Globus MCP Server

⚠️ Beta Software — This project is under active development and has not reached a stable v1.0.0 release. APIs, tool signatures, and behavior may change without notice. Use with caution in production workflows.

Globus MCP Server gives AI agents federated data transfer and remote code execution across research storage systems at institutions worldwide.

It wraps the Globus CLI for data transfer and the Globus Compute SDK for remote Python execution on HPC endpoints.

Prerequisites

1. Globus Connect Personal (optional): For transfers to/from your local machine

Quick Start

For MCP-enabled applications like Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Warp, add this server to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "globus": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["git+https://github.com/purduercac/globus-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The uvx invocation handles installation automatically. On first use, the server's globus_login() and compute_login() tools will walk users through authentication via the browser.

Common Workflows

Find and Browse Endpoints

endpoint_search("purdue")  # Returns list with UUIDs
ls("endpoint-uuid", "/path/to/dir")

Transfer Data

task_id = transfer(
    source_endpoint="src-uuid",
    source_path="/data/file.tar",
    dest_endpoint="dst-uuid",
    dest_path="/scratch/file.tar"
)
task_wait(task_id)

Consent Recovery

Some Globus Connect Server v5 collections require endpoint-specific consent. If an operation fails with ConsentRequired, the server returns a structured error with the required scopes. Agents call session_consent(scopes) to open the browser, then retry the original operation.

Remote Code Execution (Globus Compute)

# Submit a Python function to run on a remote HPC endpoint
compute_submit(
    endpoint_id="compute-endpoint-uuid",
    function_source="def analyze(n):\n    import numpy as np\n    return np.random.rand(n).mean()",
    function_name="analyze",
    requirements="numpy",
    args=[10000],
)

# Check results later
compute_result("task-uuid", timeout=300)

When requirements is provided, the server automatically provisions a cached virtual environment on the remote endpoint using uv.

Available Tools

Identity & Auth

• whoami() — Show logged-in identity
• globus_login() — Initiate Globus CLI OAuth login
• session_consent(scopes) — Grant endpoint-specific data access consent

Endpoints

• endpoint_search(query) — Find Transfer endpoints by name
• endpoint_show(endpoint_id) — Get endpoint details
• endpoint_local_id() — Get local GCP endpoint UUID

Filesystem

• ls(endpoint_id, path) — List directory contents
• stat(endpoint_id, path) — Get file/directory metadata
• mkdir(endpoint_id, path) — Create directory
• rename(endpoint_id, source_path, dest_path) — Rename or move
• rm(endpoint_id, path) — Delete (synchronous)
• delete(endpoint_id, path) — Delete (async task)

Transfers

• transfer(...) — Submit async transfer task
• transfer_batch(...) — Batch transfer (multiple file pairs)
• task_list() — List recent tasks
• task_show(task_id) — Get task details
• task_wait(task_id) — Wait for task completion
• task_cancel(task_id) — Cancel a running task
• task_event_list(task_id) — Get task events

Compute (Remote Code Execution)

• compute_login() — Authenticate with Globus Compute
• compute_endpoint_list() — List accessible Compute endpoints
• compute_endpoint_status(endpoint_id) — Check endpoint availability
• compute_submit(...) — Submit a Python function for remote execution
• compute_batch_submit(...) — Submit multiple functions as a batch
• compute_status(task_ids) — Check task status (non-blocking)
• compute_result(task_id) — Get task result (optionally wait)

Development

uv sync
uv run globus-mcp --help
uv run pytest -q

Contributors — human or agent — should start with AGENTS.md, the repository's operating manual: architecture, the load-bearing invariants, and the process rules.

Non-trivial work flows through the spec-driven software factory under .agents/ — /globus-feature → /globus-plan → /globus-build → /globus-review → /globus-publish, each cycle on its own branch with its design record retained under spec/{slug}/. See .agents/factory/methodology.md for the why, and ROADMAP.md for what is queued.

One rule is worth repeating outside that documentation, because it is easy to violate by reflex: no test, verify command, or review drive may call a tool that mutates remote state — transfer, rm, delete, compute_submit and friends act on production research infrastructure. Drive the server hermetically instead:

uv run python .agents/factory/bin/mcp_probe.py          # in-memory MCP round-trip, no network
.agents/factory/bin/temp_home.sh uv run pytest -q        # …with Globus credentials unreachable

Known defects reproduced on main are listed in AGENTS.md § Known defects, each with a seed under issues/.

License

MIT