mcp-pine

An MCP server for emulators that speak PINE (Protocol for Instrumentation of Network Emulators) — first-class support for PCSX2 (PS2) and RPCS3 (PS3), with target-aware tool descriptions so the agent sees the right memory map for whichever emulator it's pointed at. Exposes memory read/write and savestate control. Driven from MCP-compatible clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.).

What you can do with it

• Read & write emulated memory — 8/16/32/64-bit, anywhere in the emulator's address space (PS2 EE for PCSX2, PPU main memory for RPCS3)

• Trigger save / load state to numbered slots

• Query game metadata — title, serial, disc CRC, version

• Inspect emulator state — running / paused / shutdown

Tool descriptions, memory-map context, and setup help are rendered per-target at startup — set PINE_TARGET=rpcs3 and every memory-tool description shows PS3 PPU addresses instead of PS2 EE addresses.

What you can't do (because PINE itself doesn't expose these):

• Send controller input

• Take screenshots

• Step / pause / reset the emulator

This makes mcp-pine well-suited for memory inspection, cheat / RAM hunting, savestate automation, and reverse engineering, but not for "play games via Claude." For input + screenshot capability on Game Boy Advance, see the sister project mcp-mgba.

Related MCP server: mcp-mgba

How it works

+----------------+    stdio     +----------------+   PINE socket    +-----------------+
|   MCP client   |   JSON-RPC   |    mcp-pine    |  (TCP or Unix)   |    Emulator     |
|  (Claude etc.) | -----------> |   (Node.js)    | ---------------> |  (PINE server)  |
+----------------+              +----------------+                  +-----------------+

mcp-pine opens a loopback connection to the emulator's PINE server (TCP on Windows, Unix domain socket on Linux/macOS) and translates each MCP tool call into a binary PINE message.

Compatible emulators

Other emulators implementing the PINE spec should work out of the box once you point mcp-pine at the right slot — open an issue if you've tested one and it works.

Note on DuckStation (PS1): DuckStation had PINE support from May–September 2024 but dropped it in commit 19698559. Current builds have no PINE server. If upstream brings it back, PINE_TARGET=duckstation is reserved.

Setting PINE_TARGET does two things: (1) selects the right Unix socket filename on Linux/macOS, and (2) renders all tool descriptions, memory maps, and setup help for that emulator's address space. Default is pcsx2 for back-compat.

Requirements

• An emulator with PINE enabled (see setup below)

• Node.js 18+

Install

Option A — install from npm (recommended)

npm install -g mcp-pine

Verify with mcp-pine (it prints a startup line and waits for stdio — Ctrl+C to exit).

Option B — npx (no install)

npx -y mcp-pine

Option C — clone and develop

git clone https://github.com/dmang-dev/mcp-pine
cd mcp-pine
npm install        # also runs the build via the `prepare` hook

Emulator setup

PCSX2

1. Launch PCSX2 (1.7.x Qt or newer).

2. Settings → Advanced → Enable PINE Server (the option may live under a different submenu in some builds — search the settings for "PINE").

3. Default slot is 28011. If you change it, set PINE_SLOT for mcp-pine.

4. Load any game.

That's it — no scripts, no console commands. PINE is always-on once the toggle is set.

RPCS3

RPCS3 has its own IPC implementation that mirrors PINE's opcode set, but the wire-level compatibility hasn't been thoroughly tested with this client. To try it:

1. Configuration → Advanced → Enable IPC server (or similar — check current RPCS3 docs).

2. Note the configured port.

3. Run with PINE_TARGET=rpcs3 PINE_SLOT=<port> mcp-pine.

If something doesn't work, please file an issue with details.

Register with your MCP client

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add pine --scope user mcp-pine

Verify:

claude mcp list
# pine: mcp-pine - ✓ Connected

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pine": {
      "command": "mcp-pine"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after editing.

Other MCP clients

mcp-pine speaks standard MCP over stdio. Run it and connect any compatible client.

Configuration

Tools

See docs/RECIPES.md for end-to-end examples (RAM hunting, struct decoding, snapshot-experiment-restore).

PlayStation 2 address space (PCSX2, default target)

Troubleshooting

Development

npm install
npm run dev      # tsc --watch

Quick smoke test against a running PCSX2:

node .scratch/smoke.cjs

License

MIT

Related

• mcp-mgba — sister MCP server for the mGBA Game Boy Advance emulator (also includes button input + screenshot, which PINE doesn't expose)

• PINE protocol spec — the underlying IPC standard