QGIS MCP

Connect QGIS to any AI agent that speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so the agent drives QGIS directly: manage layers, edit features, run processing algorithms, render maps, and more.

125 MCP tools covering layer management, feature editing, processing, rendering, styling, layout & atlas authoring, cross-layer SQL, plugin development, and system management. Compatible with QGIS 3.28–4.x. Model and client agnostic: any MCP client works, among them Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Qwen Code, Kimi Code CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, opencode, LM Studio, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, and more.

Architecture

AI agent ←→ MCP Server (FastMCP) ←→ TCP socket ←→ QGIS Plugin (QTimer) ←→ PyQGIS API

1. QGIS Plugin (qgis_mcp_plugin/) - Runs inside QGIS. Non-blocking TCP socket server that processes JSON commands within QGIS's event loop.

2. MCP Server (src/qgis_mcp/server.py) - Runs outside QGIS. Exposes QGIS operations as MCP tools via FastMCP.

Related MCP server: QGIS MCP Server

Installation

No clone needed. Requires QGIS 3.28+ and uv.

1. Install the QGIS plugin

In QGIS: Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins > search QGIS MCP > Install.

Restart QGIS and click Start Server in the QGIS MCP dock widget.

2. Connect your coding agent

claude mcp add -s user qgis -- uvx --from https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip qgis-mcp-server

Scope reference:

codex mcp add qgis -- uvx --from https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip qgis-mcp-server

Or edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

[mcp_servers.qgis]
command = "uvx"
args = ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Same layout as Gemini CLI. Add to ~/.qwen/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.kimi-code/mcp.json (or $KIMI_CODE_HOME/mcp.json). A .kimi-code/mcp.json in the working directory overrides it for that project.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Kimi has no mcp add subcommand - edit the JSON or use the /mcp-config TUI.

Add to ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json (directory overridable via $COPILOT_HOME):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.lmstudio/mcp.json (%USERPROFILE%\.lmstudio\mcp.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Add to opencode.json at your project root:

{
  "mcp": {
    "qgis": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uvx", "--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Hermes stores MCP servers in config.yaml under an mcpServers block. A standalone mcp.json is ignored. You also need a small .bat launcher - running uvx directly inside Hermes causes a venv conflict (ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pydantic_core._pydantic_core').

Step 1 - Create %APPDATA%\Hermes\qgis-mcp-launch.bat:

@echo off
REM Clears Hermes's venv vars so uvx uses a clean Python environment.
set VIRTUAL_ENV=
set PYTHONPATH=
set PYTHONHOME=
uvx --from "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip" qgis-mcp-server

Step 2 - Add to %APPDATA%\Hermes\config.yaml:

mcpServers:
  qgis:
    command: "C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Roaming\\Hermes\\qgis-mcp-launch.bat"
    args: []

Replace <you> with your Windows username. Restart Hermes, then verify with:

Call the QGIS ping tool.

Tip: The QGIS plugin's Setup & Configurator dialog has a hermes entry in the client dropdown. Select it and click Copy to get the bat file and YAML pre-filled with your local paths.

For the full guide see docs/agent-integration.md.

opencode (which runs Nous/Hermes and other models) is supported directly by the installer:

python install.py --non-interactive --clients opencode

This writes the correct config block to ~/.config/opencode/config.json (%APPDATA%\opencode\config.json on Windows).

To configure manually, add to your opencode.json or global opencode config:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "qgis": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "uvx",
        "--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip",
        "qgis-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Any other agent or client that supports the MCP stdio transport can also use this server. Generic config (exact key names vary by client - see your agent's docs):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip",
        "qgis-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

After starting the agent, verify by asking it to call the ping tool - it should return {"pong": true} when the QGIS plugin is running.

For a full setup guide, troubleshooting steps, and compound-tool mode configuration see docs/agent-integration.md.

Add to your client's MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip",
        "qgis-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Usage

1. Start the plugin - In QGIS, click the MCP toolbar button (or Plugins > QGIS MCP) and click "Start Server"

2. Talk to your agent - The MCP tools appear automatically. Ask the agent to work with your QGIS project.

Example prompt

You have access to QGIS tools. Do the following:
1. Ping to check the connection
2. Create a new project and save it at "/tmp/my_project.qgz"
3. Load the vector layer "world_map.gpkg" available in Qgis ("resources/data/world_map.gpkg")
4. Filter "USA" from the field "adm0_a3"
6. Render the map and show me the result
7. Save the project

Updating

The plugin (inside QGIS) and the MCP server (outside QGIS) must stay in sync - a newer server sending a command the older plugin doesn't know will return an error. Run diagnose after any update to verify both sides match.

To auto-update instead, add --refresh-package qgis-mcp before --from in the configs above: uvx then re-resolves this package from GitHub on every launch. Warning: this requires network at launch - the MCP server fails to start when offline - and adds ~1–3s to startup. The plain configs above use the cached version and work offline.

After updating the plugin, click Stop / Start in the QGIS MCP dock widget (or reload via Plugins > QGIS MCP > Reload Plugin) to load the new code without restarting QGIS.

Tools (125)

All tools are async with human-readable titles and annotations (readOnly, destructive, idempotent). Destructive tools rely on your client's own confirmation gate, which reads the destructive annotation; set QGIS_MCP_AUTO_CONFIRM=0 to have the server elicit a second confirmation as well. Long-running tools report progress via MCP logging.

Compound tool mode

Set QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound to reduce the granular tools to 27 grouped tools (every granular command stays reachable), cutting schema overhead per LLM turn. Each compound tool takes an action parameter plus a params object holding that action's parameters:

QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound uv run --no-sync src/qgis_mcp/server.py

{ "action": "load", "params": { "path": "/data/city.qgz" } }

Omit params for actions that take none ({"action": "ping"}).

Groups: system, project, layer, features, selection, editing, connection, style, canvas, render, processing, code, batch, layer_tree, plugins, variables, settings, expression, query, transform, message_log, layer_property, field, analysis, bookmarks, map_themes, active_layer.

What compound mode buys and what it costs, measured on v0.15.2 (the tool listing is 125 tools / 52.8k chars of description and schema):

• with the pydantic titles stripped it is 27 tools / 28.2k chars, a 47% cut. The trade-offs are that every call loses instance= (and the server refuses to start with more than one configured instance), parameters become an untyped params object, and annotations are per group - layer and features are destructive for their read-only actions too.

Tool profiles

QGIS_MCP_TOOL_PROFILE keeps a subset of the granular tools, with none of compound mode's trade-offs (typed parameters, instance=, per-tool annotations):

QGIS_MCP_TOOL_PROFILE=read-only uv run --no-sync src/qgis_mcp/server.py

Profiles apply to granular mode; combining one with QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound is refused rather than silently ignored.

Configuration

Authentication

By default the socket has no authentication - it binds to localhost only, but any process on the machine that can reach the port can drive QGIS (including execute_code, which runs arbitrary PyQGIS). For shared or multi-user machines, set a shared secret so only callers that know it can connect:

1. Set QGIS_MCP_TOKEN in the environment QGIS runs in (so the plugin enforces it), then Stop/Start the server in the dock. The QGIS log shows Token authentication ENABLED.

2. Set the same value in the MCP server's environment - add it to the env block of your MCP client config:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "qgis": {
         "command": "uvx",
         "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"],
         "env": { "QGIS_MCP_TOKEN": "your-long-random-secret" }
       }
     }
   }

The token is compared in constant time. When QGIS_MCP_TOKEN is unset (the default), behaviour is unchanged. This raises the bar against other local users/processes; a process running as the same user can still read the token from your config, so it is not a sandbox.

One exception: binding the plugin to a non-loopback address requires a token. Exposing arbitrary PyQGIS execution to the network without authentication is not a state you should be able to reach by accident, so the plugin refuses to start on such an address until QGIS_MCP_TOKEN is set (in QGIS and in the MCP server).

Multiple QGIS instances

One server registration can drive several running QGIS windows. Start each QGIS with the plugin on its own port, then list them in QGIS_MCP_INSTANCES as comma-separated name=port or name=host:port entries.

Set a window's port in the dropdown next to the MCP toolbar button (the arrow beside the logo) before starting the server. That choice is saved per QGIS profile, so two windows on the same profile would both start on it; launch each with its own QGIS_MCP_PORT instead (for example QGIS_MCP_PORT=9877 qgis), which overrides the saved port without changing it. The same applies when another program already listens on 9876 (Blender's MCP add-on does by default).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip", "qgis-mcp-server"],
      "env": { "QGIS_MCP_INSTANCES": "default=9876,planning=9877,archive=lab-box:9878" }
    }
  }
}

• Every tool takes an optional instance argument (get_layers(instance="planning")). Omitting it targets the entry named default, or - when no entry is called default - the first entry listed, so planning=9877,archive=9878 works without renaming anything.

• list_qgis_instances returns the configured names with their host, port, and current reachability. An unknown name is rejected with the list of valid names.

• Instance names match [A-Za-z0-9_-]+; entries without a host use QGIS_MCP_HOST (default localhost).

• Each instance has its own pooled connection and its own lock, so two QGIS windows can be driven concurrently.

• Not supported with QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound. Compound tools carry no instance argument, so every call would silently hit one instance; configuring more than one instance in compound mode refuses to start rather than routing writes to the wrong QGIS.

• When QGIS_MCP_INSTANCES is unset, exactly one instance named default is defined from QGIS_MCP_HOST/QGIS_MCP_PORT - existing setups are unaffected.

• QGIS_MCP_TOKEN is shared across instances: the same secret must be set in every QGIS.

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp.git
cd qgis-mcp
python install.py   # symlinks plugin + configures your MCP client

install.py options: --clients claude-desktop,cursor, --remote (uvx instead of uv run), --profile myprofile, --uninstall.

Known client names: claude-desktop, cursor, vscode, windsurf, zed, claude-code, codex, opencode, hermes, kimi, gemini, qwen, copilot-cli, lmstudio.

Windows (Microsoft Store / MSIX Claude Desktop): install.py uses --directory instead of cwd in generated configs. This is required for Store-installed Claude Desktop, which runs MCP servers in an MSIX sandbox that silently drops cwd. If you configure manually, use uv --directory "/path/to/qgis-mcp" run --no-sync src/qgis_mcp/server.py - this works on both MSIX and standalone installs. You can identify a Store install when the config file is under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_<id>\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\ instead of %APPDATA%\Claude\.

# Unit tests (no QGIS needed - mocked socket)
uv run --no-sync pytest tests/test_mcp_tools.py -v

# Integration tests (requires QGIS plugin running)
uv run --no-sync pytest tests/test_qgis_live.py -v

License

This project is dual-licensed. Each component is distributed under its own license:

• QGIS Plugin (qgis_mcp_plugin/) - GNU GPL v2 or later

• MCP Server (src/qgis_mcp/) - MIT