Lens tools

Lens premium subscription feature. See details on Lens Pricing.

Besides the Kubernetes tools and Prometheus tools, the Lens MCP Server offers the same Lens tools as Ask AI. With them, your AI tool works in Lens K8S IDE itself: it opens resources and dock tabs, manages port forwards, reads costs, and drives Lens.

Your MCP client lists the tools by name. Each description starts with Lens:, followed by what the tool does, its input, and its output. Your AI tool calls them for you. Ask it in natural language, for example "Open the logs of the crashing pod in Lens."

Extensions can add tools too. Their names start with the extension package, for example acme-backups-run-backup-now for the run-backup-now tool of the @acme/backups extension.

Tools that need a feature in the cluster

Your client lists vulnerability-summary while your subscription includes Security Center. A call works only on a cluster that runs the Trivy Operator. On another cluster, the call fails and the error says why.

The video below shows Claude Code, connected through the Lens MCP Server, reading memory use in a namespace, opening a Deployment in Lens, and opening the Cost Monitoring dashboard:

What changes and what waits for you

Your AI tool prepares changes to your cluster, and you decide whether to apply them. For example, ask "Scale the web deployment to 3 replicas". Your AI tool calls open-resource-editor, and Lens opens the Deployment in the YAML editor with replicas: 3 already in it. Lens changes nothing in the cluster until you select Save in the editor toolbar.

These tools open an editor, a dialog, or a terminal. Lens applies the change only when you save it, confirm it, or run it:

• open-create-resource and open-resource-editor: you review the YAML, then create or save.
• open-helm-install, open-helm-upgrade, open-helm-rollback-dialog, and open-port-forward-dialog: you confirm the dialog.
• type-in-lens-terminal: you press Enter.
• install-extension: you confirm the install.

These tools change Lens itself without asking:

Tool	What it changes
start-port-forward, stop-port-forward	Port forwards
set-cost-rate, select-cost-source, refresh-azure-prices	The cost settings of a cluster
pin-cluster-to-hotbar, unpin-cluster-from-hotbar	The hotbar
run-command	Runs a command palette command. The built-in commands open views, except Shell: install 'lens' command in PATH
relaunch-to-update	Quits Lens, installs the update, and starts Lens again

A tool or a palette command that an extension adds does what the extension defines. While the driving tools are on, your AI tool also clicks and types in Lens the way you do.

Lens and clusters

Tool	What it does
active-cluster	Tells which cluster the tab in front shows
list-navigator-items	Lists what the navigator shows under one of its items
navigate-to-resource-list	Opens a cluster's list of one kind of resource
open-resource-details	Opens one resource in its details panel, connecting the cluster first
open-cluster-settings	Opens a cluster's settings
open-preferences	Opens Preferences, on a given page
open-command-palette	Opens the command palette with a search
list-commands	Lists the commands the command palette offers
run-command	Runs a command palette command
list-notifications	Lists the notifications Lens shows
dismiss-notification	Dismisses a notification
notify	Shows a notification in Lens
copy-to-clipboard	Puts text on your clipboard
open-in-browser	Opens a web page in your default browser
pin-cluster-to-hotbar	Pins a cluster to the hotbar
unpin-cluster-from-hotbar	Takes a cluster off the current hotbar page
add-cluster-to-space	Opens the dialog that adds a cluster to a Lens Space

For list-clusters and connect-cluster, see Kubernetes tools. The server offers one tool per name, so each appears once.

Windows and split screen

Tool	What it does
open-tab-in-new-window	Moves an open tab into a window of its own
open-resource-list-in-new-window	Opens a resource list in a window of its own
open-navigator-item-in-new-window	Opens a navigator item in a window of its own
open-resource-list-beside	Opens a resource list beside the current view
describe-tab-layout	Describes how the tabs are laid out
arrange-tabs	Lays out open tabs side by side

Dock

Tool	What it does
open-pod-logs	Opens the live logs of a container in a dock tab
open-terminal-in-lens	Opens a terminal in a dock tab
type-in-lens-terminal	Types a one-line command in a dock terminal without running it
open-create-resource	Opens the create-resource editor with drafted YAML
open-resource-editor	Opens a resource in the YAML editor

Helm

Tool	What it does
open-helm-chart	Shows a Helm chart
open-helm-release	Shows a Helm release
open-helm-install	Opens the install tab for a chart
open-helm-upgrade	Opens the upgrade tab for a release
open-helm-rollback-dialog	Opens the rollback dialog for a release

Port forwards

Tool	What it does
list-port-forwards	Lists the port forwards Lens keeps for a cluster
start-port-forward	Starts a port forward to a pod or a service
stop-port-forward	Stops a port forward, and removes it when asked
open-port-forward-in-browser	Opens the local address of a running port forward
open-port-forward-dialog	Opens the port forwarding dialog

Metrics

Tool	What it does
prometheus-status	Tells whether Lens has a Prometheus to query for a cluster
query-prometheus	Runs a PromQL range query against the Prometheus Lens uses
get-resource-metrics	Gives the metrics of one resource
cluster-usage	Tells how much of a cluster's capacity is in use

Costs

Tool	What it does
cost-allocation	Tells what a cluster costs over a period
cost-trend	Tells how a cluster's cost moved over a period, by namespace
cost-briefing	Gives the cost briefing Lens uses for cost optimization
cost-source	Tells where Cost Monitoring gets its figures, and why
cost-node-types	Lists nodes by type, with the estimated price per node-hour
set-cost-rate	Sets a rate the cost estimate uses
select-cost-source	Chooses the cost source, or turns Cost Monitoring off for the cluster
refresh-azure-prices	Fetches current Azure retail prices for the cluster's VM sizes
open-cost-dashboard	Opens the Cost Monitoring dashboard
open-cost-settings	Opens the cost settings of a cluster

For details, see Cost Monitoring.

Security

Tool	What it does
vulnerability-summary	Summarizes known vulnerabilities in the cluster's images, as the Security Center shows them

Extensions and updates

Tool	What it does
search-extensions	Searches the public Lens extensions
list-installed-extensions	Lists the installed extensions
open-extension-details	Shows a public extension's page
install-extension	Installs a public extension, after you confirm
lens-update-status	Tells whether a downloaded update waits for a relaunch
relaunch-to-update	Quits Lens, installs the update, and starts Lens again

Driving Lens

With the driving tools, your AI tool sees Lens and uses it the way you do. Lens offers them over MCP only while Preferences > External Tools > AI Tools > Let AI tools see and drive Lens is on. It is off by default. The preference sets the default for Ask AI conversations, and it is the only control over MCP.

Tool	What it does
list-lens-windows	Lists the Lens windows that can be driven
screenshot	Takes a screenshot of a Lens window
read-text	Reads the text a Lens window shows
click	Clicks an element
type-text	Types text into the focused element
press-key	Presses one key
evaluate	Evaluates a JavaScript expression in a Lens window
wait-for	Waits until a JavaScript expression is true
set-driving-speed	Sets how fast the tool drives
conclude-driving	Ends driving with a summary of what got done
disable-ai-tool-driving	Stops the tool from seeing and using Lens

While an MCP client drives, the driving indicator at the bottom of the window reads {tool} is driving Lens over MCP, with the name your MCP client gives itself. Click anywhere in Lens to stop it. For the full behavior, see See and drive Lens with Ask AI or an MCP client.

The video below shows Claude Code, connected through the Lens MCP Server, opening Workloads and then Pods in the navigator, with the driving indicator naming it as it drives:

What the tool sees leaves your machine

Screenshots and screen text go to your AI tool and its AI provider, including anything Lens shows from every connected cluster.