Claude

The Zscaler MCP Server ships in two flavours for Anthropic's Claude family of products:

Integration	Surface	Best for
Claude Code Plugin	Claude Code CLI	Terminal-driven workflows, IDE integrations, and the 19 bundled multi-step skills
Claude Desktop Extension	Claude Desktop app (Directory of Connectors)	Point-and-click install from the Desktop app's built-in Directory, no shell required

Pick whichever matches the Claude product you already use — both expose the same Zscaler tool surface and read the same OneAPI credentials.

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Claude Code Plugin

The Zscaler MCP Server is available as a native Claude Code Plugin, providing AI-assisted management of the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform directly within Claude Code.

What's Included

Component	Location	Purpose
Plugin manifest	.claude-plugin/plugin.json	Plugin metadata, MCP entry point, skills, and slash commands
Marketplace manifest	.claude-plugin/marketplace.json	Claude Code marketplace listing and versioning
Skills	skills/	19 guided multi-step workflows for common Zscaler operations
MCP config	.mcp.json	MCP server connection configuration

Skills (19 guided workflows)

The plugin bundles service-specific skills that Claude auto-activates based on your prompt:

Service	Skills	Examples
ZPA	6	Onboard application, create access/forwarding/timeout policy rules, create server group, troubleshoot connector
ZIA	5	Onboard location, audit SSL inspection, investigate URL category, check user access, investigate sandbox
ZDX	5	Troubleshoot user experience, analyze app health, investigate alerts, diagnose deep trace, audit software
EASM	1	Review attack surface
Z-Insights	1	Investigate security incident
Cross-product	1	Troubleshoot user connectivity (ZCC + ZDX + ZPA + ZIA)

Installation

Option 1: From the Claude Code Marketplace

claude plugin install zscaler

Option 2: From the repository

Clone the repository and add it as a local plugin:

git clone https://github.com/zscaler/zscaler-mcp-server.git
cd zscaler-mcp-server
claude plugin install .

Option 3: Manual MCP configuration

When installed as a Claude Code plugin, the bundled .mcp.json resolves the env file relative to the plugin install directory using ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} — no path editing required:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zscaler-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--env-file", "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.env", "zscaler-mcp@0.10.3"]
    }
  }
}

If you are wiring the MCP server up outside the Claude Code plugin context (e.g. a standalone MCP client), replace ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.env with an absolute path to your own .env file, since ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} is only resolved by Claude Code at runtime.

Optionally, you can run the server via the published Docker image instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zscaler-mcp-server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "--env-file", "/absolute/path/to/.env",
        "zscaler/zscaler-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Prerequisites

• Claude Code installed
• uv installed (provides the uvx runner used by the plugin's .mcp.json)
• Zscaler OneAPI credentials configured in .env (copy .env.example and fill in the values)
• Docker is optional — only required if you choose the Docker-based manual configuration above

Configuration

The plugin manifest at .claude-plugin/plugin.json defines:

• Name: zscaler
• MCP servers: Configured via .mcp.json
• Skills path: ./skills/
• Commands path: ./commands/ (slash commands)

The marketplace manifest at .claude-plugin/marketplace.json provides:

• Version: Current plugin version
• Category: Security
• Owner: Zscaler (devrel@zscaler.com)

Verification

After installation, verify by asking Claude Code:

"What Zscaler tools are available?"

or

"List my ZPA application segments"

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Claude Desktop Extension

The Zscaler MCP Server is also published as a Claude Desktop Extension — a single-file .mcpb bundle installed directly from Claude Desktop's built-in Directory of Connectors. Once enabled, every read-only Zscaler tool becomes available to your Claude Desktop conversations with no shell, no .env file, and no manual MCP configuration.

Requirements

Claude Desktop runs its own pre-flight check (the "All requirements met" banner on the extension's detail page) before allowing the install. The extension needs:

• Claude Desktop — the desktop application, not the Claude Code CLI
• Python ≥ 3.11 — the bundled MCP server runs as a Python process
• uv on your PATH — Claude Desktop launches the server with uv run python -m zscaler_mcp.server as declared in the bundle's manifest.json. If uv cannot be found, the Requirements check fails and the Install button stays disabled. (If you don't have a 3.11+ interpreter handy, uv can install one for you via uv python install.)
• Zscaler OneAPI credentials — client_id, client_secret, customer_id, vanity_domain. Supplied through the extension's configuration form after install; no .env file is needed.

The "fetch a few dependencies" dialog Claude Desktop shows during install is uv resolving the Python packages declared in the bundle's pyproject.toml. First install may take a minute or two depending on network speed; subsequent launches reuse the cached environment and start in seconds.

Installation walkthrough

Step 1 — Find the extension in the Directory

Open Claude Desktop → Directory → Connectors and search for zscaler:

Step 2 — Review the extension details

Click the result to open the detail view. You'll see the full description, the live tool count, the Zscaler-developed badge, and — once uv is detected on your system — the green "All requirements met" banner that enables the Install button:

Step 3 — Confirm the install

Click Install. Claude Desktop asks for confirmation and notes that it will fetch the Python dependencies declared in the bundle:

Step 4 — Verify the extension is enabled

When the install completes, the detail view updates to show the Enabled toggle and a Configure button. The extension is now installed but not yet usable — it has no credentials:

Step 5 — Configure your Zscaler credentials

Click Configure to open the credential form. Fill in your OneAPI values:

Field	Purpose
ZSCALER_CLIENT_ID	OneAPI client ID from the ZIdentity console
ZSCALER_CLIENT_SECRET	OneAPI client secret
ZSCALER_CUSTOMER_ID	Zscaler customer / tenant ID (required for ZPA tools)
ZSCALER_VANITY_DOMAIN	ZIdentity vanity domain (e.g. acme.zsapi.net)
ZSCALER_CLOUD	Cloud override; leave production unless you're on a non-prod cloud
Enabled Tools	Optional comma-separated allowlist; leave empty to expose every read-only tool the server registers
User-Agent comment	Optional suffix appended to outbound API calls' User-Agent header — useful for tagging traffic in audit logs

Click Save. The extension is now wired up and Claude Desktop can invoke any read-only Zscaler tool from the chat interface.

Verification

In a new Claude Desktop conversation, ask:

"What Zscaler tools are available?"

Claude responds with the toolsets loaded for the OneAPI credentials you configured. You can also try a concrete query such as "list my ZPA application segments" — Claude prompts you to approve the tool call (the per-tool approval is part of Claude Desktop's built-in safety surface), then returns the result.

Building the bundle locally

If you want to install a custom build (for example a development branch or a private fork), run:

make build-mcpb

from the repo root. This refreshes the manifest, packs every runtime file into zscaler-mcp-server-<VERSION>.mcpb, and writes the single bundle to the repo root. Drag that file into Claude Desktop's Settings → Developer → Install Extension to install it locally without going through the Directory.

The bundle pulls all its dependencies via uv at install time, so it stays under 500 KB on disk and the lock files inside it pin every Python package to a reproducible version.

Write tools

By default the Desktop Extension exposes only read-only tools. To enable create / update / delete operations, set the Enable Write Tools toggle in the configuration form (or its underlying ZSCALER_MCP_WRITE_ENABLED=true env var) and populate the Write Tools Allowlist with the patterns you want to permit (e.g. zpa_create_*,zia_update_url_filtering_*). Destructive operations still require an in-session HMAC confirmation token — Claude is prompted to confirm before the tool actually executes.

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Resources

• Main README
• Supported Tools Reference
• Authentication & Deployment Guide
• Troubleshooting