SkippyMCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for controlling Rigol oscilloscopes from an AI assistant. SkippyMCP translates MCP tool calls into SCPI commands over PyVISA, so an assistant can configure channels and triggers, arm captures, read measurements, grab screenshots, pull waveform data, and read protocol-decode results.

The name is a nod to SCPI — pronounced "skippy" in the test-and-measurement world.

• Project name: SkippyMCP

• Executable: skippy-mcp

• Primary target: Rigol MSO5204 (MSO5000 series); a per-series dialect layer keeps other Rigol DSO/MSO families addable.

• Status: hardware-free stack complete (driver, dialect, simulator, MCP tools, end-to-end tests). Live-hardware smoke test pending.

Install

python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e ".[dev]"

Related MCP server: siglent-sds-mcp

Run

skippy-mcp --host 192.168.1.50          # connect over LAN, serve MCP over stdio
skippy-mcp --resource TCPIP0::scope::INSTR

Docker

docker build -t skippy-mcp:latest .
# --network host is needed to reach a link-local / same-LAN instrument:
docker run --rm -i --network host skippy-mcp:latest \
  --resource TCPIP0::<scope-ip>::5555::SOCKET

The image is pure-Python (pyvisa-py), runs as a non-root user, and serves MCP over stdio (-i).

Tools

get_identity, configure_channel, configure_logic, configure_trigger, capture, measure, screenshot, read_waveform, decode_bus, and (when --allow-raw-scpi) scpi_raw.

Develop / test

.venv/bin/pytest          # full suite, no hardware (uses the simulator)
.venv/bin/mypy            # strict type-check
.venv/bin/ruff check

Documentation

License

MIT © 2026 Mark Deazley