klayout-draw-mcp

An MCP server for drawing GDS layouts with KLayout — generate, edit, and view layouts from an AI assistant such as Claude Code or Claude Desktop.

Layout geometry is built in-process with the standalone klayout Python module (no GUI needed). The installed KLayout application is launched only for viewing or manual editing.

Tools

Related MCP server: kicad-mcp

Requirements

• Python ≥ 3.10

• The klayout and mcp Python packages (installed via the steps below)

• The KLayout application — only needed for open_layout / open_editor

Install

uv sync

Register with Claude Code

claude mcp add klayout -s user -- "<repo>/.venv/Scripts/python.exe" -m klayout_draw_mcp.server

On macOS/Linux use .venv/bin/python.

Usage

"Draw a 5×5 µm box on layer 1 and a 2 µm-wide path, then save to out.gds and open it."

Claude calls new_layout → add_box / add_path → save_gds(open_after=True).

For anything beyond the basic shapes, run_script exposes the full klayout.db API.

Note

run_script executes arbitrary Python locally, in-process. Only run scripts you trust.