The text drawing tool was MCP-only; the copilot needs the same
capability and its area-annotation helper carried the same Web UI
compat bugs. Split into three layers with a single implementation:
- gns3server/utils/drawings.py: pure SVG builders (text, rectangle,
ellipse) with full input validation (ValueError) — the Web UI
format knowledge lives in core utils next to picture.py
- api_handlers.py: shared REST handlers (create_text_drawing_handler
moved here, create_rectangle/ellipse_drawing_handler added) — the
layer both consumers already share
- thin shells: MCP tools (drawing_create_text unchanged, plus new
drawing_create_rectangle/_ellipse) and three LangChain tools
(tools_v2/gns3_create_drawing.py) registered in both copilot mode
lists
Shape builder details:
- rectangle: solid fill or "none", stroke block emitted only when a
stroke is given, rx corner radius, dasharray validated against the
Web UI's Qt remap table (QtDasharrayFixer rewrites those patterns)
- ellipse: bounding-box API; cx/cy derived as offsets inside the
drawing box (the Web UI treats them as box-relative, not canvas
coordinates); odd sizes round down and the actual size is returned
gns3_drawing_utils now delegates to the shared builders, fixing the
px-blind sizing, the ignored text-anchor/x/y centering and the
missing XML escaping in the area-annotation path.
The Web UI re-parses drawing SVG into its own element model instead of
rendering it raw, which makes hand-assembled SVG error-prone for LLM
callers. The new tool assembles the SVG server-side, mirroring what the
Web UI itself serializes for text drawings:
- XML-escaped text content, validated color (#RGB/#RGBA/#RRGGBB/
#RRGGBBAA) and font family (attribute-safe charset)
- multi-line support: literal newlines render as stacked lines in the
Web UI (tspan split), width/height computed from the longest line
- pt-aware sizing: the Web UI renders font-size in pt (1pt = 4/3 px),
so width uses a 0.8/char factor for monospace (1.0 proportional) and
line height 1.9 x font_size, instead of the px-based 0.62 estimate
- ET.fromstring pre-check so bad input fails loudly instead of hitting
the controller's silent drop of unparseable 500+ char SVG
- computed width/height/line_height returned for label layout
Also correct the raw drawing_create docstring: root width/height are
required (the parser reads them for the selection box), x/y on rect are
ignored, <g> is unsupported, <path> is re-interpreted as a freehand
curve, and the old examples lacked the mandatory root dimensions.
The kernel's correlated-random generator (get_crandom, sch_netem.c) truncates
instead of wrapping, starving both edges of the stationary distribution: an
event threshold below the correlation value is almost never reached. Measured
with stock iproute2 on this kernel — uBridge's netlink encoding is identical:
loss 1% + correl 25% drops nothing over 2000 pings (expected ~2%), 10%/25%
measures ~1.8% one way, only the 50% symmetry point survives. duplicate and
reorder correl share the same comparison structure and collapse the same way;
gemodel is immune (Markov chain over plain uniform draws) and is the honest
tool for bursty loss at a chosen mean rate.
Documented in the packet-filters correlation-bias bullet, and surfaced in the
two machine-facing descriptions (MCP link_update packet_loss note, controller
filter schema) so agents and clients stop walking into the trap.
The rebase onto upstream 3.1 (mypy + ruff I001/F401 waves) left the tree
short of the newly enforced baselines in three ways:
* contextlib / UbridgeError imports dropped as false duplicates during
conflict resolution left NameErrors in iou_vm and qemu_vm (F821);
the Dynamips router grabbed the compute-level NIOTAP instead of the
hypervisor one, breaking TAP anchoring (test failure).
* unused imports (KERNEL_UNSUPPORTED_FILTERS, UbridgeError, List) and
unsorted blocks left behind where the stack's later commits moved the
last usage elsewhere — ruff I001/F401/RUF022 now enforce these.
* mypy, now baseline-free: cache dict annotations in tc_probe, the
locators candidate list, the resolved-params None branch in the MCP
runner, and validate_bpf_syntax keeps the upstream Dict[str, Any]
return (the strict Optional[str] was wrong for the "valid" bool entry).
The e2e raw-frame probe resolves its compiler via shutil.which (S607)
and zips with strict= (B905); the remaining subprocess call is S603 by
nature and gets a per-file ignore like other test files.
ruff check/format clean, mypy at upstream parity (no new errors),
full unit suite 2167 passed.
Kernel eligibility becomes "both endpoints on one compute, each able to
anchor": Docker always (adapters are born as veth pairs), QEMU when that
compute's uBridge can create the persistent TAPs its adapters anchor on. The
question is asked per compute, because the link needs both ends anchored --
so a mixed or half-upgraded deployment degrades to the relay instead of
failing an attach.
probe_tap_support() creates and deletes one throwaway persistent TAP through a
scratch uBridge, cached by binary identity like the tc report; /capabilities
exposes `ubridge_tap` (absent = unknown, which keeps links on the relay).
The compute route for a QEMU adapter NIO took UDPNIO only, so a kernel link
was rejected with 422: its body and response now accept
Union[UDPNIO, BridgeNIO] exactly like Docker's.
Stale "Docker-to-Docker" wording in the config, link and MCP descriptions now
talks about anchors, and docs/features/qemu-kernel-datapath.md documents the
datapath -- verified end-to-end on a real instance: 32/32 kernel-datapath
checks and 29/29 on the relay variant.
Three fixes from live-calibrating the kernel impairment filters on an
isolated instance (Docker-to-Docker veth link, per-sequence evidence):
- update_filters skipped an unchanged filters dict as a no-op, so a
one-shot window_drop outage that had already passed could never be
re-armed: re-applying the same values produced no datapath command at
all. A PUT still carrying window_drop now reconciles, restarting the
schedule from the apply as documented. Measured: identical re-apply
moves the outage window from seq 50-70 to 70-91 (arm at +8s of the
new apply).
- gemodel parameter semantics were documented backwards in the
validation rules, available_filters, the MCP/copilot descriptions and
the feature docs. Measured against the kernel (per-direction counters,
offered = sent + dropped): p is the good-to-bad transition chance, r
the bad-to-good transition, 1-h the loss chance in the bad state (the
good state loses nothing) - mean one-way loss p/(p+r)*(1-h), e.g.
[10,30,100] -> 24.8%/25.7% measured vs 25% predicted, [5,45,100] ->
10.8% both ways vs 10%.
- kernel_datapath was silently stripped from every REST/MCP link payload
by the response model (LinkBase carried no such field), so clients
could not tell a kernel link from a relay one.
Also verified on the same setup: the 3-argument window_drop form works
exactly as specified ([3000,5000,100] -> a single seq 31-55 outage,
[20000,6000,100] -> seq 115-144), and both generations of the command
builder emit the parameters unpadded.
Adds an API test for the field and controller tests for the no-op skip
and the window_drop re-arm exemption.
LLM agents transcribe UUIDs unreliably — a 2-character slip invents an
id that never existed and is invisible to the eye. Tool parameters now
accept names wherever the server guarantees uniqueness: project names
among live projects, node names within a project. Links, drawings,
appliances and snapshots have no names and stay UUID-only.
Resolution sits in the single dispatch choke point (_run_handler_sync):
UUID-shaped values pass through untouched, names resolve with one list
call, and an unknown name fails fast listing the known names instead of
a confusing downstream 404. As a backstop for residual UUID typos,
error replies carrying "<UUID> doesn't exist" are matched against the
in-scope ids; a single candidate within edit distance 2 earns a
"Did you mean ...?" hint.
link_update, link_available_filters and the copilot packet-filter tool
still advertised the pre-kernel-datapath five types. List the full
thirteen with positional parameter formats, ranges and kernel-only
marking, point at link_available_filters as the per-link authority
(topology + compute capability gated), and document window_drop's
apply-relative schedule restart. Also add kernel_datapath to the link
field lists.
Description-only: handlers pass filters through unchanged.
The tool descriptions still advertised the removed "short-lived JWT"
and gave no guidance against URL reconstruction. Align them with
node_console's wording: run the returned curl_command verbatim, never
rebuild the URL or copy the ticket by hand, re-call the tool once the
10-minute ticket has expired.
link_capture_download and get_symbol embedded a 10-min JWT in the
Authorization header of the curl command they return; LLM clients
retyping that command corrupted the long token — the same failure
class as the console WebSocket URLs fixed in the previous commit.
Generalize the ticket store (console_tickets.py -> access_tickets.py,
ConsoleTicketService -> AccessTicketService): a ticket now binds to
either a node's console endpoints (WebSocket, matched against route
path params) or one exact REST resource path (capture file, symbol
image). The two binding modes are isolated — a node-bound ticket
cannot authenticate a REST resource and vice versa.
get_user_from_token redeems path-bound tickets through the existing
token parameter / Bearer header, matched exactly against
request.url.path, then reuses the shared user lookup and token_version
revocation checks. Download URLs embed ?token=<ticket> and the curl
commands no longer carry a Bearer header.
LLM clients transcribing the console WebSocket URL into shell commands
reliably corrupted the ~200-char JWT embedded in it (dropped header
segment -> "MissingAlgorithmError: Missing 'alg' value in header" on
every connection attempt). The node_console tool now mints a short
random ticket ("gns3t_" + 16 urlsafe chars, 10 min TTL, multi-use)
stored server-side and bound to the node's console endpoints:
- new ConsoleTicketService (gns3server/services/console_tickets.py),
in-memory store with lazy expiry sweeps
- get_current_active_user_from_websocket redeems tickets through the
existing "token" query parameter, gated on websocket.path_params so a
ticket only authenticates the console/ws and console/vnc routes of
the node it was minted for; the JWT path is unchanged
- redemption reuses the existing user lookup, token_version revocation
and is_active checks, so logging out invalidates outstanding tickets
- vnc_url no longer embeds the full session JWT
- the tool docstring now tells clients to run the returned command
verbatim instead of reconstructing the URL
The compute_get/compute_images MCP tools typed compute_id as a UUID, so
passing 'local' (the actual id of the built-in compute, which the
compute_images description itself pointed to) was rejected by schema
validation. Both tools now take a string defaulting to 'local', and the
compute_get REST route resolves 'local' through the controller since the
local compute has no database entry.
The device tools reported failures in three shapes: topology-level
entries with only an error key, per-device entries with status 'error'
plus the reason under output (VPCS tool only), and raw exceptions
leaking out of template rendering. Every in-band error entry now
carries status 'failed' and an error message, and invalid Jinja2
templates are reported in-band instead of escaping the handler.
VPCS syntax typed into another node's console is silently discarded
(IOS answers % Invalid input) while the tool still reports success.
get_device_ports_from_topology now carries the GNS3 node type through
to callers, and VPCSCommands fails device preparation with a per-device
error unless the node type is vpcs.
install_appliances_from_image relied on the name+version pair check in
TemplatesService, so the same appliance reached through a second image
(the CSR1000v case) created a second template sharing the name. The auto
path now skips when any template with the same name exists, whatever the
version, and returns a manifest of created and skipped candidates;
POST /images/install replies 200 with that manifest instead of an empty
204, and the image_install MCP tool surfaces it.
POST /appliances/{id}/install replied 204 with an empty body, so the MCP
appliance_install tool crashed with 'Expecting value: line 1 column 1'
while the template had actually been created. The route now returns the
created template (201, response_model=schemas.Template), _create_template
propagates it, and the MCP handler parses the body defensively so an
empty reply degrades to a plain success message.
The controller assigns default names (R-1, R-2, ...) and console ports
in request arrival order. A parallel batch fan-out lets thread scheduling
decide that order, so the first submitted node could end up as R-2.
Batches that rely on default naming (any node without a name) are now
created sequentially; batches with explicit names stay parallel. The
node_create tool description documents the ordering semantics and tells
callers to correlate nodes by node_id.
Per-link markers on serial links need the WAN encapsulation (e.g.
DLT_C_HDLC) so the BPF compiles against the right link layer — the
REST API already accepts it, but the MCP tool never forwarded it.
Create passes it through; update ignores it (changing it would
invalidate the capture file), matching the REST schema semantics.
Symbol tools (symbol_list/get/dimensions/defaults/upload/delete) require
a vision-capable model to be genuinely useful — they shuttle SVG
content, which a text-only LLM cannot inspect or produce. The tool
registrations and imports are commented out (handlers stay in
symbols.py); revisit when multimodal support is worked out.
Loading a .gns3 placed directly in the projects root registered the
shared projects directory as the project path (load_project derives
the path from the file's parent directory). Deleting such an entry ran
rmtree on the projects directory itself, wiping every project until a
root-owned file stopped it, and left a zombie entry in the controller.
Three layers of protection:
- Controller.load_project() refuses a .gns3 whose parent directory is
the projects directory; the normal subdirectory layout is unaffected
- the Project.path setter rejects the projects directory itself and
its ancestors, closing the same hole for POST/PUT with an explicit
path
- Project.delete() uses realpath + commonpath instead of commonprefix:
entries whose path is the projects root are refused, and sibling
directories sharing a string prefix (/srv/projects-evil vs
/srv/projects) are no longer treated as inside the projects dir
Also removes the project_load MCP tool: loading by raw server
filesystem path is a footgun for automated clients; projects can still
be opened by project_id via the remaining tools.
- Slim custom_gns3fy.py to connector-only Gns3Connector and rename to
connector.py; delete the unused Node/Link/Project dataclasses and
endpoint wrapper methods (~3000 lines)
- Move the MCP node/link handler implementations into
gns3_client/api_handlers.py as the shared REST client layer consumed
by both the MCP service and copilot tools; add available_filters
handler (exposed as link_available_filters MCP tool) and
build_gns3_ctx() for copilot callers
- Rewrite the tools_v2 node/link tools on top of the handlers: batch
lifecycle actions now run in parallel, node creation is a single
POST, project-wide status reads replace per-node GETs
- Port Project.nodes_inventory/links_summary aggregation into
project_inventory.py (output shape preserved) and rewrite the
topology reader / project info tools on it, dropping the unused
stats/snapshots/drawings calls
- Delete the dead mcp/nodes.py and mcp/links.py (NODE_TOOLS/LINK_TOOLS
had no consumers; __init__ imports handlers from api_handlers)
- Retarget mcp handler tests to patch api_handlers._get_connector and
replace test_custom_gns3fy.py with inventory contract tests
The MCP project_create tool has passed auto_close=False since 8f8abe410
(2026-06-13), but create_project_handler only forwarded {"name": name}
to the REST API — auto_close was silently dropped and the controller's
Project.__init__ default (True, unchanged since 2016) won. Every project
created via MCP since June has auto_close=true on disk and closes when
the last client disconnects.
- projects.py: forward auto_close when present in params
- test_handlers.py: assert the forwarded json_data (with and without
auto_close)
- test_tool_params.py: the tool/handler param consistency test never
actually checked anything — three blind spots now fixed:
1. dispatch is asyncio.to_thread(_run_handler_sync, ...) whose
node.func is an Attribute, not a Name — no call ever matched
2. tools that build 'params' as a variable before passing it were
skipped; now the initial dict literal is resolved (extra-passed
direction only)
3. tool functions are async defs (ast.AsyncFunctionDef) but the
enclosing-function lookup only matched ast.FunctionDef, so tool_name
was always None
Also: map the two marker handlers missing from HANDLER_FILES, skip
handlers that forward params.items() generically (wildcard), union
passed keys across multi-branch dispatches (node_create single/batch),
and drop two dead helpers.
Verified: full suite 1568 passed; reverting the handler fix turns both
test_tool_handler_param_consistency and test_create red.
MCP is an optional AI feature that already depends on
agent.gns3_copilot (Gns3Connector, nornir/netmiko tools) and whose
MCP_AVAILABLE feature flag lives in gns3server/agent. Moving it there
collocates all AI features under one tree and removes AI code from the
core REST routes.
- git mv gns3server/api/routes/mcp -> gns3server/agent/mcp (no content changes)
- api/server.py, core/tasks.py: update import paths
- tests: tests/api/routes/mcp -> tests/agent/mcp, rewrite patch BASE and
handler imports; fix MCP_DIR depth in test_tool_params.py
- agent/__init__.py: probe the SDK via importlib.import_module so the
top-level name "mcp" is not bound in the agent namespace (it would
shadow the new gns3server.agent.mcp subpackage and break
'from gns3server.agent import mcp')
- docs: update source file paths
Verified: full suite 1567 passed; 82 MCP tools registered, SSE mounted
at /v3/mcp/transport.
