Cipi API

Laravel package that exposes a REST API, an MCP server, and Swagger documentation for the Cipi server control panel.

Requirements

• PHP 8.2+
• Laravel 12+

Installation

composer require cipi/api

Publish the configuration and assets:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=cipi-config
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=cipi-assets
php artisan migrate

Seed the API user and create a token:

php artisan cipi:seed-api-user
php artisan cipi:token-create

Features

• REST API — CRUD for apps, aliases, www redirects, app/path redirects, prefix proxies, Node apps, databases, SSL, and async jobs (/api/*), secured with Laravel Sanctum and token abilities. App create supports optional Git for custom apps (SFTP-only), matching Cipi 4.4.4+. Apps can also be taken offline and restored with suspend / unsuspend (HTTP 503 maintenance page), matching Cipi 4.5.8+. HTTP Basic Auth can be enabled, disabled, and inspected per app via /api/apps/{name}/basicauth/* (synchronous, wraps cipi basicauth). App .env (GET|PUT /api/apps/{name}/env, ability apps-env) merges key/value pairs without replacing the whole file. Shared auth.json (/api/apps/{name}/auth, ability apps-auth) is Composer/structured JSON — not HTTP Basic Auth. Artisan (POST /api/apps/{name}/artisan, ability apps-artisan) runs as an async job; poll GET /api/jobs/{id} for output. Whitelisted app run (POST /api/apps/{name}/run, GET /api/run-commands, ability apps-run) executes non-interactive binaries as the app user (composer, npm, ls, rm, git, … — no nano/vim/less/bash/tinker). Deploy config (GET|PUT /api/apps/{name}/deploy-config, ability apps-deploy-config) edits structured Deployer options (keep_releases, hooks, node_build, extra_artisan) and regenerates deploy.php — not a raw PHP upload. Env/auth/artisan/run/deploy-config need Cipi ≥ 5.0.3. WWW / apex redirects (/api/apps/{name}/www/*, ability www-manage) and POST …/ssl/force match Cipi 4.8+. Multi-engine databases (MariaDB + optional PostgreSQL) via engine on /api/dbs* and GET /api/dbs/engines. App logs (GET /api/apps/{name}/logs) return paginated nginx, PHP-FPM, and Laravel snapshots (requires apps-view). Server status (GET /api/status) returns the same data as cipi status as structured JSON (requires status-view). App/path redirects (/api/apps/{name}/redirect*, abilities redirects-view/redirects-manage) and prefix proxies (/api/apps/{name}/proxies, abilities proxies-view/proxies-manage) wrap cipi redirect / cipi proxy synchronously (nginx test + revert) — Cipi ≥ 5.3.1 with API sudoers ≥ 5.4.1. Node apps (Cipi 5.4.0+): app create/edit accept node (spa|static|ssr), framework, node_version, build, start, output, health_path; GET /api/node lists runtimes, GET /api/apps/{name}/node shows app Node status, and POST /api/apps/{name}/node/restart does a blue/green restart (abilities node-view/node-manage). Deploy audit (GET /api/apps/{name}/deploy/audit, ability deploy-manage, Cipi 5.4.0+) returns the hash-chained ledger records. Meilisearch (GET /api/search, POST /api/apps/{name}/search/enable|disable, abilities search-view/search-manage, Cipi 5.2.2+). Read-only host insights: GET /api/packages (packages-view), GET /api/monitor (monitor-view), GET /api/zt (zt-view). POST /api/apps/{name}/fix-permissions (ability apps-edit, Cipi 5.2.1+) restores the app home permission model. Wildcard primary domains (*.example.com) are accepted since Cipi 5.1.1.
• IP whitelist — optional client IP allowlist for /api/* and /mcp (/etc/cipi/api-ip-whitelist, default * = allow all). Manage with cipi api ip-whitelist or GET|PUT|POST|DELETE /api/ip-whitelist (abilities ip-whitelist-view / ip-whitelist-manage). Requires Cipi ≥ 5.0.8.
• MCP Server — Model Context Protocol endpoint at /mcp for AI-powered integrations.
• Swagger Docs — Interactive API reference at /docs, generated from public/api-docs/openapi.json. The spec covers apps (including env, auth.json, artisan), aliases, www, deploy, SSL, databases (GET /api/dbs / /dbs/engines via CLI; other /api/dbs/* actions use jobs), and job polling (including structured result types per job).
• Artisan Commands — cipi:token-create, cipi:token-list, cipi:token-revoke.

MCP Integration

The MCP server is exposed at /mcp using Streamable HTTP transport and is secured with the same Sanctum token used by the REST API. A token with the mcp-access ability is sufficient for all MCP tools — per-endpoint REST abilities (apps-view, deploy-manage, etc.) are not required on /mcp.

Generate a token if you haven't already:

php artisan cipi:token-create

Replace https://your-server.com and YOUR_TOKEN in the examples below with your actual Cipi host and token.

VS Code

Create (or edit) .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "cipi-token",
      "description": "Cipi API Token",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "cipi-api": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://your-server.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:cipi-token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart VS Code after adding the configuration. The token will be requested on first connection and securely stored.

Cursor

Create (or edit) .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cipi-api": {
      "url": "https://your-server.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after adding the configuration (Cursor v0.40+).

Claude Code

Run the following command from your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http cipi-api https://your-server.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Verify the server is connected:

claude mcp list

Available MCP Tools

Once connected, the following tools are available to the AI agent:

Tool	Description
AppList	List all apps with domains, PHP versions, and aliases
AppShow	Show details of a specific app
AppArtisan	Run Artisan on a Laravel app (sync; REST uses async jobs)
AppRun	Whitelisted non-interactive cmd as app user (async job; Cipi ≥ 5.0.3)
AppRunCommands	List allowed AppRun binaries
AppDeployConfigShow	Show structured deploy.php options
AppDeployConfigUpdate	Update deploy options (regenerates template)
AppEnvShow	List Laravel app .env keys (Cipi ≥ 5.0.3; secrets redacted)
AppEnvUpdate	Merge/unset .env keys
AppAuthJsonShow	Show shared auth.json (not HTTP Basic Auth)
AppAuthJsonCreate	Create shared auth.json
AppAuthJsonUpdate	Replace shared auth.json
AppAuthJsonDelete	Delete shared auth.json
AppCreate	Create a new app (custom for non-Laravel apps; optional Git for custom SFTP-only sites, Cipi 4.4.4+)
AppEdit	Edit an existing app
AppDelete	Delete an app
AppDeploy	Deploy an app
AppDeployRollback	Rollback the last deploy
AppDeployUnlock	Unlock a stuck deploy
AppSuspend	Take an app offline (HTTP 503) without deleting it
AppUnsuspend	Bring a suspended app back online
AppFixPermissions	Restore the app home permission model (async job; Cipi ≥ 5.2.1)
AppBasicAuthStatus	Show HTTP Basic Auth status (enabled + usernames)
AppBasicAuthEnable	Enable Nginx HTTP Basic Auth on an app
AppBasicAuthDisable	Disable HTTP Basic Auth on an app
AliasList	List aliases for an app
AliasAdd	Add an alias to an app
AliasRemove	Remove an alias from an app
WwwStatus	Show www/apex redirect status (Cipi 4.8+)
WwwAdd	Add www/apex counterpart alias
WwwForceToRoot	301 redirect www → apex
WwwForceFromRoot	301 redirect apex → www
WwwClear	Clear www canonical redirect
RedirectList	List whole-app + path redirects (Cipi ≥ 5.4.1)
RedirectSet	Redirect every hostname of an app to a URL
RedirectToggle	Enable/disable the saved whole-app redirect
RedirectUnset	Remove the whole-app redirect (forget target)
RedirectAdd	Add/update a path redirect (prefix or exact)
RedirectRemove	Remove a path redirect
ProxyList	List prefix reverse proxies
ProxyAdd	Add/update a prefix proxy (loopback guard enforced)
ProxyRemove	Remove a prefix proxy
NodeRuntimes	List installed Node runtimes + server default (Cipi 5.4.0+)
NodeStatus	Node status of an app (mode, framework, build/start)
NodeRestart	Blue/green restart of an SSR Node app (async job)
DeployAudit	Deploy audit ledger records for an app (Cipi 5.4.0+)
SearchStatus	Meilisearch status + search-enabled apps (Cipi 5.2.2+)
SearchEnable	Enable Meilisearch/Scout for a Laravel app
SearchDisable	Disable search (restores previous SCOUT_DRIVER)
PackageList	Optional host packages catalog (read-only)
MonitorList	System monitor checks + state (read-only, Cipi 5.3.0+)
ZtStatus	Cloudflare Zero Trust status (read-only, Cipi 5.3.0+)
DbEngines	List installed DB engines and default (Cipi 4.8+)
DbList	List databases (optional engine filter)
DbCreate	Create a database (engine = mariadb|pgsql)
DbBackup	Create a compressed backup of a database
DbRestore	Restore a database from a backup file
DbPassword	Regenerate database password
SslInstall	Install an SSL certificate for an app
SslForce	Re-apply HTTP → HTTPS redirect (no new issuance)
JobShow	Poll async job status, result, and CLI output
AppLogs	Read recent app logs (cipi app logs types)
ApiLogShow	Read Cipi API host Laravel logs
ServerStatus	Server snapshot (same JSON as GET /api/status)
ServiceList	System service status (cipi service list)

Configuration

This package is automatically installed and configured by cipi api. No manual setup is needed.

The CIPI_APPS_JSON env variable defaults to /etc/cipi/apps.json.

Token abilities for cipi api token create are defined in config/cipi.php (token_abilities) and exposed via php artisan cipi:token-abilities. The Cipi CLI checklist calls that command when the API package is installed.

GET /api/dbs runs sudo cipi db list on the host (synchronously), like the Cipi server CLI: vault and MariaDB access stay inside Cipi, not duplicated in PHP.

Why other API actions worked but db failed: Cipi configures /etc/sudoers.d/cipi-api so www-data may run NOPASSWD only for an explicit list of cipi subcommands (app, deploy, alias, ssl, …). Database commands were missing from that whitelist until Cipi 4.4.17, so sudo tried to ask for a password and failed without a TTY (sudo: a terminal is required). Update the server with cipi self-update (applies migration 4.4.17) or add the cipi db … lines to cipi-api sudoers manually (see Cipi setup.sh).

AppArtisan / env / auth.json: require Cipi CLI ≥ 5.0.3 (cipi self-update) so /etc/sudoers.d/cipi-api allows app artisan, app env, and auth create|edit|show|delete, and so non-interactive env/auth flags exist. REST Artisan is async (POST /api/apps/{name}/artisan → poll job); MCP AppArtisan stays synchronous.

AppRun / AppDeployConfig*: require Cipi CLI ≥ 5.0.3. App run is non-interactive only. Deploy config is structured knobs (never raw deploy.php upload).

ServerStatus / ServiceList: ServerStatus returns structured JSON (same as GET /api/status), preferring sudo cipi status with a host-read fallback. ServiceList runs sudo cipi service list on the host. Both require mcp-access only on /mcp. Ensure cipi-api sudoers allows status and service list (see Cipi setup.sh).

Redirects / Proxies / Node: require Cipi CLI ≥ 5.4.1 (cipi self-update, migration 5.4.1) so /etc/sudoers.d/cipi-api allows redirect *, proxy *, and node list|status|restart. The commands themselves exist since Cipi 5.3.1 (redirect/proxy) and 5.4.0 (node). All redirect/proxy writes are synchronous: the CLI validates the rule (loops, collisions, reserved paths, charset), regenerates the vhost, runs nginx -t, and reverts on failure. The proxy loopback guard is never bypassed from the API (no --force).

Search / Packages / Monitor / Zero Trust: the API exposes only what the panel sudoers allow — search status|list|enable|disable, package list, monitor list, zt status. Installing or upgrading Meilisearch, installing packages, changing monitor thresholds, and every zt mutation stay with the operator on the host CLI, by design.

Deploy audit: GET /api/apps/{name}/deploy/audit and the DeployAudit MCP tool read the root-only hash-chained ledger via sudo cipi deploy <app> --audit --json (Cipi 5.4.0+). An empty list means the ledger has not been written yet (first deploy after cipi self-update).

License

MIT