name: vmware-monitor description: > VMware vCenter/ESXi read-only monitoring skill. Code-level enforced safety — no destructive operations exist in this codebase. Query inventory, check health/alarms/events, view VM info and snapshots, scan logs. installer: kind: uv package: vmware-monitor metadata: {"openclaw":{"requires":{"env":["VMWARE_MONITOR_CONFIG"],"bins":["vmware-monitor"],"config":["~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml"]},"primaryEnv":"VMWARE_MONITOR_CONFIG","homepage":"https://github.com/zw008/VMware-Monitor"}}

VMware Monitor (Read-Only)

Safe, read-only VMware vCenter and ESXi monitoring skill. Query your entire VMware infrastructure using natural language through any AI coding assistant — without risk of accidental modifications.

Code-level safety: This is an independent repository (zw008/VMware-Monitor). No destructive code paths exist — no power off, delete, create, reconfigure, snapshot-create/revert/delete, clone, or migrate functions are present in the codebase. For full operations, use the separate VMware-AIops repo. Install: clawhub install vmware-aiops

When to Use This Skill

Query VM, host, datastore, cluster, and network inventory
Check health status, active alarms, hardware sensors, and event logs
View VM details and existing snapshot lists (read-only)
Run scheduled log scanning with webhook notifications (Slack, Discord)
You need zero-risk monitoring — no accidental power-off, delete, or reconfigure possible

Quick Install

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Trae, Kimi, and 30+ AI agents:

# Via Skills.sh
npx skills add zw008/VMware-Monitor

# Via ClawHub
clawhub install vmware-monitor

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add zw008/VMware-Monitor
/plugin install vmware-monitor
/vmware-monitor:vmware-monitor

Usage Mode

Choose the best mode based on your AI tool:

Platform	Recommended Mode	Why
Claude Code, Cursor	MCP	Structured tool calls, no interactive confirmation needed, seamless experience
Aider, Codex, Gemini CLI, Continue	CLI	Lightweight, low context overhead, universal compatibility
Ollama + local models	CLI	Minimal context usage, works with any model size

Calling Priority

MCP-native tools (Claude Code, Cursor): MCP first, CLI fallback
All other tools: CLI first (MCP not needed)

Tip: If your AI tool supports MCP, check whether vmware-monitor MCP server is loaded (/mcp in Claude Code). If not, configure it first — MCP provides the best hands-free experience.

CLI Examples

# Activate venv first
source /path/to/VMware-Monitor/.venv/bin/activate

# Inventory
vmware-monitor inventory vms --target home-esxi
vmware-monitor inventory hosts --target home-esxi

# Health
vmware-monitor health alarms --target home-esxi
vmware-monitor health events --hours 24 --severity warning --target home-esxi

# VM info (read-only)
vmware-monitor vm info my-vm --target home-esxi

MCP Mode (Optional)

For Claude Code / Cursor users who prefer structured tool calls, add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-monitor": {
      "command": "/path/to/VMware-Monitor/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "mcp_server"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/VMware-Monitor",
      "env": {
        "VMWARE_MONITOR_CONFIG": "~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP exposes 7 read-only tools: list_virtual_machines, list_esxi_hosts, list_all_datastores, list_all_clusters, get_alarms, get_events, vm_info. All accept optional target parameter.

list_virtual_machines supports limit, sort_by, power_state, fields for compact context in large inventories.

Architecture

User (Natural Language)
  ↓
AI Tool (Claude Code / Aider / Gemini / Codex / Cursor / Trae / Kimi)
  ↓
  ├─ CLI mode (default): vmware-monitor CLI ──→ pyVmomi ──→ vSphere API
  │
  └─ MCP mode (optional): MCP Server (stdio) ──→ pyVmomi ──→ vSphere API
  ↓
vCenter Server ──→ ESXi Clusters ──→ VMs
    or
ESXi Standalone ──→ VMs

First Interaction: Environment Selection

When the user starts a conversation, always ask first:

Which environment do they want to monitor? (vCenter Server or standalone ESXi host)
Which target from their config? (e.g., prod-vcenter, lab-esxi)
If no config exists yet, guide them through creating ~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml

Capabilities (Read-Only)

1. Inventory

Feature	vCenter	ESXi	Details
List VMs	✅	✅	Name, power state, CPU, memory, guest OS, IP
List Hosts	✅	⚠️ Self only	CPU cores, memory, ESXi version, VM count, uptime
List Datastores	✅	✅	Capacity, free/used, type (VMFS/NFS), usage %
List Clusters	✅	❌	Host count, DRS/HA status
List Networks	✅	✅	Network name, associated VM count

2. Health & Monitoring

Feature	vCenter	ESXi	Details
Active Alarms	✅	✅	Severity, alarm name, entity, timestamp
Event/Log Query	✅	✅	Filter by time range, severity; 50+ event types
Hardware Sensors	✅	✅	Temperature, voltage, fan status
Host Services	✅	✅	hostd, vpxa running/stopped status

Monitored Event Types:

Category	Events
VM Failures	`VmFailedToPowerOnEvent`, `VmDiskFailedEvent`, `VmFailoverFailed`
Host Issues	`HostConnectionLostEvent`, `HostShutdownEvent`, `HostIpChangedEvent`
Storage	`DatastoreCapacityIncreasedEvent`, SCSI high latency
HA/DRS	`DasHostFailedEvent`, `DrsVmMigratedEvent`, `DrsSoftRuleViolationEvent`
Auth	`UserLoginSessionEvent`, `BadUsernameSessionEvent`

3. VM Info & Snapshot List (Read-Only)

Feature	Details
VM Info	Name, power state, guest OS, CPU, memory, IP, VMware Tools, disks, NICs
Snapshot List	List existing snapshots with name and creation time (no create/revert/delete)

4. Scheduled Scanning & Notifications

Feature	Details
Daemon	APScheduler-based, configurable interval (default 15 min)
Multi-target Scan	Sequentially scan all configured vCenter/ESXi targets
Scan Content	Alarms + Events + Host logs (hostd, vmkernel, vpxd)
Log Analysis	Regex pattern matching: error, fail, critical, panic, timeout
Webhook	Slack, Discord, or any HTTP endpoint

FORBIDDEN Operations — DO NOT EXIST IN CODEBASE

These operations cannot be performed with this skill — zero destructive code paths exist:

❌ vm power-on/off, vm reset, vm suspend
❌ vm create/delete/reconfigure
❌ vm snapshot-create/revert/delete
❌ vm clone/migrate

Direct users to VMware-AIops (clawhub install vmware-aiops) for these.

Safety Features

Feature	Details
Code-Level Isolation	Independent repository — zero destructive functions in codebase
Audit Trail	All queries logged to `~/.vmware-monitor/audit.log` (JSONL)
Password Protection	`.env` file loading with permission check (warn if not 600)
SSL Self-signed Support	`disableSslCertValidation` — only for ESXi hosts with self-signed certificates in isolated lab/home environments. Production environments should use CA-signed certificates with full TLS verification enabled.

Version Compatibility

vSphere Version	Support	Notes
8.0 / 8.0U1-U3	✅ Full	pyVmomi 8.0.3+
7.0 / 7.0U1-U3	✅ Full	All read-only APIs supported
6.7	✅ Compatible	Backward-compatible, tested
6.5	✅ Compatible	Backward-compatible, tested

pyVmomi auto-negotiates the API version during SOAP handshake — no manual configuration needed.

Supported AI Platforms

Platform	Status	Config File
Claude Code	✅ Native Skill	`plugins/.../SKILL.md`
Gemini CLI	✅ Extension	`gemini-extension/GEMINI.md`
OpenAI Codex CLI	✅ Skill + AGENTS.md	`codex-skill/AGENTS.md`
Aider	✅ Conventions	`codex-skill/AGENTS.md`
Continue CLI	✅ Rules	`codex-skill/AGENTS.md`
Trae IDE	✅ Rules	`trae-rules/project_rules.md`
Kimi Code CLI	✅ Skill	`kimi-skill/SKILL.md`
MCP Server	✅ MCP Protocol	`mcp_server/`
Python CLI	✅ Standalone	N/A

MCP Server — Local Agent Compatibility

The MCP server works with any MCP-compatible agent via stdio transport. All 8 tools are read-only. Config templates in examples/mcp-configs/:

Agent	Local Models	Config Template
Goose (Block)	✅ Ollama, LM Studio	`goose.json`
LocalCowork (Liquid AI)	✅ Fully offline	`localcowork.json`
mcp-agent (LastMile AI)	✅ Ollama, vLLM	`mcp-agent.yaml`
VS Code Copilot	—	`vscode-copilot.json`
Cursor	—	`cursor.json`
Continue	✅ Ollama	`continue.yaml`
Claude Code	—	`claude-code.json`

# Example: Aider + Ollama (fully local, no cloud API)
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b

CLI Reference

# Diagnostics
vmware-monitor doctor [--skip-auth]

# MCP Config Generator
vmware-monitor mcp-config generate --agent <goose|cursor|claude-code|continue|vscode-copilot|localcowork|mcp-agent>
vmware-monitor mcp-config list

# Inventory
vmware-monitor inventory vms [--target <name>] [--limit <n>] [--sort-by name|cpu|memory_mb|power_state] [--power-state poweredOn|poweredOff]
vmware-monitor inventory hosts [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor inventory datastores [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor inventory clusters [--target <name>]

# Health
vmware-monitor health alarms [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor health events [--hours 24] [--severity warning]

# VM Info (read-only)
vmware-monitor vm info <vm-name>
vmware-monitor vm snapshot-list <vm-name>

# Scanning & Daemon
vmware-monitor scan now [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor daemon start
vmware-monitor daemon stop
vmware-monitor daemon status

Setup

# 1. Install via uv (recommended) or pip
uv tool install vmware-monitor
# Or: pip install vmware-monitor

# 2. Configure
mkdir -p ~/.vmware-monitor
vmware-monitor init  # generates config.yaml and .env templates
chmod 600 ~/.vmware-monitor/.env
# Edit ~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml and .env with your target details

Development Install

git clone https://github.com/zw008/VMware-Monitor.git
cd VMware-Monitor
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .

Security

Read-Only by Design: This is an independent repository with zero destructive code paths. No power off, delete, create, reconfigure, or migrate functions exist in the codebase.
Source Code: Fully open source at github.com/zw008/VMware-Monitor. The uv installer (vmware-monitor) installs from this repository. We recommend reviewing the source code and commit history before deploying in production.
TLS Verification: Enabled by default. The disableSslCertValidation option exists solely for ESXi hosts using self-signed certificates (common in home labs). In production, always use CA-signed certificates with full TLS verification.
Config File Contents: ~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml stores target hostnames, ports, and a reference to the .env file. It does not contain passwords or tokens. All secrets (vCenter username/password) are stored exclusively in ~/.vmware-monitor/.env (chmod 600), loaded via python-dotenv. We recommend using a least-privilege read-only vCenter service account.
Webhook Data Scope: Webhook notifications are disabled by default. When enabled, they send monitoring summaries (alarm counts, event types, host status) to user-configured URLs only (Slack, Discord, or any HTTP endpoint you control). No data is sent to third-party services. Webhook payloads contain no credentials, IPs, or personally identifiable information — only aggregated alert metadata.
Prompt Injection Protection: All vSphere-sourced content (event messages, host logs) is truncated, stripped of control characters, and wrapped in boundary markers ([VSPHERE_EVENT]/[VSPHERE_HOST_LOG]) before output to prevent prompt injection when consumed by LLM agents.

License

MIT

VMware Monitor

Description