Arduino MCP Server

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Arduino CLI interactions, built with FastMCP. This server enables AI agents to seamlessly interact with Arduino CLI for development, debugging, code verification, and more.

Features

🛠️ Tools (All 3 MCP Pillars)

• CLI Management: Check installation, get help for commands

• Board Detection: List connected boards, find Arduino ports, auto-detect best port

• Core Management: Search, install, and list Arduino cores

• Library Management: Search, install, and list Arduino libraries

• Sketch Operations: Create, compile, and upload sketches

• Enhanced Serial Monitor: Bidirectional communication, buffering, file export

• Image Conversion: Convert images to C arrays for display applications (requires ImageMagick)

• Configuration: Initialize config, clean cache

📚 Resources

• sketch://{path} - Read Arduino sketch files (.ino, .cpp, .h)

• arduino-config://main - Access Arduino CLI configuration

• board-info://{fqbn} - Get detailed board information

💡 Prompts

• Blink LED Example: Basic LED blinking sketch template

• Sensor Reading Example: Analog sensor reading template

• Sketch Project Workflow: IDE-like experience with board attach

• Full Development Workflow: Complete Arduino development guide

• Troubleshooting Guide: Common issues and solutions

🚀 Advanced Features

• Logging: Comprehensive logging with info, warning, error levels (source)

• Progress Reporting: Real-time progress updates for long operations (source)

• Context Integration: Full MCP context support for enhanced interactions (source)

• Annotations: Proper tool annotations for better UX (readOnly, destructive, openWorld hints)

Related MCP server: FastMCP Server

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+

• uv (Python package manager)

• Arduino CLI

• ImageMagick (optional, for image conversion)

Environment Variables

Customize the server behavior with these optional environment variables:

*Default sketch directories:

• Windows: %DOCUMENTS%\Arduino

• macOS: ~/Documents/Arduino

• Linux: ~/Arduino

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd arduino-mcp

2. Install dependencies with uv:

uv sync

3. Install Arduino CLI:

# Windows (using winget)
winget install ArduinoSA.CLI

# macOS
brew install arduino-cli

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arduino/arduino-cli/master/install.sh | sh

Usage

Running the Server

Using uv:

uv run python -m arduino_mcp.server

Using FastMCP CLI:

uv run fastmcp run arduino_mcp/server.py:mcp

For HTTP transport:

uv run fastmcp run arduino_mcp/server.py:mcp --transport http --port 8000

Configuration for MCP Clients

For Cursor IDE

The project includes .cursor/mcp.json configuration. Cursor will automatically detect it when you open the project.

Alternatively, add to your global Cursor settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arduino": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["arduino-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For Claude Desktop

Add to your MCP configuration file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arduino": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["arduino-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Testing

To verify the Arduino MCP server is working:

# Test import
uv run python -c "from arduino_mcp import mcp; print('Server imports successfully')"

# Start the server
uv run fastmcp run arduino_mcp/server.py:mcp

Once running in Cursor IDE, you can test the tools directly in the chat interface.

Example Workflows

1. Project-Based Workflow with Board Attach (Recommended)

# Find your connected board
list_connected_boards()

# Create a new sketch
create_new_sketch("MyProject")

# Attach board settings to sketch (IDE-like experience!)
arduino_cli_command("board attach -p COM3 -b arduino:avr:uno MyProject")

# This creates sketch.yaml with your board settings

# Now compile and upload without repeating FQBN/port
compile_sketch("MyProject", "")  # Reads from sketch.yaml
upload_sketch("MyProject", "", "")  # Reads from sketch.yaml

# Monitor serial output with bidirectional communication
serial_monitor(
    port="COM3",
    baudrate=115200,
    duration=30,
    send_commands="LED ON\nLED OFF",  # Send commands to device
    save_to_file="output.log"  # Save buffer to file
)

Why use board attach?

• Settings persist per-sketch (not globally)

• No need to repeat FQBN and port every time

• Team-friendly (sketch.yaml can be version controlled)

• Works exactly like Arduino IDE 2.x

2. Basic Setup and Blink LED

# Check if Arduino CLI is installed
check_arduino_cli_installed()

# Find connected Arduino boards
list_connected_boards()
find_arduino_ports()
get_best_port()

# Create a new sketch
create_new_sketch("BlinkLED", "./sketches")

# Use the blink_led_example prompt for code template

# Compile the sketch
compile_sketch("./sketches/BlinkLED", "arduino:avr:uno")

# Upload to board
upload_sketch("./sketches/BlinkLED", "arduino:avr:uno", "COM3")

2. Basic Setup and Blink LED

# Check if Arduino CLI is installed
arduino_cli_command("version")

# Find connected Arduino boards
list_connected_boards()
list_ports(arduino_only=True)

# Create a new sketch
create_new_sketch("BlinkLED", "./sketches")

# Use the blink_led_example prompt for code template

# Compile the sketch
compile_sketch("./sketches/BlinkLED", "arduino:avr:uno")

# Upload to board
upload_sketch("./sketches/BlinkLED", "arduino:avr:uno", "COM3")

# Monitor output
serial_monitor("COM3", baudrate=115200, duration=20)

3. Library Installation and Usage

# Search for a library
search_libraries("Adafruit SSD1306")

# Install the library
install_library("Adafruit SSD1306")

# List installed libraries
list_installed_libraries()

4. Enhanced Serial Monitor Features

# Basic monitoring (115200 is now the default)
serial_monitor("COM3", duration=30)

# Send commands while monitoring (bidirectional)
serial_monitor(
    port="COM3",
    baudrate=115200,
    duration=30,
    send_commands="GET_STATUS\nSET_LED 1"
)

# Save buffer to file for analysis
serial_monitor(
    port="COM3",
    baudrate=115200,
    duration=60,
    save_to_file="sensor_data.log"
)

# Combined: send commands and save output
serial_monitor(
    port="COM3",
    baudrate=115200,
    duration=45,
    send_commands="START_LOGGING",
    save_to_file="experiment_results.txt"
)

Buffer Features:

• Circular buffer (10MB default, configurable via env var)

• Memory-safe (won't crash on long-running captures)

• Thread-safe operation

• Automatic statistics (lines captured, buffer usage)

5. Image to C Array Conversion

# Check ImageMagick installation
check_imagemagick_installed()

# Convert image to C array for Arduino displays
convert_image_to_c_array(
    "logo.png",
    width=128,
    height=64,
    var_name="logo_bitmap",
    output_file="logo.h"
)

6. Resource Access

# Read a sketch file
read_resource("sketch://./BlinkLED/BlinkLED.ino")

# Get Arduino configuration
read_resource("arduino-config://main")

# Get board details
read_resource("board-info://arduino:avr:uno")

Tools Reference

Board & Port Detection

• check_arduino_cli_installed() - Verify Arduino CLI installation

• list_connected_boards() - List all connected Arduino boards

• list_serial_ports() - List all serial ports

• find_arduino_ports() - Find Arduino-specific ports

• get_best_port() - Auto-detect best port candidate

• verify_port(port) - Verify if a port is accessible

Core Management

• list_installed_cores() - List installed Arduino cores

• search_cores(query) - Search for Arduino cores

• install_core(core) - Install an Arduino core

Library Management

• search_libraries(query) - Search for Arduino libraries

• install_library(library) - Install an Arduino library

• list_installed_libraries() - List installed libraries

Sketch Operations

• create_new_sketch(name, path) - Create a new Arduino sketch

• compile_sketch(path, fqbn) - Compile an Arduino sketch

• upload_sketch(path, fqbn, port) - Upload sketch to board

Utilities

• get_arduino_help(command) - Get help for Arduino CLI commands

• initialize_config() - Initialize Arduino CLI configuration

• clean_cache() - Clean Arduino CLI cache

• check_imagemagick_installed() - Check ImageMagick installation

• convert_image_to_c_array(...) - Convert images to C arrays

Common FQBNs

• Arduino Uno: arduino:avr:uno

• Arduino Mega 2560: arduino:avr:mega

• Arduino Nano: arduino:avr:nano

• Arduino Leonardo: arduino:avr:leonardo

• ESP32: esp32:esp32:esp32

• ESP8266: esp8266:esp8266:generic

Architecture

arduino-mcp/
├── arduino_mcp/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Package initialization
│   ├── server.py            # Main MCP server with tools, resources, prompts
│   ├── cli_wrapper.py       # Arduino CLI wrapper
│   ├── port_detector.py     # Serial port detection utilities
│   ├── image_converter.py   # ImageMagick image conversion
│   └── platform_utils.py    # Cross-platform OS detection & handling
├── pyproject.toml           # Project configuration
└── README.md               # This file

Cross-Platform Design

• platform_utils.py: Centralized OS detection and platform-specific behavior

• Automatic detection: Windows (COM*), macOS (/dev/tty.), Linux (/dev/ttyUSB, /dev/ttyACM*)

• Serial keywords: Platform-specific Arduino device identification

• Error handling: PermissionError for Linux, graceful fallbacks

• Path handling: OS-appropriate path separators and formats

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

References

• FastMCP Documentation

• Arduino CLI Documentation

• Model Context Protocol

• FastMCP Tools

• FastMCP Resources

• FastMCP Prompts

License

MIT License