SonarQube Server-hosted

Install and configure the SonarQube MCP Server extension on SonarQube Server.

Overview

The SonarQube MCP Server can be installed as an extension on SonarQube Server. Once installed, SonarQube Server acts as a proxy and exposes the MCP server's tools at <YourSonarQubeURL>/mcp. Your AI agent connects to that single endpoint: no separate MCP server URL to manage.

If an administrator hasn't yet set up the MCP server on your SonarQube Server instance, start with Install the MCP server. Once it's running, see Connect your AI agent to configure your agent.

Note: The SonarQube Server MCP extension is available on all commercial editions: Developer, Enterprise, and Data Center Edition.

Note: If you use SonarQube for IDE, its AI Integrations setup workflow only configures a self-hosted MCP server. Once an administrator has installed the MCP server, follow the Connect your AI agent instructions on this page to connect to this Server-hosted MCP server instead.

Prerequisites

• SonarQube Server 2026.3 or later

Warning: Sonar Vortex's analysis and context features require file system access and don't work with the SonarQube Server-hosted MCP server. To set them up, the recommended methods are the SonarQube plugin or SonarQube CLI. See the Sonar Vortex analysis and Sonar Vortex context pages.

Install the MCP server

Once the SonarQube MCP Server extension is installed, SonarQube Server acts as a proxy and exposes the MCP server's tools at /mcp. Your AI coding agent connects to that single endpoint. There's no separate MCP server URL to manage.

Select the installation method that matches how you run SonarQube Server.

• Docker: see Install the MCP from Docker image. Covers Full Docker Compose (Developer and Enterprise edition), Full Docker Compose (Data Center edition), and Hybrid (SonarQube Server from ZIP, MCP as a Docker container).
• Kubernetes or OpenShift: see Install on Kubernetes or OpenShift or the Data Center edition variant.
• JAR: see Install the MCP from ZIP file.

Choose the right MCP version

The MCP version you need depends on your installation method, not only your SonarQube Server version:

• Docker (Full Docker Compose or Hybrid): use the 3-part MCP image tag built from your SonarQube Server's 2-part major.minor version, for example 2026.5.<YourLatestPatchVersion> for SonarQube Server 2026.5. This tag scheme is available starting with SonarQube Server 2026.5. If you run SonarQube Server 2026.4 or 2026.3, use the Compatibility table's version instead.
• Kubernetes or OpenShift: the Helm chart manages the MCP version for you; no manual version or tag is required.
• JAR: always use the exact MCP Server version from the Compatibility table.

In the MCP Docker tag (for example, 2026.5.<YourLatestPatchVersion>), <YourLatestPatchVersion> is a placeholder: find the newest compatible MCP patch release for that SonarQube Server line on the SonarSource MCP Docker registry and use its patch number. The MCP patch number doesn't need to match the SonarQube Server patch number, for example MCP 2026.5.1 with SonarQube Server 2026.5.0.

Install the MCP from Docker image

Prerequisites

• SonarQube Server 2026.3 or later
• Docker / Docker Compose
• Use the 3-part MCP image tag built from your SonarQube Server's 2-part major.minor version. Find all tags on the SonarSource MCP Docker registry. For example, use the 2026.5.<YourLatestPatchVersion> tag for SonarQube Server 2026.5. If you are running SonarQube Server 2026.4 or 2026.3, use the Compatibility table's version to find the correct MCP version.

Note: The examples below use Docker Compose. You can replace any of them with equivalent plain docker run commands if you prefer.

Option 1: Full Docker Compose (Developer and Enterprise edition)

Add an mcp service alongside your sonarqube service and pass the MCP connection properties as environment variables on the SonarQube Server container. The example below uses the Developer edition — replace the tag developer with enterprise to deploy the Enterprise edition instead.

See an example on GitHub.

services:
  sonarqube:
    image: sonarqube:${SONARQUBE_VERSION}
    hostname: sonarqube
    container_name: sonarqube
    read_only: true
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonar
      SONAR_MCP_ENABLED: "true"
      SONAR_MCP_SERVERURL: "http://mcp:8080"
      SONAR_MCP_HEALTHCHECKINTERVAL: "30"
    volumes:
      - sonarqube_data:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - sonarqube_extensions:/opt/sonarqube/extensions
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - sonarqube_temp:/opt/sonarqube/temp
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:size=256M,mode=1777
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -sf http://localhost:9000/api/system/status | grep -q '\"status\":\"UP\"'"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 10
      start_period: 120s
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
    networks:
      - sonarnet

  mcp:
    image: sonarsource/sonarqube-mcp:${MCP_VERSION:?Set MCP_VERSION to the MCP tag for your SonarQube Server version, see Prerequisites}
    hostname: mcp
    container_name: sonarqube-mcp
    depends_on:
      sonarqube:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      STORAGE_PATH: /data
      SONARQUBE_URL: http://sonarqube:9000
      SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST: mcp
      SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT: 8080
      SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT: http
    volumes:
      - mcp_data:/data
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    networks:
      - sonarnet

  db:
    image: postgres:18
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -d $${POSTGRES_DB} -U $${POSTGRES_USER}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    hostname: postgresql
    container_name: postgresql
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: sonar
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sonar
      POSTGRES_DB: sonar
    volumes:
      - postgresql:/var/lib/postgresql
    networks:
      - sonarnet

volumes:
  sonarqube_data:
  sonarqube_temp:
  sonarqube_extensions:
  sonarqube_logs:
  postgresql:
  mcp_data:

networks:
  sonarnet:
    driver: bridge

For SonarQube MCP environment variables, see the Configuration reference section.

MCP container environment variables:

Variable	Example	Description
STORAGE_PATH	/data	Writable directory for MCP logs, plugins, and temp files
SONARQUBE_URL	http://sonarqube:9000	Example URL of the SonarQube Server instance that the MCP server connects to
SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT	8080	Port the MCP server listens on
SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT	http	Transport mode

See also Environment variables.

Option 2: Full Docker Compose (Data Center edition)

See an example on GitHub.

services:
  sonarqube:
    deploy:
      replicas: 2
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -s http://localhost:9000/api/system/status | grep -q -e '"status":"UP"' -e '"status":"DB_MIGRATION_NEEDED"' -e '"status":"DB_MIGRATION_RUNNING"'
      interval: 25s
      timeout: 1s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 240s
    image: sonarqube:${SONARQUBE_VERSION}
    read_only: true
    depends_on:
      search-1:
        condition: service_healthy
      search-2:
        condition: service_healthy
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}
    cpus: 0.5
    mem_limit: 4096M
    mem_reservation: 4096M
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonar
      SONAR_WEB_PORT: 9000
      SONAR_CLUSTER_SEARCH_HOSTS: "search-1,search-2,search-3"
      SONAR_CLUSTER_HOSTS: "sonarqube"
      SONAR_CLUSTER_KUBERNETES: true
      SONAR_AUTH_JWTBASE64HS256SECRET: "dZ0EB0KxnF++nr5+4vfTCaun/eWbv6gOoXodiAMqcFo="
      SONAR_MCP_ENABLED: "true"
      SONAR_MCP_SERVERURL: "http://mcp:8080"
      SONAR_MCP_HEALTHCHECKINTERVAL: "30"
    volumes:
      - sonarqube_extensions:/opt/sonarqube/extensions
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - sonarqube_temp:/opt/sonarqube/temp
      - /opt/sonarqube/data

  search-1:
    image: sonarqube:${SONARQUBE_VERSION}
    read_only: true
    hostname: "search-1"
    cpus: 0.5
    mem_limit: 3072M
    mem_reservation: 3072M
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonar
      SONAR_CLUSTER_ES_HOSTS: "search-1,search-2,search-3"
      SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME: "search-1"
    volumes:
      - search_data-1:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - search_temp-1:/opt/sonarqube/temp
      - search_logs-1:/opt/sonarqube/logs
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:size=256M,mode=1777
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -s "http://$$SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME:9001/_cluster/health?wait_for_status=yellow&timeout=50s" | grep -q -e '"status":"green"' -e '"status":"yellow"'; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then exit 0; else exit 1; fi
      interval: 25s
      timeout: 1s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 55s

  search-2:
    image: sonarqube:${SONARQUBE_VERSION}
    read_only: true
    hostname: "search-2"
    cpus: 0.5
    mem_limit: 3072M
    mem_reservation: 3072M
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonar
      SONAR_CLUSTER_ES_HOSTS: "search-1,search-2,search-3"
      SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME: "search-2"
    volumes:
      - search_data-2:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - search_temp-2:/opt/sonarqube/temp
      - search_logs-2:/opt/sonarqube/logs
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:size=256M,mode=1777
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -s "http://$$SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME:9001/_cluster/health?wait_for_status=yellow&timeout=50s" | grep -q -e '"status":"green"' -e '"status":"yellow"'; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then exit 0; else exit 1; fi
      interval: 25s
      timeout: 1s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 55s

  search-3:
    image: sonarqube:${SONARQUBE_VERSION}
    read_only: true
    hostname: "search-3"
    cpus: 0.5
    mem_limit: 3072M
    mem_reservation: 3072M
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonar
      SONAR_CLUSTER_ES_HOSTS: "search-1,search-2,search-3"
      SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME: "search-3"
    volumes:
      - search_data-3:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - search_temp-3:/opt/sonarqube/temp
      - search_logs-3:/opt/sonarqube/logs
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:size=256M,mode=1777
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -s "http://$$SONAR_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME:9001/_cluster/health?wait_for_status=yellow&timeout=50s" | grep -q -e '"status":"green"' -e '"status":"yellow"'; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then exit 0; else exit 1; fi
      interval: 25s
      timeout: 1s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 55s

  db:
    image: postgres:18
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -d $${POSTGRES_DB} -U $${POSTGRES_USER}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: sonar
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sonar
      POSTGRES_DB: sonar
    volumes:
      - postgresql:/var/lib/postgresql

  mcp:
    image: sonarsource/sonarqube-mcp:${MCP_VERSION:?Set MCP_VERSION to the MCP tag for your SonarQube Server version, see Prerequisites}
    hostname: mcp
    container_name: sonarqube-mcp
    depends_on:
      sonarqube:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      STORAGE_PATH: /data
      SONARQUBE_URL: http://sonarqube:9000
      SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST: mcp
      SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT: 8080
      SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT: http
    volumes:
      - mcp_data:/data
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_TYPE:-ipv4}

networks:
  ipv4:
    driver: bridge
    enable_ipv6: false
  dual:
    driver: bridge
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "192.168.3.0/24"
          gateway: "192.168.3.1"
        - subnet: "2001:db8:3::/64"
          gateway: "2001:db8:3::1"

volumes:
  sonarqube_extensions:
  sonarqube_logs:
  sonarqube_temp:
  search_data-1:
  search_data-2:
  search_data-3:
  search_temp-1:
  search_temp-2:
  search_temp-3:
  search_logs-1:
  search_logs-2:
  search_logs-3:
  postgresql:
  mcp_data:

MCP container environment variables:

Variable	Example	Description
STORAGE_PATH	/data	Writable directory for MCP logs, plugins, and temp files
SONARQUBE_URL	http://sonarqube:9000	Example URL of the SonarQube Server instance that the MCP server connects to
SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT	8080	Port the MCP server listens on
SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT	http	Transport mode

Option 3: Hybrid (SonarQube Server from ZIP + MCP as Docker container)

Use this option when SonarQube Server is installed from a ZIP archive and you want to run the MCP server as a Docker container.

Step 1: Configure SonarQube Server

In conf/sonar.properties, set:

sonar.mcp.enabled=true
sonar.mcp.serverUrl=http://<YourMCPServerHostname>:8080
# Optional: sonar.mcp.healthCheckInterval=30

Then restart SonarQube Server for the changes to take effect.

Step 2: Start the MCP container

docker run -d \
  --name sonarqube-mcp \
  -e STORAGE_PATH=/data \
  -e SONARQUBE_URL=http://<YourSonarQubeHostname>:9000 \
  -e SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT=8080 \
  -e SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT=http \
  -v mcp_data:/data \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  sonarsource/sonarqube-mcp:${MCP_VERSION:?Set MCP_VERSION to the MCP tag for your SonarQube Server version, see Prerequisites}

Replace <YourSonarQubeHostname> with the hostname or IP address reachable from within the container.

Install on Kubernetes or OpenShift

See the SonarQube Server documentation for instructions to install SonarQube Server on Kubernetes or OpenShift.

1. Add the SonarQube Helm chart repository:

   helm repo add sonarqube https://SonarSource.github.io/helm-chart-sonarqube
   helm repo update

2. Enable MCP in your Helm values file. When mcp.enabled is set to true, the chart automatically deploys the MCP server as a separate pod alongside SonarQube and wires both services together via SONAR_MCP_ENABLED and SONAR_MCP_SERVERURL:

   mcp:
     enabled: true

   See the full list of mcp.* values in the SonarQube Helm chart README.
3. Deploy or upgrade your SonarQube Helm chart:

   helm upgrade --install -n sonarqube sonarqube sonarqube/sonarqube

Optional TLS encrypted communication

To enable an extra level of security, set mcp.tls.enabled to true. The MCP server starts in HTTPS mode using the keystore from mcp.tls.keystoreSecretName. Application nodes connect to it over https://.

If the keystore uses a self-signed certificate, SonarQube's JVM will reject the connection unless the CA certificate is trusted. Use the caCerts feature to import it into SonarQube's JVM truststore:

1. Create a Secret containing the CA certificate in PEM format:

   kubectl create secret generic mcp-ca-cert \
     --from-file=mcp-ca.crt=/path/to/ca.pem \
     -n <YourNamespace>

2. Reference it in your values:

   mcp:
     tls:
       enabled: true
       keystoreSecretName: mcp-keystore-secret
       keystoreSecretKey: keystore.p12
       passwordSecretName: mcp-keystore-password
       passwordSecretKey: password
       keystoreType: PKCS12
   
   caCerts:
     enabled: true
     secret: mcp-ca-cert

Install on Kubernetes or OpenShift for Data Center edition

See the SonarQube Server documentation for instructions to install SonarQube Server on Kubernetes or OpenShift for Data Center edition.

1. Add the SonarQube Helm chart repository:

   helm repo add sonarqube https://SonarSource.github.io/helm-chart-sonarqube
   helm repo update

2. Enable MCP in your Helm values file. When mcp.enabled is set to true, the chart automatically deploys the MCP server as a separate pod alongside SonarQube and wires both services together via SONAR_MCP_ENABLED and SONAR_MCP_SERVERURL:

   mcp:
     enabled: true

   See the full list of mcp.* values in the SonarQube DCE Helm chart README.
3. Deploy or upgrade your SonarQube DCE Helm chart:

   helm upgrade --install -n sonarqube sonarqube sonarqube/sonarqube-dce

Optional TLS encrypted communication

To enable an extra level of security, set mcp.tls.enabled to true. The MCP server starts in HTTPS mode using the keystore from mcp.tls.keystoreSecretName. Application nodes connect to it over https://.

If the keystore uses a self-signed certificate, SonarQube's JVM will reject the connection unless the CA certificate is trusted. Use the caCerts feature to import it into SonarQube's JVM truststore:

1. Create a Secret containing the CA certificate in PEM format:

   kubectl create secret generic mcp-ca-cert \
     --from-file=mcp-ca.crt=/path/to/ca.pem \
     -n <YourNamespace>

2. Reference it in your values:

   mcp:
     tls:
       enabled: true
       keystoreSecretName: mcp-keystore-secret
       keystoreSecretKey: keystore.p12
       passwordSecretName: mcp-keystore-password
       passwordSecretKey: password
       keystoreType: PKCS12
   
   caCerts:
     enabled: true
     secret: mcp-ca-cert

Install the MCP from ZIP file

Prerequisites

• SonarQube Server 2026.3 or later
• JDK 21 or later (required to run the MCP server JAR)

Compatibility

SonarQube Server version	Compatible MCP Server version
2026.5	1.27.0.4335
2026.4	1.22.0.3040
2026.3	1.18.1.2664

Always set MCP_VERSION to the full 4-part version from the compatibility matrix (for example, use 1.27.0.4335 with SonarQube Server 2026.5).

Configure MCP properties in your SonarQube Server instance

In your conf/sonar.properties file, set the following properties:

• sonar.mcp.enabled: enables or disables the MCP proxy (default: true)
• sonar.mcp.serverUrl: the URL where the MCP server will be running
• sonar.mcp.healthCheckInterval (optional): health check interval (default: 30s)

Then restart SonarQube for the changes to take effect.

Find the full list of available properties in the Configuration reference section.

Start the MCP server

Step 1: Download the JAR

Download the MCP server JAR. Check the compatible version for your SonarQube Server version in the Compatibility table. All versions of the SonarQube MCP Server are available on the binaries page, or add your version into the code sample below to download directly:

https://binaries.sonarsource.com/Distribution/sonarqube-mcp-server/sonarqube-mcp-server-<YourMCPServerVersion>.jar

Step 2: Create a storage directory

The MCP server needs a writable directory to store its files (logs, plugins, tmp, etc.):

mkdir -p ~/.sonarqube-mcp-storage

Step 3: Set environment variables

See the Environment variables page if needed.

# Storage directory created in step 2
export STORAGE_PATH="$HOME/.sonarqube-mcp-storage"

# SonarQube Server URL
export SONARQUBE_URL="http://localhost:9000"

# Transport mode for the MCP server
export SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT="http"

# Host the MCP server binds to: keep 127.0.0.1 for local use
export SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST="127.0.0.1"

# Port for the MCP HTTP server (default: 8080, range: 1024–65535)
export SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT="8080"

Step 4: Run the MCP server

java -jar /absolute/path/to/sonarqube-mcp-server-<YourMCPServerVersion>.jar

Optional: Script for steps 1–4

Group steps 1–4 in a script named run-mcp-server.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# --- Fill in these values before running ---
MCP_VERSION=""                        # required: MCP server version, e.g. 1.18.1.2664
STORAGE_PATH=""                       # required: writable storage directory, e.g. $HOME/.sonarqube-mcp-storage
SONARQUBE_URL=""                      # required: SonarQube Server URL, e.g. http://localhost:9000
SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT="http"            # default: http
SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST="127.0.0.1"       # default: 127.0.0.1
SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT="8080"            # default: 8080
# -------------------------------------------

export STORAGE_PATH="${STORAGE_PATH}"
mkdir -p "$STORAGE_PATH"

export SONARQUBE_URL="${SONARQUBE_URL}"
export SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT="${SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT}"
export SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST="${SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST}"
export SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT="${SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT}"

JAR_NAME="sonarqube-mcp-server-${MCP_VERSION}.jar"
MCP_JAR_URL="https://binaries.sonarsource.com/Distribution/sonarqube-mcp-server/${JAR_NAME}"

echo "Downloading SonarQube MCP Server ${MCP_VERSION}..."
curl -fL "$MCP_JAR_URL" -o "$JAR_NAME"

echo "Starting SonarQube MCP Server from $JAR_NAME"
echo "HTTP endpoint: http://$SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST:$SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT/mcp"

java -jar "$JAR_NAME"

Then make the script executable and run it:

chmod +x run-mcp-server.sh
./run-mcp-server.sh

Step 5: Run as a service (optional)

On Linux with systemd

Install the MCP server as a service on a Unix system using systemd; you cannot run it as root. To install using systemd, create a dedicated account for running the MCP server. Here's an example:

• The Java Virtual Machine is installed in /opt/java/
• The MCP server JAR has been downloaded into /opt/sonarqube-mcp/

Then create the file /etc/systemd/system/sonarqube-mcp.service based on the following:

[Unit]
Description=SonarQube MCP Server
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=sonarqube
Group=sonarqube
PermissionsStartOnly=true
Environment=STORAGE_PATH=/home/sonarqube/.sonarqube-mcp-storage
Environment=SONARQUBE_URL=http://localhost:9000
Environment=SONARQUBE_TRANSPORT=http
Environment=SONARQUBE_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1
Environment=SONARQUBE_HTTP_PORT=8080
ExecStart=/opt/java/bin/java -jar /opt/sonarqube-mcp/sonarqube-mcp-server-<YourMCPServerVersion>.jar
StandardOutput=journal
LimitNOFILE=65536
TimeoutStartSec=5
Restart=always
SuccessExitStatus=143

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Note:

• Because the sonarqube-mcp-server jar name ends with the version of the MCP server, you will need to adjust the ExecStart command accordingly on install and at each upgrade.
• All MCP server directories should be owned by the sonarqube user.
• If you have multiple Java versions, you will need to modify the java path in the ExecStart command. This also means SONAR_JAVA_PATH will not work with the MCP server running as a service.

Once your sonarqube-mcp.service file is created and properly configured, run:

sudo systemctl enable sonarqube-mcp.service
sudo systemctl start sonarqube-mcp.service

On Windows

Use the Windows Service Control Manager or a tool such as NSSM to register the MCP server JAR as a Windows service. Set the environment variables from Step 3 in the service configuration.

Configuration reference

The following properties configure the MCP proxy on SonarQube Server. Set them in conf/sonar.properties or as environment variables on the SonarQube container.

System property (sonar property and ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE)	Description
sonar.mcp.enabled SONAR_MCP_ENABLED	Enables or disables the MCP proxy. (default: true)
sonar.mcp.serverUrl SONAR_MCP_SERVERURL	The URL where the MCP server will be running.
sonar.mcp.healthCheckInterval SONAR_MCP_HEALTHCHECKINTERVAL	Health check interval. (default: 30s) (optional)

Connect your AI agent

Once the MCP server extension is running, configure your AI agent to connect to it.

Step 1: Generate a user token

In SonarQube Server, go to My Account > Security and generate a user token.

Step 2: Configure your agent

Use the official SonarQube MCP Server configuration generator to get a configuration snippet for your setup:

1. Identify your target MCP client.
2. Find your environment variables.

   • Select SonarQube Server as your instance.
   • Use environment variable substitution to pass your token, or enter your SonarQube Server user token directly in the User token (optional) field.
3. Choose a hosting method:

   • Select Remote server (HTTP).
   • Fill the full server URL with https://<YourSonarQubeURL>/mcp. Don't add a trailing slash.
4. Copy the configuration and paste it into your terminal.

   • Optional: To make the MCP server available globally and not only for the repo where the command has been run, append --scope user to your CLI command.
   • Optional: Verify that the SonarQube entry has been added to your agent configuration file with your user token and the new URL.
5. Restart your agent after saving the configuration and run /mcp to verify it's working.

Check the status

After installation, verify the extension is running correctly. In SonarQube Server 2026.5 and later, go to Administration > System > Agentic Containers > MCP and check the Enabled and Healthy statuses. In earlier versions, go to Administration > System > System Info > MCP.