Ansible DevTools Plugin

The Ansible DevTools Plugin packages the MCP server, language server, and 13 built-in skills into a single distributable unit that any Open Plugin-compatible host can install.

What’s included

Component	Description
MCP server	25+ tools for plugin search, documentation, task generation, scaffolding, and execution environment management
Language server	YAML completion, hover documentation, and diagnostics for Ansible files
13 skills	Guided workflows for task building, playbook analysis, collection discovery, and more

All servers are bundled as single-file Node.js scripts with zero runtime dependencies beyond Node.js 20+.

Plugin vs extension

If you use VS Code or Cursor with the Ansible extension, you already have all these capabilities plus the full IDE experience (tree views, webviews, language server integration, linting). The plugin is for agent-only workflows outside the extension.

Scenario	Use
Full IDE with tree views, webviews, linting	Install the VS Code extension
Agent-only (Cursor without extension, Claude Code, Codex)	Install the plugin
Terminal agent (Neovim, Windsurf, Zed)	Download standalone servers or use npx skills add

Installation

Cursor

/add-plugin ansible-devtools

Or browse cursor.com/marketplace and search for “ansible”.

Claude Code

# Add the marketplace source
claude plugin marketplace add ansible/vscode-ansible

# Install the plugin
claude plugin install ansible-devtools

For session-only testing:

claude --plugin-dir /path/to/plugin
claude --plugin-url https://url/to/ansible-devtools-plugin.zip

Codex

# Register the marketplace
codex plugins marketplace add ansible/vscode-ansible

# Install via TUI
codex  # then /plugins → select marketplace → install

Local testing

# Cursor — symlink to local plugins directory
ln -s /path/to/repo ~/.cursor/plugins/local/ansible-devtools

# Claude Code — load directly
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/repo

For development, build the servers first:

pnpm run build

The repo-root .mcp.json points to dist/mcp-server.js so the plugin loads from your local build.

Testing from CI artifacts

Every pull request produces a plugin zip as a CI artifact. To test a PR build:

Claude Code:

claude --plugin-url https://github.com/ansible/vscode-ansible/actions/runs/XXXXX/artifacts/plugin

Cursor:

1. Download the plugin artifact from the PR’s Actions tab
2. Unzip to ~/.cursor/plugins/local/ansible-devtools/
3. Run Developer: Reload Window

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20 (for the bundled servers)
• Python 3 with ansible-core installed (for plugin discovery, documentation, and linting)
• Optional: ansible-dev-tools for full scaffolding support via ansible-creator

How it works

The plugin follows the Open Plugin Specification v1.0.0:

ansible-devtools/
├── .plugin/plugin.json          # Vendor-neutral manifest
├── .cursor-plugin/plugin.json   # Cursor-preferred manifest
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json   # Claude Code-preferred manifest
├── skills/                      # 13 SKILL.md files (Agent Skills spec)
│   ├── build-task/SKILL.md
│   ├── explain-plugin/SKILL.md
│   └── ...
├── .mcp.json                    # MCP server configuration
├── .lsp.json                    # Language server configuration
└── servers/
    ├── mcp-server.js            # Bundled MCP server (950KB)
    └── language-server.js       # Bundled language server (1.3MB)

The host discovers skills at skills/*/SKILL.md, starts the MCP server from .mcp.json, and optionally starts the language server from .lsp.json. The ${PLUGIN_ROOT} placeholder resolves to the plugin’s install directory at runtime.