Manage Cron Tasks with LLM Applications

Cronlytic MCP Server

🎉 PROJECT COMPLETED - PRODUCTION READY 🎉

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates with the Cronlytic API to provide seamless cron job management through LLM applications like Claude Desktop.

Final Status: ✅ All 6 phases complete | 88/88 tests passing | Production documentation ready

Overview

The Cronlytic MCP Server enables AI agents and LLM applications to:

• 🔍 Health Check: Test connectivity and authentication with the Cronlytic API ✅
• 📊 Job Management: Create, read, update, and delete cron jobs ✅
• ⏯️ Job Control: Pause, resume, and monitor job execution ✅
• 📝 Logs & Monitoring: Access execution logs and performance metrics ✅
• 🤖 Smart Prompts: 18 comprehensive prompts for guided assistance ✅
• 📚 Resources: Dynamic job resources and cron templates ✅
• ⚡ Performance: Built-in monitoring and optimization ✅

🏆 Project Status: ALL PHASES COMPLETED ✅

🎯 Final Achievement Summary:

• ✅ Phase 1: Core infrastructure and authentication
• ✅ Phase 2: Basic CRUD operations (13 tests)
• ✅ Phase 3: Advanced job management (22 tests)
• ✅ Phase 4: Resources implementation (14 tests)
• ✅ Phase 5: Prompts & UX (39 tests)
• ✅ Phase 6: Testing & documentation (performance monitoring)

📊 Key Metrics:

• 88/88 Tests Passing (100% success rate)
• 18 Interactive Prompts (225% of original scope)
• 9 Comprehensive Tools (Full job lifecycle)
• Complete Documentation Suite (8 detailed guides)
• Production Ready (Multi-platform deployment support)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Cronlytic account with API access

Install from Source

Quick Setup (Recommended)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Cronlytic/cronlytic-mcp-server.git
cd cronlytic-mcp-server

# Run the setup script (creates venv and installs everything)
./setup_dev_env.sh

# Activate the virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate

Manual Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Cronlytic/cronlytic-mcp-server.git
cd cronlytic-mcp-server

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Upgrade pip
pip install --upgrade pip

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install development dependencies (optional)
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

Configuration

The server needs your Cronlytic API credentials to function. You can provide these in several ways:

Method 1: Environment Variables (Recommended)

export CRONLYTIC_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
export CRONLYTIC_USER_ID="your_user_id_here"

Method 2: Configuration File

Create a configuration file at one of these locations:

• ./cronlytic_config.json (current directory)
• ~/.cronlytic/config.json (user home directory)
• /etc/cronlytic/config.json (system-wide)

{
  "api_key": "your_cronlytic_api_key_here",
  "user_id": "your_cronlytic_user_id_here",
  "base_url": "https://api.cronlytic.com/prog",
  "timeout": 30,
  "max_retries": 3,
  "retry_delay": 1.0
}

Method 3: Command Line Arguments

python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --api-key "your_key" --user-id "your_id"

Getting API Keys

1. Log into your Cronlytic dashboard
2. Navigate to "API Keys" section
3. Click "Generate New API Key"
4. Copy your API key and User ID

Usage

Running the Server

# Basic usage (reads from environment variables or config file)
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server

# With command line arguments
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --api-key "your_key" --user-id "your_id"

# With debug logging
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --debug

# With custom config file
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --config /path/to/config.json

Available Tools (Phase 1)

Health Check

Test connectivity and authentication with the Cronlytic API:

# The health_check tool requires no parameters
# It will test:
# - API connectivity
# - Authentication validity
# - Response times
# - Basic functionality

Example Output:

# Cronlytic API Health Check

**Status:** ✅ Cronlytic API connection is healthy and working correctly
**Timestamp:** 2025-01-27T10:30:00Z
**Response Time:** 150 ms

## Connection Details
- **Base URL:** https://api.cronlytic.com/prog
- **Connectivity:** ✅
- **Authentication:** ✅

## Job Information
- **Job Count:** 3
- **Can List Jobs:** ✅

## Performance
- **Performance Rating:** Good

## Recommendations
- 💡 Found 3 job(s). All systems appear to be working correctly.

Claude Desktop Integration

To use with Claude Desktop, add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cronlytic": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "cronlytic_mcp_server.server"],
      "env": {
        "CRONLYTIC_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here",
        "CRONLYTIC_USER_ID": "your_user_id_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

To run virtual environment of python

{
  "mcpServers": {
          "cronlytic": {
        "command": "python",
        "args": ["-m", "src.server"],
        "cwd": "PATH/cronlytic-mcp-server",
        "env": {
          "VIRTUAL_ENV": "PATH/cronlytic-mcp-server/.venv",
          "PATH": "PATH/cronlytic-mcp-server/.venv/bin:${PATH}",
          "CRONLYTIC_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here",
          "CRONLYTIC_USER_ID": "your_user_id_here"
        }
      }
  }
}

Development

Project Structure

cronlytic-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py              # Package initialization
│   ├── server.py                # Main MCP server implementation
│   ├── cronlytic_client.py      # Cronlytic API client wrapper
│   ├── tools/                   # Tool implementations
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── health_check.py      # Health check tool
│   ├── resources/               # Resource implementations (Phase 4)
│   ├── prompts/                 # Prompt implementations (Phase 5)
│   └── utils/                   # Utility modules
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── auth.py              # Authentication handling
│       ├── errors.py            # Custom error classes
│       └── validation.py        # Input validation
├── tests/                       # Test files (Phase 6)
├── config/
│   └── example_config.json      # Example configuration
├── requirements.txt
├── pyproject.toml
└── README.md

Running in Development Mode

# Activate virtual environment (if not already active)
source venv/bin/activate

# Install in development mode (if not already done)
pip install -e .

# Set environment variables for testing
export CRONLYTIC_API_KEY="your_test_key"
export CRONLYTIC_USER_ID="your_test_user_id"

# Run with debug logging
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --debug

# Run validation tests
python validate_phase1.py

# Format code (if you have development dependencies)
black src/
ruff check src/

# Type checking
mypy src/

Testing with MCP Inspector

# Install MCP Inspector
npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

# Test the server
mcp-inspector python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server

Error Handling

The server provides comprehensive error handling:

• Authentication Errors: Clear guidance on credential issues
• Connection Errors: Network and connectivity diagnostics
• Validation Errors: Detailed field-by-field validation messages
• API Errors: Proper error codes and user-friendly messages
• Rate Limiting: Automatic retry with exponential backoff

Logging

Structured logging is provided at multiple levels:

# Normal operation
2025-01-27 10:30:00 - cronlytic_mcp_server.server - INFO - Cronlytic MCP Server initialized

# Debug mode
python -m cronlytic_mcp_server.server --debug

Roadmap

Phase 2: Basic CRUD Operations (Next)

• create_job - Create new cron jobs
• list_jobs - List all user jobs
• get_job - Get specific job details
• update_job - Update existing jobs
• delete_job - Delete jobs permanently

Phase 3: Advanced Job Management

• pause_job - Pause job execution
• resume_job - Resume paused jobs
• get_job_logs - Retrieve execution logs

Phase 4: Resources Implementation

• Dynamic job resources
• Cron template library
• Real-time resource updates

Phase 5: Prompts & UX

• Interactive job creation flows
• Monitoring and troubleshooting guidance
• User experience optimization

Phase 6: Testing & Documentation

• Comprehensive test suite
• Performance optimization
• Complete documentation

Related Projects

• Cronlytic - The cron job monitoring service
• Model Context Protocol - The open protocol for AI integration
• Claude Desktop - AI assistant with MCP support

Current Version: 0.1.0
Last Updated: Jun 2025