Network maps with Pioneer AI and MCP

Pioneer AI can read a client’s network map and answer questions about it, such as “where is the front desk printer plugged in?” or “what changed on the HQ network this week?”. It can draw the answer, compare a diagram you attach with the live network, and draw a new diagram for you to save. AI apps you connect with MCP can use the same read tools.

Before you begin

• You need ai:use and discovery:read. Endpoints appear only with endpoint:read. Pioneer AI and MCP apps see the map exactly as you do.
• Pioneer AI must be on for the client. See Set up Pioneer AI.
• Saving a drawing to documentation needs docs:write. Saving it as a documented network diagram needs network_map:edit.

Ask about the network

Open Pioneer AI on the client and ask in your own words. For example:

• “Trace the path from ACME-WS01 to the internet.”
• “Which switch port is the server ACME-SQL01 on?”
• “What changed on the network since last Monday?”
• “Compare the HQ diagram in our documentation with the network.”
• “Has the HQ L2 diagram drifted?”

When it traces a path, Pioneer AI shows the map in the conversation with the path highlighted. Open in Network map opens the same view on Endpoints > Network map.

Work with a diagram you have

Attach a .drawio or .vsdx file to a message. Pioneer AI reads the devices, links, and groups in it, and can then:

• compare it with the live network, with the same results as Compare with document on the map page;
• show it in the conversation, redrawn with Outpost’s layout;
• change it on request, such as “remove the old core switch and add the new firewall pair”, or convert it, such as “turn this Visio into a draw.io file”.

An attached diagram is kept only in that conversation, and is deleted with it.

Ask for a new diagram

Ask Pioneer AI to draw what you need, such as “draw the HQ network with the firewall pair at the top and each access switch with its hosts”, or “draw a logical diagram of the VPN links between our sites”. Pioneer AI builds the drawing, and Outpost lays it out.

The drawing appears on a card with:

Control	What it does
Expand	Shows the drawing larger.
Download	Downloads it in any of the eight formats the map exports. See Export network maps and diagrams.
Open in Network map	Opens the map the drawing came from, when it came from one.
Save to documentation	Creates a documentation article with the .drawio file and a picture attached. Needs docs:write.
Save as network diagram	Saves it as a documented diagram that Outpost checks against the network from then on. Needs network_map:edit. See Keep documented network diagrams.

Tools

These tools read and change nothing, so they never ask for approval. On the MSP plan, each takes a clientId.

Tool	Pioneer AI	MCP	What it does
get_network_topology	Yes	Yes	Reads the client’s map, optionally for one site, network, or VLAN.
trace_network_path	Yes	Yes	Traces the path between two devices, or to the internet, hop by hop.
topology_changes	Yes	Yes	Lists what changed on the network since a time, such as 7d.
check_diagram_drift	Yes	Yes	Compares a diagram with the live map: a documentation file, a documented diagram, or, in Pioneer AI only, a diagram attached to the conversation.
list_doc_diagrams	Yes	Yes	Lists .drawio, .vsdx, and image files in the client’s documentation.
read_doc_diagram	Yes	Yes	Reads the devices and links in a .drawio or .vsdx documentation file.
list_network_diagrams	Yes	Yes	Lists the client’s documented network diagrams.
get_diagram_drift	Yes	Yes	Reads a documented diagram’s drift score and open proposals, as the last check found them.
show_diagram	Yes	No	Shows a map, a trace, or an attached diagram in the conversation.
create_diagram	Yes	No	Draws a new diagram, or changes an attached one.

Next steps

• Use Pioneer AI
• Connect AI tools with MCP
• Use the network map