Which integrations are available for this server?

Provides access to ROS1 Noetic robotic systems, enabling interaction with topics, services, parameters, and nodes, as well as querying coordinate transforms and message definitions.

How do I use ROS1 Noetic MCP Server?

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., "@ROS1 Noetic MCP Server list all active topics and check the status of the /move_base node" 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.

ROS1 Noetic MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides LLM access to ROS1 Noetic robotic systems. Built with FastMCP and deployed as a Docker container.

Claude Code Quick Start

Add ROS MCP to Claude Code with a single command:

claude mcp add ros \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI=http://localhost:11311 \
  -- docker run -i --rm --network host \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI \
  ghcr.io/lopisan/ros-mcp --transport stdio

For remote ROS master:

claude mcp add ros \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI=http://192.168.1.100:11311 \
  -e ROS_IP=192.168.1.50 \
  -- docker run -i --rm --network host \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI -e ROS_IP \
  ghcr.io/lopisan/ros-mcp --transport stdio

Features

Topic Management: List, publish, subscribe, and echo ROS topics
Service Management: List and call ROS services
Parameter Management: Get, set, list, and delete ROS parameters
Node Inspection: List nodes and get detailed node information
TF Transforms: Query coordinate frame transforms, transform points/poses
Message Introspection: View message and service definitions

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose
Running ROS1 Noetic system with roscore

Running with Docker Compose

Clone this repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd ros_mcp

Set environment variables (optional):

export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://localhost:11311
export ROS_IP=127.0.0.1

Start the MCP server:

docker compose up -d

The server will be available at http://localhost:8000/mcp.

Running with stdio transport (for local development)

docker compose --profile stdio up ros-mcp-server-stdio

Testing the Server

Using MCP Inspector

The easiest way to test the MCP server is using the official MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector http://localhost:8000/mcp

This opens an interactive web UI where you can:

Browse available tools and resources
Test tool calls with custom parameters
View server responses in real-time

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`ROS_MASTER_URI`	`http://localhost:11311`	URI of the ROS master
`ROS_IP`	`127.0.0.1`	IP address of this machine for ROS networking
`MCP_TRANSPORT`	`http`	Transport mode: `http`, `sse`, or `stdio`
`MCP_PORT`	`8000`	Port for HTTP transport

MCP Client Configuration

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ros": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code Configuration

Add the MCP server to Claude Code using stdio transport:

# Local ROS master
claude mcp add ros \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI=http://localhost:11311 \
  -- docker run -i --rm --network host \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI \
  ros_mcp-ros-mcp-server --transport stdio

# Remote ROS master
claude mcp add ros \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI=http://192.168.1.100:11311 \
  -e ROS_IP=192.168.1.50 \
  -- docker run -i --rm --network host \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI -e ROS_IP \
  ros_mcp-ros-mcp-server --transport stdio

Other useful commands:

# List configured MCP servers
claude mcp list

# Remove the server
claude mcp remove ros

Available Tools

Topic Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_list_topics`	List all active ROS topics
`ros_get_topic_info`	Get detailed information about a topic
`ros_publish`	Publish a message to a topic
`ros_subscribe_once`	Get a single message from a topic
`ros_echo_topic`	Get multiple messages from a topic

Service Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_list_services`	List all available services
`ros_get_service_info`	Get service details
`ros_call_service`	Call a ROS service

Parameter Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_list_params`	List all parameters
`ros_get_param`	Get a parameter value
`ros_set_param`	Set a parameter value
`ros_delete_param`	Delete a parameter
`ros_has_param`	Check if parameter exists
`ros_search_param`	Search for a parameter

Node Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_list_nodes`	List all active nodes
`ros_get_node_info`	Get node publications, subscriptions, services
`ros_ping_node`	Check if a node is responsive
`ros_get_master_info`	Get ROS master information

Message Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_show_msg`	Show message type definition
`ros_show_srv`	Show service type definition
`ros_list_msg_types`	List available message types
`ros_list_srv_types`	List available service types
`ros_msg_md5`	Get message type MD5 sum

TF Transform Tools

Tool	Description
`ros_list_frames`	List all TF frames
`ros_lookup_transform`	Get transform between frames
`ros_can_transform`	Check if transform is available
`ros_get_frame_tree`	Get TF tree structure
`ros_transform_point`	Transform a point between frames
`ros_transform_pose`	Transform a pose between frames

Available Resources

Resource URI	Description
`ros://system/status`	System connectivity status
`ros://topics`	List of all topics
`ros://nodes`	List of all nodes
`ros://services`	List of all services
`ros://params`	List of all parameters
`ros://topic/{name}`	Topic info and latest message
`ros://node/{name}`	Node information
`ros://param/{name}`	Parameter value
`ros://tf/frames`	List of TF frames

Example Usage

List all topics

Use the ros_list_topics tool to see what topics are available.

Get robot position

Use ros_subscribe_once on the /odom topic to get the current odometry.

Send a velocity command

Use ros_publish to send a geometry_msgs/Twist message to /cmd_vel with linear.x = 0.5.

Check TF transform

Use ros_lookup_transform to get the transform from base_link to map.

Development

Building locally

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t ros-mcp-server .

# Run with custom settings
docker run --network host \
  -e ROS_MASTER_URI=http://localhost:11311 \
  ros-mcp-server

Running without Docker

Requires ROS Noetic environment:

# Source ROS
source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

# Run the server
python -m ros_mcp_server --transport http --port 8000

Project Structure

ros_mcp/
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
├── README.md
└── src/
    └── ros_mcp_server/
        ├── __init__.py
        ├── __main__.py
        ├── server.py
        ├── tools/
        │   ├── topics.py
        │   ├── services.py
        │   ├── params.py
        │   ├── nodes.py
        │   ├── messages.py
        │   └── transforms.py
        ├── resources/
        │   └── ros_resources.py
        └── utils/
            ├── ros_bridge.py
            └── message_utils.py