List

Tool Name: services/list

Lists systemd services with optional filtering by name pattern, active state, load state, and sub state. Output includes ActiveState, LoadState, and SubState for each matching .service unit. To get detailed service properties and state for a single service, read the service://{name}/status resource. To control a service, use the services/manage tool.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Description
`pattern`	string	Wildcard pattern to match service names (e.g., `kube`, `ssh*`)
`active_state`	string	Filter by active state (e.g., `active`, `failed`, `inactive`)
`load_state`	string	Filter by load state (e.g., `loaded`, `not-found`)
`sub_state`	string	Filter by sub state (e.g., `running`, `exited`, `dead`)
`output_format`	string	Desired output format (e.g. `json`, `table`, `wide`). Defaults to text
`privileged`	boolean	Run as root (may be required depending on policies)

Example

Every example below shows the equivalent linuxctl command and the raw MCP JSON-RPC call it resolves to. The raw call always follows the same two-step pattern (see MCP API overview for the full explanation): open an SSE stream to get a one-time POST endpoint, then POST the JSON-RPC request there - the result streams back on the SSE connection.

linuxctl

linuxctl get system services --pattern "ssh*"

Output (Ubuntu 24.04 VPS):

[active] ssh.service
  State: running (active) | Load: loaded
  Desc: OpenBSD Secure Shell server

Hint: To read detailed properties of a specific service, use the resource: service://<name>/status

curl (raw MCP JSON-RPC)

# 1. Open the SSE stream (in the background) and capture the one-time POST endpoint
curl -N -s --cacert mcpd.crt -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCP_TOKEN" https://localhost:9091/sse &
# server sends: event: endpoint / data: /message?session_id=...

# 2. POST the tools/call request to that endpoint
curl -s --cacert mcpd.crt -X POST "https://localhost:9091/message?session_id=<from step 1>" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCP_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "1", "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "services/list", "arguments": {"pattern": "ssh*"}}}'

# 3. The result arrives on the SSE stream opened in step 1

Response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "1",
  "result": {
    "content": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "[active] ssh.service\n  State: running (active) | Load: loaded\n  Desc: OpenBSD Secure Shell server\n\nHint: To read detailed properties of a specific service, use the resource: service://<name>/status\n"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Arguments​

Example​

Arguments

Example