diff --git a/apps/api/package.json b/apps/api/package.json
index 695fa36..4def577 100644
--- a/apps/api/package.json
+++ b/apps/api/package.json
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@fieldlens/contracts": "1.0.0",
+    "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.30.1",
     "cors": "^2.8.5",
     "express": "^5.1.0",
     "helmet": "^8.1.0",
     "jose": "^6.1.0",
-    "pg": "^8.16.3"
+    "pg": "^8.16.3",
+    "zod": "^4.6.5"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/cors": "^2.8.19",
diff --git a/apps/api/src/config.ts b/apps/api/src/config.ts
index 0d8abd4..453f5e6 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/config.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/config.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export const config = {
   environment: process.env.FIELDLENS_ENV?.trim() || 'development',
   logLevel: process.env.LOG_LEVEL?.trim() || 'info',
   webOrigin: process.env.WEB_ORIGIN?.trim() || 'http://localhost:5173',
+  mcpResourceUrl: process.env.FIELDLENS_MCP_RESOURCE_URL?.trim() || new URL('/api/mcp', process.env.WEB_ORIGIN?.trim() || 'http://localhost:5173').href,
   staticDir: process.env.STATIC_DIR?.trim() || '',
   desktopDownloadBaseUrl: process.env.FIELDLENS_DESKTOP_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL?.trim() || 'https://fieldlens-desktop-build.arrowstack.dev',
   linuxDesktopDownloadBaseUrl: process.env.FIELDLENS_LINUX_DESKTOP_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL?.trim() || process.env.FIELDLENS_DESKTOP_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL?.trim() || 'https://fieldlens-desktop-build.arrowstack.dev',
diff --git a/apps/api/src/mcp.test.ts b/apps/api/src/mcp.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb08963
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/mcp.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { Client } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js'
+import { InMemoryTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/inMemory.js'
+import { captureLimit, createFieldLensMcpServer } from './mcp.js'
+
+describe('FieldLens MCP telemetry', () => {
+  it('exposes only a bounded read-only diagnostic tool', async () => {
+    const server = createFieldLensMcpServer()
+    const client = new Client({ name: 'fieldlens-test', version: '1.0.0' })
+    const [clientTransport, serverTransport] = InMemoryTransport.createLinkedPair()
+    try {
+      await Promise.all([server.connect(serverTransport), client.connect(clientTransport)])
+      const { tools } = await client.listTools()
+      expect(tools.map((tool) => tool.name)).toEqual(['list_print_captures'])
+      expect(tools[0]?.annotations?.readOnlyHint).toBe(true)
+      expect(tools[0]?.inputSchema.properties?.limit).toBeDefined()
+    } finally {
+      await client.close()
+      await server.close()
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('clamps row count to a hard limit', () => {
+    expect(captureLimit(0)).toBe(1)
+    expect(captureLimit(500)).toBe(200)
+    expect(captureLimit(Number.NaN)).toBe(50)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/api/src/mcp.ts b/apps/api/src/mcp.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7283d2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/mcp.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import type { Request, Response } from 'express'
+import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js'
+import { StreamableHTTPServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/streamableHttp.js'
+import { z } from 'zod/v4'
+import { config } from './config.js'
+import { pool } from './db.js'
+import { log } from './log.js'
+
+export function captureLimit(value: number) {
+  return Number.isFinite(value) ? Math.max(1, Math.min(200, Math.trunc(value))) : 50
+}
+
+export function createFieldLensMcpServer() {
+  const server = new McpServer({ name: 'fieldlens', version: '1.0.0' })
+  server.registerTool('list_print_captures', {
+    description: 'Read recent FieldLens printer capture diagnostics for the authorized tenant. No print document or barcode values are included.',
+    inputSchema: { limit: z.number().int().min(1).max(200).optional() },
+    annotations: { readOnlyHint: true, destructiveHint: false, openWorldHint: false },
+  }, async ({ limit }) => {
+    const result = await pool.query(`
+      SELECT id, device_id AS "deviceId", source, stream_format AS "streamFormat",
+             byte_count AS "byteCount", barcode_count AS "barcodeCount", forwarded,
+             failure_kind AS "failureKind", app_version AS "appVersion",
+             captured_at AS "capturedAt", received_at AS "receivedAt"
+      FROM print_capture_diagnostics WHERE tenant_id = $1
+      ORDER BY captured_at DESC LIMIT $2
+    `, [config.tenantId, captureLimit(limit ?? 50)])
+    return { content: [{ type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify({ captures: result.rows }) }] }
+  })
+  return server
+}
+
+export async function handleMcpRequest(req: Request, res: Response) {
+  const server = createFieldLensMcpServer()
+  const transport = new StreamableHTTPServerTransport({ sessionIdGenerator: undefined, enableJsonResponse: true })
+  res.once('close', () => {
+    void transport.close()
+    void server.close()
+  })
+  try {
+    await server.connect(transport)
+    await transport.handleRequest(req, res, req.body)
+  } catch {
+    log('error', 'mcp_request_failed')
+    if (!res.headersSent) res.status(500).json({ jsonrpc: '2.0', error: { code: -32603, message: 'Internal server error' }, id: null })
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/server.ts b/apps/api/src/server.ts
index ecc1360..becb546 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/server.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/server.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { config } from './config.js'
 import { loadDeviceContext } from './context.js'
 import { databaseReady, pool } from './db.js'
 import { log } from './log.js'
+import { handleMcpRequest } from './mcp.js'
 import { runMigrations } from './migrations.js'
 import { processSyncEvent } from './sync.js'
 
@@ -128,6 +129,24 @@ app.get('/api/health/ready', async (_req, res) => {
   }
 })
 
+const mcpResourceMetadataUrl = new URL('/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/mcp', config.mcpResourceUrl).href
+app.get('/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/mcp', (_req, res) => {
+  res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=300')
+  res.json({ resource: config.mcpResourceUrl, authorization_servers: [config.issuer], bearer_methods_supported: ['header'] })
+})
+
+app.use('/api/mcp', (_req, res, next) => {
+  res.setHeader('WWW-Authenticate', `Bearer resource_metadata="${mcpResourceMetadataUrl}"`)
+  res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'no-store')
+  next()
+}, authenticate, (_req, res, next) => {
+  res.removeHeader('WWW-Authenticate')
+  next()
+}, requireAccess('operator'))
+app.post('/api/mcp', handleMcpRequest)
+app.get('/api/mcp', (_req, res) => { res.status(405).end() })
+app.delete('/api/mcp', (_req, res) => { res.status(405).end() })
+
 app.use('/api/v1', authenticate)
 
 app.get('/api/v1/access/me', async (req, res) => {