceql/structuralAdvanced structural query patterns
docs://traceql/metricsGenerating metrics from tracing data with TraceQL
docs://config/overviewOrientation map of what each top-level configuration block controls
docs://config/referenceComplete reference of all configuration options and their defaults

Quick start

To experiment with the MCP server using dummy data and Claude Code:

  1. Run the local docker-compose example in /example/docker-compose/single-binary. This exposes the MCP server at http://localhost:3200/api/mcp
  2. Run claude mcp add --transport=http tempo http://localhost:3200/api/mcp to add a reference to Claude Code.
  3. Run claude and ask some questions.

The Tempo MCP server uses the Streamable HTTP transport. Any MCP client that supports this transport can connect directly using the URL http://<tempo-host>:<port>/api/mcp. For example, in Cursor you can add the server with type: "streamableHttp" in your MCP configuration.

If your client doesn’t support Streamable HTTP natively, you can use the mcp-remote package as a bridge.

Claude Code interacting with the Tempo MCP server