backrest-mcp-server

MCP server for Backrest — a web UI and orchestrator for restic backups.

Tools

• trigger-backup — Trigger a backup plan by plan ID
• get-operations — Fetch operation history, optionally filtered by plan or repo

Configuration

Set via environment variables in your Claude Desktop MCP config:

Variable	Default	Description
BACKREST_URL	http://localhost:9898	Backrest base URL
BACKREST_USERNAME	(empty)	Username for basic auth (if auth is enabled)
BACKREST_PASSWORD	(empty)	Password for basic auth

A .env.example template is included in the repo root.

TLS

If connecting to an HTTPS endpoint with a private or self-signed CA, set:

NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/path/to/ca.crt

Do not use NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 — that disables all certificate verification globally.

Claude Desktop Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "backrest": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/backrest-mcp-server/build/src/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "BACKREST_URL": "http://localhost:9898",
        "BACKREST_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "BACKREST_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Docker users, set BACKREST_URL to the container's address (e.g. http://192.168.1.x:9898).

If Backrest auth is disabled, omit BACKREST_USERNAME and BACKREST_PASSWORD.

Build

pnpm install
pnpm run build