How to integrate Northflank MCP with Mastra AI

This guide walks you through connecting Northflank to Mastra AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Northflank agent that can deploy a new service to production, list all running deployments in staging, scale your web service to three instances through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI agent real control over a Northflank account through Composio's Northflank MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Northflank is a developer platform that automates and unifies application deployment across clouds. It lets teams deploy, scale, and manage workloads at any scale with minimal setup.

21 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Northflank to Mastra AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Northflank agent that can deploy a new service to production, list all running deployments in staging, scale your web service to three instances through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI agent real control over a Northflank account through Composio's Northflank MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Set up your environment so Mastra, OpenAI, and Composio work together
  • Create a Tool Router session in Composio that exposes Northflank tools
  • Connect Mastra's MCP client to the Composio generated MCP URL
  • Fetch Northflank tool definitions and attach them as a toolset
  • Build a Mastra agent that can reason, call tools, and return structured results
  • Run an interactive CLI where you can chat with your Northflank agent

What is Mastra AI?

Mastra AI is a TypeScript framework for building AI agents with tool support. It provides a clean API for creating agents that can use external services through MCP.

Key features include:

  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Toolsets: Organize tools into logical groups
  • Step Callbacks: Monitor and debug agent execution
  • OpenAI Integration: Works with OpenAI models via @ai-sdk/openai

What is the Northflank MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Northflank MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Northflank account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Northflank operations on your behalf.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Node.js 18 or higher
  • A Composio account with an active API key
  • An OpenAI API key
  • Basic familiarity with TypeScript
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key.
  • You need credits or a connected billing setup to use the models.
  • Store the key somewhere safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Go to Settings and copy your API key.
  • This key lets your Mastra agent talk to Composio and reach Northflank through MCP.
3

Install dependencies

bash
npm install @composio/core @mastra/core @mastra/mcp @ai-sdk/openai dotenv

Install the required packages.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core is the Composio SDK for creating MCP sessions
  • @mastra/core provides the Agent class
  • @mastra/mcp is Mastra's MCP client
  • @ai-sdk/openai is the model wrapper for OpenAI
  • dotenv loads environment variables from .env
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your requests to Composio
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID tells Composio which user this session belongs to
  • OPENAI_API_KEY lets the Mastra agent call OpenAI models
5

Import libraries and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey as string,
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv/config auto loads your .env so process.env.* is available
  • openai gives you a Mastra compatible model wrapper
  • Agent is the Mastra agent that will call tools and produce answers
  • MCPClient connects Mastra to your Composio MCP server
  • Composio is used to create a Tool Router session
6

Create a Tool Router session for Northflank

typescript
async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(
    composioUserID as string,
    {
      toolkits: ["northflank"],
    },
  );

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;
  console.log("Northflank MCP URL:", composioMCPUrl);
What's happening:
  • create spins up a short-lived MCP HTTP endpoint for this user
  • The toolkits array contains "northflank" for Northflank access
  • session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that Mastra's MCPClient will connect to
7

Configure Mastra MCP client and fetch tools

typescript
const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      nasdaq: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

console.log("Fetching MCP tools from Composio...");
const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();
console.log("Number of tools:", Object.keys(composioTools).length);
What's happening:
  • MCPClient takes an id for this client and a list of MCP servers
  • The headers property includes the x-api-key for authentication
  • getTools fetches the tool definitions exposed by the Northflank toolkit
8

Create the Mastra agent

typescript
const agent = new Agent({
    name: "northflank-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Northflank tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });
What's happening:
  • Agent is the core Mastra agent
  • name is just an identifier for logging and debugging
  • instructions guide the agent to use tools instead of only answering in natural language
  • model uses openai("gpt-5") to configure the underlying LLM
9

Set up interactive chat interface

typescript
let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n");

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();

rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({
    id: crypto.randomUUID(),
    role: "user",
    content: trimmedInput,
  });

  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const response = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: {
        northflank: composioTools,
      },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    const { text } = response;

    if (text && text.trim().length > 0) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
        messages.push({
          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
          role: "assistant",
          content: text,
        });
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nError:", error);
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    console.log("\nSession ended.");
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • messages keeps the full conversation history in Mastra's expected format
  • agent.generate runs the agent with conversation history and Northflank toolsets
  • maxSteps limits how many tool calls the agent can take in a single run
  • onStepFinish is a hook that prints intermediate steps for debugging

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Northflank and Mastra AI:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: composioAPIKey as string });

async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID as string, {
    toolkits: ["northflank"],
  });

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      northflank: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

  const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();

  const agent = new Agent({
    name: "northflank-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Northflank tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });

  let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (input: string) => {
    const trimmed = input.trim();
    if (["exit", "quit"].includes(trimmed.toLowerCase())) {
      rl.close();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "user", content: trimmed });

    const { text } = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: { northflank: composioTools },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    if (text) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
      messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "assistant", content: text });
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main();

Conclusion

You've built a Mastra AI agent that can interact with Northflank through Composio's Tool Router. You can extend this further by:
  • Adding other toolkits like Gmail, Slack, or GitHub
  • Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
  • Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Northflank action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create or Update Project

Tool to create a new project or update an existing project in Northflank (upsert operation).

Create or Update Secret

Tool to create or update a secret group in a Northflank project.

Create Project

Tool to create a new project in Northflank.

Create Secret

Tool to create a secret group in a Northflank project.

Delete Project

Tool to permanently delete a Northflank project and all associated resources.

Get DNS ID

Tool to retrieve the DNS identifier for the authenticated account.

Get Project

Tool to retrieve detailed information about a specific Northflank project.

Get Secret

Tool to retrieve a secret from a Northflank project including its contents.

Get Secret Details

Tool to view a secret with details about its linked addons from a Northflank project.

List Addon Types

Tool to retrieve information about available addon types in Northflank.

List Cloud Provider Node Types

Tool to retrieve supported cloud provider node types available on Northflank.

List Cloud Provider Regions

Tool to retrieve supported cloud provider regions available on Northflank.

List Pipelines

Tool to list all pipelines for a Northflank project.

List Plans

Tool to retrieve available billing/resource plans in Northflank.

List Projects

Tool to list all projects in your Northflank team with pagination support.

List Regions

Tool to retrieve available project regions in Northflank.

List Secrets

Tool to list all secrets belonging to a Northflank project.

List Services

Tool to list all services belonging to a Northflank project.

Patch Secret

Tool to partially update a secret group in a Northflank project.

Update Project

Tool to update a project in Northflank.

Update Secret

Tool to update a secret in a Northflank project.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Northflank MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Northflank tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Northflank and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Mastra AI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Northflank tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Northflank scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Northflank data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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