Prism Native MCP

Connect an MCP client to native GraphPad Prism tables, statistics, graphs, and layouts.

Prism Native MCP is a local stdio server for GraphPad Prism on macOS. Supply original observations, build supported Column documents and violin/median-IQR graphs, inspect native objects, and export figures through Prism. Prism calculates the statistics and draws the graphs from the observations.

Use it for a repeatable two-group descriptive workflow that remains editable in Prism: data table → native analysis and graphs → linked layout → PDF, SVG, or PNG.

Install and connect · Try a synthetic document · Supported scope · Release packages

Independent source preview. This project requires a separately installed, licensed copy of GraphPad Prism 11.1.0, build 110218. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by GraphPad. Native mutations are pinned to that exact build; compatibility with other versions is not established. The wheel and source archive are Python packages, not standalone macOS applications.

What you can do

The writer does not support arbitrary analyses, general graph creation, unsupported storage/cell exclusions, or arbitrary binary drawing edits. Classic drawing binaries remain opaque; the server does not reconstruct observations from plotted coordinates. Static annotation text does not recalculate when data changes. Read the capability matrix for narrower evidence around placement/alignment, experimental resizing, and individual formatting variants.

Related MCP server: Ruin's BlockBenchMCP

Requirements

• macOS. Historical native acceptance was performed on Apple silicon.

• GraphPad Prism 11.1.0, build 110218, installed and licensed separately. The default location is /Applications/Prism 11.app; PRISM_MCP_APP can select another location of the same version. The targeted archive format is 1-6-1.

• Python 3.12 or 3.13 and uv.

• macOS Automation and Accessibility permissions for native control. Text/OCR adapters also require Screen Recording. Resolve the reported permission errors before attempting a native operation.

• An MCP client that can launch a local stdio server.

The server has no hosted service or LLM dependency. Data returned through MCP is visible to the connected client, whose own processing and retention settings still apply.

Install and connect

git clone https://github.com/jdotc1/prism-native-mcp.git
cd prism-native-mcp
uv sync --locked --python 3.12

Configure your MCP client to launch the installed entry point. For clients using an mcpServers configuration, the entry is:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "prism-native": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/prism-native-mcp/.venv/bin/prism-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Replace the example path with your checkout's actual absolute path. Client configuration formats vary. bin/prism-mcp is an optional checkout-relative launcher that resolves the checkout from its own location.

Call prism_capabilities first. Installed application, available control, connected transport, and recorded native verification are separate states. The check reads local application/window state; it does not run a new editing acceptance test.

You can inspect capabilities through the diagnostic CLI too:

.venv/bin/prism-native capabilities
.venv/bin/prism-native --help

Create a synthetic document

After the capability check, call prism_create_document with the following tool arguments. Replace path with a new absolute .prism destination in an existing directory:

{
  "path": "/absolute/path/to/new-synthetic-example.prism",
  "tables": [
    {
      "name": "Synthetic example",
      "units": "arbitrary units",
      "columns": [
        {"label": "Group A", "values": [1.5, 2.0, 3.25, 4.0]},
        {"label": "Group B", "values": [2.0, 3.5, 4.25, 5.0]}
      ]
    }
  ],
  "layout": true
}

This supplies observations to the bundled synthetic two-group Column workflow. Use original observations for your own work; a rendered figure, precomputed density, or static annotation is not a substitute for the native analysis input.

Then use these tools as needed:

The server definitions expose the full argument schema. The capability guide defines which operations and variants have historical native evidence.

Preserve documents and recover safely

Work on owned copies. Ordinary mutations refuse dirty or unknown target-document state; prism_save_document explicitly saves the named document's current edits. Controlled operations can close/reopen clean targets. Prism can autosave, so Save As does not undo an earlier source modification.

Native mutations share an operation lock. Preserve returned run IDs: a timeout can leave native work running, and cooperative cancellation does not guarantee interruption. Inspect operation status and matching native evidence before retrying. Successful dispatch or a disappearing progress panel does not by itself establish completion.

Recovery clears the relevant quarantine only when the required terminal evidence matches; it does not retry a failed mutation or mark it successful. Do not delete quarantine files or force-terminate Prism to bypass recovery. Missing or ambiguous displays/controls are refused rather than guessed. See native control and recovery.

Detailed operation records live under the current user's application-support directory and can include document paths, values, and diagnostic text. Review records before sharing. The integration controls Prism through Apple Events and selected native UI adapters; it does not patch the installed application or expose a generic shell/script execution MCP tool.

Evidence and limits

The verification record summarizes dated historical native acceptance for template creation, observation updates, selected graph/layout controls, exports, and selected failure/recovery cases. These are maintainer summaries of the development baseline; detailed private records and study inputs are not distributed. They do not qualify every exposed operation or a different Prism version.

The public seed changes two local author-metadata fields to the maintainer's GitHub handle and preserves its other archive members. Native Prism runtime acceptance has not been repeated for the public export. Source tests and packaging checks must not be presented as native acceptance. The v0.1.0 release notes record the public package checks separately.

Exact appearance matching, arbitrary inferential analyses, and new multiple-variable graph creation are not claimed. Native distributions and summary conventions can differ from another plotting engine or a reference figure. Review the actual exports and any derived static labels for your use.

Development

Synthetic/offline tests are included. They mock native dispatch where needed and do not establish live application behavior.

uv sync --locked --group dev
.venv/bin/python -m pytest tests

Two synthetic acceptance runners in experiments support analysis-parameter comparisons and failure/recovery work. These are manual tools, not automatic installation or CI steps. Read their options and source, and use an explicitly chosen disposable native session. Reuse accepted evidence when inputs have not changed.

Contributing and license

See CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md. Use synthetic examples in public reports; include the server and Prism versions and the relevant operation, without confidential datasets, credentials, or unredacted runtime records.

Project source is MIT-licensed. GraphPad Prism and dependencies retain their own terms; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. The seed is a maintainer-created synthetic document. No Prism executable, license, installation resource, or vendor demonstration archive is distributed.