UniFi Protect Tools

Protect tools talk to the Protect integration API on the local console. Read this before you add or change a tool in any src/tools/protect_*.py module. For the general add-a-tool workflow, see unifi-mcp-tool-builder.

Module map

15 modules, 72 functions, 71 registered tool names.

MCP resources for Protect are in src/resources/protect.py. The raw connector_protect_* proxy tools are in src/tools/connector.py and belong to the cloud tool set.

Registration

• Every public async def in the module is a tool (register_module_tools() in src/tool_registry.py). Name helpers with a leading _.
• Protect modules are in _LOCAL_TOOL_MODULES only (src/main.py). They do not exist in cloud modes.
• A new module goes into three places in src/main.py: _LOCAL_TOOL_MODULES, the protect profile and the system profile.
• Protect reads are not cached. Protect modules are not in CACHED_MODULES (src/cache.py).

HTTP

• Use ProtectClient from src/api/protect_client.py, not UniFiClient.
• Build every path with settings.get_protect_integration_path("<endpoint>"). In local mode that gives /proxy/protect/integration/v1/<endpoint>.
• Call await client.authenticate() first; it checks access with a GET to cameras.
• Send bodies with json_data=, not json=.
• A status of 400 or more raises APIError.

async with ProtectClient(settings) as client:
    await client.authenticate()
    response = await client.patch(
        settings.get_protect_integration_path(f"relays/{relay_id}"),
        json_data=payload,
    )

Models

• v7 models are in src/models/protect_v7.py and inherit _ProtectV7Base, which sets populate_by_name=True and extra="allow". Unknown fields from newer firmware must not break parsing.
• Fields are snake_case with a camelCase alias=. Dump with model_dump(by_alias=True).
• Older models (src/models/protect_camera.py, src/models/protect_nvr.py and others) do not allow extra fields. Do not copy them for new work.
• Export new models from src/models/__init__.py.

Write tools

Copy update_protect_relay in src/tools/protect_relays.py. The order is fixed:

1. validate_confirmation(confirm, "<operation>", dry_run)
2. validate IDs and arguments, and raise ValidationError on bad input
3. build the payload from the arguments that are not None; raise ValidationError if it is empty
4. if coerce_bool(dry_run): return {"dry_run": True, "operation": "<tool name>", ..., "payload": payload}
5. only then open ProtectClient

Do not write audit code; the registry wrapper audits every mutating call. A tool with a risky word in its name (disable, reset and others) must be in DESTRUCTIVE_TOOLS (src/tool_registry.py) or in RISKY_NAME_EXEMPTIONS (tests/unit/fleet/test_tiers.py).

Response shapes

_extract_collection and _extract_item accept a bare value or a {"data": ...} wrapper. Each module has its own copy. Log through sanitize_log_message().

Tests

• Files: tests/unit/tools/test_protect_<module>.py. Representative: tests/unit/tools/test_protect_relays.py.
• Patch the client: patch("src.tools.protect_relays.ProtectClient", return_value=mock_client), where mock_client is an AsyncMock with __aenter__ returning itself and __aexit__ returning False.
• Assert the exact path and body: mock_client.patch.assert_awaited_once_with(path, json_data=...).
• For every write, test refusal without confirm (and with confirm="false"), that the client is never created on refusal, and that a dry run makes no call.
• tests/unit/tools/test_protect_write_gates.py checks every Protect write for confirm and dry_run.
• After you add or rename a tool, run UPDATE_TOOL_TIERS=1 pytest tests/unit/fleet/test_tiers.py.

Gotchas

• The spec baseline is Protect v7.3.68 (scripts/protect-api-spec-v7.3.68.json). Check an endpoint there before you call it.
• The Phase 5a write paths are tested against mocks only; nobody has verified them on hardware. Say so when you change one.
• get_protect_arm_profile calls a GET path that is not in the v7.3.68 spec, so it may return 404.
• docs/UNIFI_API.md still calls Protect v7 "planned" near its start, which contradicts its later Phase 5a section.

Known defects (not fixed)

• list_protect_device_updates is defined once, in src/tools/protect_devices.py. src/tools/protect_events.py imports it for its two compatibility wrappers; register_module_tools skips imported functions, so it registers once. TestToolModuleSets in tests/unit/test_main_runtime.py fails if a tool name is defined in two modules.
• MUTATING_TOOLS_WITHOUT_GATE in src/tool_registry.py still lists Protect tools that now have gates. It is harmless.