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Scheduled network change and compliance digests with a headless AI agent

Run an AI agent on a schedule against rConfig's MCP server to post a daily or weekly digest of config changes and compliance status to chat, email or a ticket.

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Scheduled network change and compliance digests with a headless AI agent

A morning digest answers the questions every network lead asks: what changed overnight, and is anything out of policy? A headless agent on a schedule can read rConfig over MCP, write a short summary, and post it before anyone logs in.

Best for: team leads, daily stand-ups, weekly management reporting. Tools: rConfig, a headless agent, a scheduler (cron, CI schedule or n8n). rConfig tools used: get_devices, get_config_history, get_config_diff, get_compliance_status.

Choosing a runner

Runner How it runs Guide
Claude Code claude -p "..." --allowedTools "mcp__rconfig__*" Claude Code
Codex CLI codex exec "..." with default_tools_approval_mode = "writes" Codex CLI
n8n Schedule trigger, AI Agent with the rConfig MCP Client Tool n8n

A daily change digest

daily-digest.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
# RCONFIG_MCP_TOKEN comes from the scheduler's secret store.


claude -p "Using rConfig, for every device in the Core, Edge and WAN groups:
find running-config changes in the last 24 hours (compare last_config_at first,
then check history only for devices that changed). For each change, one line:
device, time, what changed. Then give the compliance summary for each group.
Under 250 words. No preamble." \
  --allowedTools "mcp__rconfig__*" > digest.txt


# Post digest.txt to your chat webhook, email it, or attach it to a ticket.

The prompt tells the agent to check last_config_at on each device first. Only devices that changed need a history lookup, which keeps the run fast and cheap.

An illustrative digest:

Overnight changes (24h)
- dub-core-01, 02:14: VLAN 30 removed from Gi1/0/48 trunk
- lon-edge-02, 23:40: two ACL 120 entries added for 10.40.0.0/16


Compliance
Core 96% (1 failing: dub-core-03, SSH v1 enabled)
Edge 100%
WAN 88% (2 not evaluated: no backup in 3 days)

A weekly management digest

Change the scope and the tone: a week of changes counted per group, the compliance trend, and the three items that need a decision. Ask for plain language with no config syntax.

Limits to know

  • Scale. Config history is read per device. Scope digests by group or tag rather than “all devices”.
  • Stale backups look like no change. Devices that haven’t backed up recently show no changes. Ask the agent to list devices whose last_config_at is older than the digest period.
  • Keep it read-only. The job needs rConfig’s tools and somewhere to post. Don’t give the scheduled agent any other servers.

Frequently asked questions

How do I schedule an AI agent to report on network changes?

Run a headless agent such as Claude Code (claude -p) or Codex (codex exec) from cron, a CI schedule or n8n, with rConfig's MCP server connected and its read-only tools pre-approved. Send the output to chat, email or a ticket.

How many devices can a digest cover?

History is read one device at a time, so a digest over hundreds of devices makes hundreds of calls. Scope it by group or tag, or split it into several digests.

What token should a scheduled job use?

A token for a dedicated rConfig user whose role covers only the devices in the digest, stored in your scheduler's secret store.

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