FortiGate Operations — the device plane

MCP Server

• Server: fortinet-mcp (NetClaw-authored, spec 080 / roadmap R3)
• Command: $FORTINET_MCP_CMD
• Transport: stdio · FortiOS REST API, bearer token
• Requires: FORTIGATE_HOST, FORTIGATE_API_TOKEN
• Mode: read-only — this skill has no write path at all

The distinction this skill exists to protect

A FortiGate knows what it is doing. It does not know what it was supposed to do.

If a device does not answer, this skill reports that it did not answer. It never
substitutes FortiManager's intended configuration as though it were observed
state — that would turn "the box is unreachable" into a confident, wrong
description of a box nobody can see.

Tools (6, all read-only)

Phase 1 and phase 2 are reported separately, always

This is the single most important behaviour here.

A tunnel with phase 1 up and phase 2 down is neither "up" nor "down". It is a
specific and common fault — usually a proxy-ID or selector mismatch — where IKE
negotiated fine and no traffic can actually pass. Collapsing the two into one
status field destroys the only signal that distinguishes it from a healthy tunnel
or a dead one.

fgt_vpn_tunnels therefore returns phase1_status, phase2_status, and
phase2_selectors[] per selector pair, because one down selector out of five is
still a fault worth naming.

Every response carries its plane and scope

{ "plane": "device", "scope": {"device": "FGVMEVS9GWUAOMBD", "vdom": "root"},
  "source": "...", "outcome": "ok", "data": {...}, "notes": [] }

Scope is mandatory. A figure without its VDOM is ambiguous on a multi-VDOM unit,
so a response that cannot name its scope is returned as an error rather than as an
unqualified result.

Workflow: "is the tunnel up?"

1. fgt_vpn_tunnels — read both phases.
2. Phase 1 down → IKE/peer/PSK/routing problem. Check fgt_get_routes for a path
   to the remote gateway.
3. Phase 1 up, phase 2 down → selector/proxy-ID mismatch. Inspect
   phase2_selectors[] for which pair failed.
4. Both up but no traffic → not a tunnel problem. Move to policy
   (fgt_get_policies) or to the analyzer plane for whether anything matched.

Workflow: out-of-band change detection

1. fgt_compare_with_manager with the ADOM and package.
2. only_in_device → rules on the box that are absent from the policy package.
   Someone changed the firewall directly. This is the highest-value finding this
   skill produces and it is invisible from either plane alone.
3. only_in_manager → package not installed since those rules were added.
4. If either plane is unreachable, the tool refuses to compare and names the plane
   that failed. A half-comparison would be worse than none.

Notes on evaluation-licensed labs

A FortiGate-VM evaluation licence caps the unit at 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 3 interfaces,
3 routes and 3 firewall policies. A small ruleset on such a device is a lab limit,
not the estate's real posture — fgt_get_policies says so in its notes.

An unlicensed FortiGate refuses REST authentication entirely: every request
returns 401 regardless of token validity, trusthost, or admin profile. If every call
fails with auth_expired, check get system status for License Status: Valid
before suspecting the token.

Integration with other skills

Important rules

• Read-only. This skill cannot change a FortiGate. Policy changes go through
  fortimanager-ops and its two gates.
• Never report phase 1 and phase 2 as one status.
• Never fill an unreachable device's silence with manager data.
• Always carry the VDOM.