Penumbra MCP Server

Penumbra MCP Server

The Penumbra MCP server bridges the privacy‑focused Penumbra blockchain to AI assistants, allowing developers to query core protocol data without exposing sensitive endpoints or handling complex RPC calls. By exposing a set of read‑only tools—such as validator set, chain status, transaction details, DEX state, and governance proposals—it gives Claude and other AI agents instant, structured access to real‑time blockchain information. This capability is crucial for building applications that need up‑to‑date chain data, like dashboards, analytics tools, or automated monitoring services, while keeping the underlying infrastructure abstracted from end users.

What it Solves

Blockchain developers often struggle to expose reliable, high‑level data to downstream services. Direct RPC queries can be brittle, require custom parsing, and may leak node URLs or sensitive parameters. The Penumbra MCP server standardizes these interactions through the Model Context Protocol, presenting a clean API that AI assistants can invoke with natural language. This eliminates boilerplate code and reduces the risk of misconfiguring network parameters or handling errors incorrectly.

Core Features

• Validator Set Retrieval: Quickly fetch the active set of validators, useful for staking dashboards or monitoring node health.
• Chain Status: Obtain block height, chain ID, and other status metrics in a single call.
• Transaction Lookup: Retrieve full transaction details by hash, enabling audit logs or user‑facing explorers.
• DEX State: Access the current state of Penumbra’s sealed‑bid batch auction DEX, including liquidity pools and recent trade results.
• Governance Proposals: List active proposals with voting status, supporting governance portals and automated notification systems.

Each tool returns JSON‑structured data that can be consumed directly by AI agents, making it trivial to embed blockchain insights into conversational workflows.

Planned Expansion

Future releases will add write‑capabilities such as transaction submission, private staking operations, and sealed‑bid trading. Private governance voting and liquidity position management are also on the roadmap, turning the server into a full‑fledged interface for both read and write interactions while preserving privacy guarantees.

Real‑World Use Cases

• Developer Dashboards: Embed live chain metrics into a single AI interface that pulls data from the MCP server without exposing RPC endpoints.
• Governance Bots: Create an AI bot that monitors proposal status and automatically notifies stakeholders when voting deadlines approach.
• Analytics Pipelines: Feed transaction and DEX data into ML models for market trend analysis, all sourced through the MCP server.
• Compliance Monitoring: Quickly audit validator activity and transaction patterns for regulatory reporting.

Integration with AI Workflows

The server is designed to be added to Claude Desktop or any MCP‑compatible client by specifying a command and environment variables. Once registered, the AI can invoke tools with natural language prompts—e.g., “Show me the current Penumbra validator set”—and receive structured responses that can be further processed or displayed. This seamless integration removes the need for custom adapters, letting developers focus on higher‑level logic rather than low‑level RPC handling.

Unique Advantages

• Privacy‑First Design: All interactions respect Penumbra’s privacy model, ensuring that sensitive data is never exposed unnecessarily.
• Configurable Environment: A rich set of environment variables lets teams tailor node URLs, timeouts, and DEX parameters to their deployment needs without code changes.
• Extensible Toolset: The MCP framework allows future tools to be added with minimal friction, keeping the server relevant as Penumbra evolves.

In summary, the Penumbra MCP Server empowers developers to harness the full breadth of Penumbra’s privacy‑preserving features through a clean, AI‑friendly interface, streamlining both read and future write operations while maintaining robust security and configurability.