firehose-mcp

A native Python MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the Qualcomm Firehose protocol.

WHAT THIS IS

After a Qualcomm EDL device has been brought up with a Firehose programmer (e.g. prog_firehose_ddr.elf) via the sibling sahara-mcp project, the device speaks the Firehose protocol: an XML command/response stream over USB bulk endpoints. firehose-mcp implements that client side and exposes it to LLM agents through MCP tools: configure, read/write/erase partitions, query storage info, send raw XML, and reset.

Related MCP server: mcp-uart

⚠️ ALPHA — NOT TESTED ON REAL HARDWARE

This code is derived from public protocol documentation and the linux-msm/qdl (BSD-3-Clause) reference. It has not been validated against a real Firehose programmer. Do not flash production devices with it without careful review and testing on disposable hardware. Use of this tool to alter device storage is entirely at your own risk.

Feature list

• firehose_configure — send <configure> with MemoryName, MaxPayloadSizeToTargetInBytes=1048576, ZlpAwareHost=1, etc.

• firehose_get_storage_info — issue <getstorageinfo> and decode the JSON geometry (LUNs, block sizes, total blocks) returned in the log stream.

• firehose_program_from_file / firehose_read_partition / firehose_erase_partition — the <program> / <read> / <erase> XML commands with raw binary data streaming.

• firehose_raw_xml — dump an arbitrary XML string with the packet framing and return the device's <response> XML.

• firehose_reset — issue the <power value="reset"> XML.

• firehose_list_devices — enumerate visible Qualcomm EDL devices.

Responses are decoded by regex; ACK is surfaced as a success, NAK is surfaced with its rawdata payload.

Windows driver note (Zadig / WinUSB)

On Windows the Qualcomm EDL device must be bound to a WinUSB-capable driver so that libusb/pyusb can claim it:

1. Put the device into EDL mode (it enumerates as Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008).

2. Open Zadig, select the device, and replace the driver with WinUSB / libusb-win32.

3. Load the Firehose programmer first (see sahara-mcp), then connect with this server.

On Linux, ensure modemmanager/ModemManager is not grabbing the device.

pip install

pip install "mcp" "pyusb>=1.2"
# or, from this directory:
pip install -e .

pyusb also needs a libusb backend (bundled by libusb packages; see the driver note above for Windows).

Example usage (as an MCP server)

Run the server:

python firehose_mcp_server.py

Then connect an MCP client and call tools, e.g.:

firehose_configure(memory_name="emmc")
firehose_get_storage_info(lun=0)
firehose_read_partition(partition=0, file_path="dump.bin", num_sectors=16)
firehose_raw_xml(xml="<?xml version=\"1.0\" ?><data><response value=\"ACK\"/></data>")
firehose_reset()

Protocol reference

The wire format and XML command layouts are derived from the authoritative BSD-3-Clause reference implementation:

• https://github.com/linux-msm/qdl — src/firehose.c, src/usb.c (Linaro Ltd / Qualcomm).

Key facts taken from that reference:

• The host sends commands raw as XML over the USB bulk endpoints; no host-side packet framing is added (src/usb.c usb_write, src/firehose.c firehose_write).

• Responses come back as one or more <?xml ...?><data> documents (<log value="...">, <response value="ACK"/>, <response value="NAK" rawdata="..."/>, rawmode="true" for binary transfers).

• Configure XML, storage-info JSON-in-log decoding, and the program/read/ erase/reset XML shapes mirror src/firehose.c.

The "fastboot-like" magic/command words and the NOP;NOP;NOP; preamble are produced by the programmer firmware itself and are not in the BSD host reference; the inferred framing constants in the source are explicitly marked inferred + untested.

License

GPL-3.0 — see LICENSE. Copyright (c) 2026 libertyrights. Protocol facts reference linux-msm/qdl (BSD-3-Clause). No GPL code is imported or linked beyond our own.