accform-layout-mcp

Local MCP server and CLI for Access layout files (*.bas, SaveAsText), rendered to SVG without Microsoft Access. This lets you visually verify form/report layout changes directly.

Features

• MCP tools: render_form, render_form_svg, list_forms

• CLI: accform-cli for single-file and batch rendering

• Default output under rendered/YYYY-MM-DD/

• Optional PNG export via cairosvg

Related MCP server: mcp-sketch

Installation

Install from repository

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install .

Optional PNG support:

pip install ".[png]"

Start the MCP server

After installation:

accform-layout-mcp

Alternative (directly from repository):

python server.py

Use the CLI

Render a single file:

accform-cli path/to/F_Contract.bas

Render multiple files in one run:

accform-cli forms/F_Contract.bas forms/F_Customer.bas

Use a custom output directory:

accform-cli forms/F_Contract.bas -o out/svg

Generate optional PNG output:

accform-cli forms/F_Contract.bas --png

Show all options:

accform-cli --help

MCP in VS Code Copilot (Agent Mode)

Example for .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "accform-layout": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["${workspaceFolder}/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "ACCFORM_SRC_ROOT": "${workspaceFolder}"
      }
    }
  }
}

ACCFORM_SRC_ROOT limits file discovery to your project folder.

Tool behavior

• render_form(form, scale_mode="Universal")

  • renders SVG to rendered/YYYY-MM-DD/...

  • returns the path to the generated file

• render_form_svg(form, scale_mode="Universal")

  • returns SVG markup as text

  • also writes the same SVG file to disk

• list_forms()

  • lists all detected layout *.bas files under ACCFORM_SRC_ROOT

What rendering includes

Static rendering includes declarative designer state:

• positions, sizes, captions

• absolute colors

• visible/hidden controls (hidden controls are dimmed)

It does not include runtime VBA behavior, for example:

• Form_Load logic

• dynamic RecordSource

• conditional formatting

• data-driven subforms

Fidelity

Faithfully ported: parse tree, twips-to-pixel conversion, section stacking, painter order, and renderers for Label/TextBox/ComboBox/ListBox/CommandButton/Rectangle/Line, including OLE color conversion.

Reconstructed: CheckBox/OptionButton, Image, Tab, Subform, OptionGroup, placeholder rendering, and theme color references.

Development

Install dependencies from requirements.txt:

pip install -r requirements.txt

License

MIT. See LICENSE.