QGIS MCP

Connect QGIS to Claude AI through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling Claude to directly control QGIS — manage layers, edit features, run processing algorithms, render maps, and more.

51 MCP tools covering layer management, feature editing, processing, rendering, styling, plugin development, and system management. Compatible with QGIS 3.28–4.x. Includes a one-command installer for 6+ MCP clients.

Architecture

Claude ←→ MCP Server (FastMCP) ←→ TCP socket ←→ QGIS Plugin (QTimer) ←→ PyQGIS API

1. QGIS Plugin (qgis_mcp_plugin/) — Runs inside QGIS. Non-blocking TCP socket server that processes JSON commands within QGIS's event loop.

2. MCP Server (src/qgis_mcp/server.py) — Runs outside QGIS. Exposes QGIS operations as MCP tools via FastMCP.

Prerequisites

• QGIS 3.28 or newer

• Python 3.12+

• uv package manager — install uv

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp.git
cd qgis-mcp

2. Install with the one-command installer (recommended)

python install.py

This will:

• Symlink the QGIS plugin into your QGIS profile

• Configure your MCP client(s) — supports Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Windsurf, and Zed

Options: --non-interactive --clients claude-desktop,cursor for CI, --remote for uvx-based installs, --profile myprofile for non-default QGIS profiles, --uninstall to remove.

Restart QGIS, then enable the plugin: Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins > search "QGIS MCP" > check the box.

Install the QGIS plugin manually

Copy (or symlink) the qgis_mcp_plugin/ folder into your QGIS plugins directory:

Find your plugins folder: In QGIS, go to Settings > User Profiles > Open Active Profile Folder, then navigate to python/plugins/.

# Example on Linux (symlink recommended for development)
ln -s /path/to/qgis-mcp/qgis_mcp_plugin ~/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/qgis_mcp_plugin

Restart QGIS, then enable the plugin: Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins > search "QGIS MCP" > check the box.

Connect your MCP client manually

Claude Code — project-level config (recommended)

Create a .mcp.json file at the root of your clone:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "src/qgis_mcp/server.py"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/qgis-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code automatically detects .mcp.json when you open the project — no manual claude mcp add needed.

Claude Code — one-liner (remote install)

claude mcp add --transport stdio qgis-mcp -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp qgis-mcp-server

Claude Desktop

Go to Claude > Settings > Developer > Edit Config and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "src/qgis_mcp/server.py"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/qgis-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or for a remote install without cloning:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qgis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from", "git+https://github.com/nkarasiak/qgis-mcp",
        "qgis-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor / other MCP clients

Use the same JSON configuration above in your client's MCP settings file.

Usage

1. Start the plugin — In QGIS, click the MCP toolbar button (or Plugins > QGIS MCP) and click "Start Server"

2. Talk to Claude — The MCP tools will appear automatically. Ask Claude to work with your QGIS project.

Example prompt

You have access to QGIS tools. Do the following:
1. Ping to check the connection
2. Create a new project and save it at "/tmp/my_project.qgz"
3. Load the vector layer "/data/cities.shp" and name it "Cities"
4. Get field statistics for the "population" field
5. Create a graduated symbology on the "population" field with 5 classes
6. Render the map and show me the result
7. Save the project

Tools (51)

All tools are async with human-readable titles and annotations (readOnly, destructive, idempotent). Destructive tools ask for confirmation via MCP elicitation when supported; clients without elicitation proceed normally (fail-open) since tools are already gated by ToolAnnotations. Long-running tools report progress via MCP logging.

Compound tool mode

Set QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound to reduce the 51 granular tools to ~19 grouped tools, cutting schema overhead per LLM turn. Each compound tool takes an action parameter:

QGIS_MCP_TOOL_MODE=compound uv run --no-sync src/qgis_mcp/server.py

Groups: system, project, layer, features, selection, style, canvas, render, processing, code, batch, layer_tree, plugins, variables, settings, expression, transform, message_log, layer_property.

Configuration

Development

# Run unit tests (no QGIS needed — mocked socket)
uv run --no-sync pytest tests/test_mcp_tools.py -v

# Run integration tests (requires QGIS plugin running)
uv run --no-sync pytest tests/test_qgis_live.py -v

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL v2 or later.