How do I use canbus-mcp?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@canbus-mcp capture CAN bus frames for 10 seconds" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

canbus-mcp

A CAN bus reverse engineering MCP server for Claude Code. Lets Claude read, analyze, and map CAN bus messages from automotive and motorsport ECUs directly from the conversation.

Built around the PEAK PCAN-USB adapter. Designed for reverse engineering unknown CAN buses without DBC files — though DBC import/export is supported.

Hardware

PEAK PCAN-USB (IPEH-002021)

Requirements

Python 3.11+
macOS or Windows
PEAK PCBUSB driver (macOS) or PEAK Windows driver

Installation

1. Install the PEAK driver

macOS:

PEAK does not provide a native macOS driver. Use the open-source PCBUSB library from mac-can.com:

Download the PCBUSB package
Run the installer — if install.sh does nothing, /usr/local/lib likely doesn't exist on your machine. Fix it manually:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib
sudo cp ~/Downloads/PCBUSB*/libPCBUSB.0.13.dylib /usr/local/lib/
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libPCBUSB.0.13.dylib /usr/local/lib/libPCBUSB.0.dylib
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libPCBUSB.0.dylib /usr/local/lib/libPCBUSB.dylib

Windows:

Download and install the PEAK driver from peak-system.com. No additional steps needed.

2. Install canbus-mcp

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/canbus-mcp
cd canbus-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate      # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

3. Add to Claude Code

claude mcp add canbus-re -s user \
  -e DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib \
  -- /absolute/path/to/canbus-mcp/.venv/bin/python -m canbus_mcp.server

Replace /absolute/path/to/canbus-mcp with the actual path where you cloned the repo.

Windows: Use the full path to .venv\Scripts\python.exe and omit the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH env var.

Restart Claude Code and run /mcp to confirm canbus-re appears as connected.

Usage

Start a Claude Code session and describe what you want to reverse engineer. The recommended workflow:

detect_baudrate_auto()     # auto-sniff bus speed from live traffic
connect()                  # open the interface
capture(duration=10)       # record frames
get_traffic_summary()      # see all message IDs, frequencies, DLCs
take_snapshot('idle')      # baseline snapshot

# trigger a physical event (press throttle, turn wheel, etc.)

capture(duration=5)
take_snapshot('event')
compare_snapshots('idle', 'event')   # find what changed

analyze_message(0x1A0)     # byte-level breakdown of a specific ID
track_signal(0x1A0, 2, 2)  # watch bytes [2:4] change over time
define_signal('engine_rpm', 0x1A0, 16, 16, scale=0.25, unit='rpm')
export_dbc('/path/output.dbc')

OBD2

For standard OBD2 vehicles (500k or 250k baud, 11-bit IDs):

check_obd2_support()    # check which PIDs are available
read_obd2_pids()        # query RPM, speed, throttle, temps, etc.

Tools

Tool	Description
`list_interfaces`	Show available hardware and current connection
`detect_baudrate_auto`	Auto-detect baud by listening for valid frames
`connect`	Open CAN interface
`disconnect`	Close interface
`capture`	Record frames for N seconds
`take_snapshot`	Save capture buffer as named snapshot
`compare_snapshots`	Diff two snapshots to find changed bytes
`get_traffic_summary`	All IDs: frequency, DLC, count
`analyze_message`	Per-byte entropy, counter/checksum detection
`track_signal`	Extract a byte range's values over time
`define_signal`	Name a discovered signal (bit position, scale, offset)
`decode_frame`	Decode raw hex against known signals
`import_dbc`	Load a DBC file
`export_dbc`	Export defined signals as DBC
`check_obd2_support`	Check OBD2 PID support
`read_obd2_pids`	Query all standard OBD2 PIDs
`query_obd2_pid`	Send a raw OBD2 request