orion — Claude Code MCP server: REST and Kafka from JSON
An MCP server that lets your agent build and operate Orion's declarative REST and Kafka services through 58 admin API tools.
claude mcp add --env ORION_SERVER_URL=<ORION_SERVER_URL> --env ORION_API_KEY=<ORION_API_KEY> --transport stdio orion -- docker run -i --rm -e ORION_SERVER_URL -e ORION_API_KEY ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0What orion does
Orion is a runtime for declarative services. A service is made of a workflow holding the business logic and a channel that takes traffic. Post both definitions, activate them, and the service answers requests — no application server to write, no container per service.
The MCP server exposes Orion's admin API to your agent as 58 tools. With them the agent can draft a workflow, run it against sample data, activate it, roll it out to a share of traffic, and roll back when something breaks. A developer or an assistant can author the definitions; both go through the same draft, test, activation and audit path.
The server runs in Docker and needs two variables: ORION_SERVER_URL and ORION_API_KEY. Without the key the admin calls fail. Orion fits request- and event-shaped work that can be written as ordered tasks plus JSONLogic; it is not meant as a general-purpose runtime or a durable workflow engine. One more thing: data channels stay open until they declare authentication or the instance sits behind a proxy that authenticates — go through the production checklist before exposing anything.
What it helps with
- stand up a REST endpoint from a JSON definition without writing a server
- run a Kafka consumer and route failed records to a dead-letter topic
- dry-run a workflow draft against a test request before activation
- roll back a service version after a bad rollout
- wire PostgreSQL or Redis through a ready connector
Example prompts for the agent
- Draft a workflow for order processing and show it to me before activation
- Dry-run that workflow on an order with total 12500
- Roll out a new version of the
POST /orderschannel to part of the traffic
How to install orion
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env ORION_SERVER_URL=<ORION_SERVER_URL> --env ORION_API_KEY=<ORION_API_KEY> --transport stdio orion -- docker run -i --rm -e ORION_SERVER_URL -e ORION_API_KEY ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add orion --env ORION_SERVER_URL=<ORION_SERVER_URL> --env ORION_API_KEY=<ORION_API_KEY> -- docker run -i --rm -e ORION_SERVER_URL -e ORION_API_KEY ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"orion": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e",
"ORION_SERVER_URL",
"-e",
"ORION_API_KEY",
"ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0"
],
"env": {
"ORION_SERVER_URL": "<ORION_SERVER_URL>",
"ORION_API_KEY": "<ORION_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"orion": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e",
"ORION_SERVER_URL",
"-e",
"ORION_API_KEY",
"ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0"
],
"env": {
"ORION_SERVER_URL": "<ORION_SERVER_URL>",
"ORION_API_KEY": "<ORION_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e ORION_SERVER_URL=<ORION_SERVER_URL> -e ORION_API_KEY=<ORION_API_KEY> orion docker run -i --rm -e ORION_SERVER_URL -e ORION_API_KEY ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0Replace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about orion
How do I install orion in Claude Code?
Run `claude mcp add --env ORION_SERVER_URL=<ORION_SERVER_URL> --env ORION_API_KEY=<ORION_API_KEY> --transport stdio orion -- docker run -i --rm -e ORION_SERVER_URL -e ORION_API_KEY ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0`. Fill in the address of your Orion instance and the API key.
What does orion do?
It hands your agent 58 tools over Orion's admin API for creating, testing, activating and rolling back declarative services. The business logic lives in JSON, while routing, limits and tracing come from the runtime.
What does orion need to run?
A running Orion instance plus an API key, passed as ORION_SERVER_URL and ORION_API_KEY. The MCP server itself starts from the ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:1.1.0 image, so Docker has to be available.
