opendtect-mcp

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that drives OpendTect headlessly — SEG‑Y import, 3D horizon auto‑tracking, ASCII export, and horizon‑agreement scoring.

It wraps two OpendTect surfaces, both public and documented:

• odpy (OpendTect's Python framework, Apache‑2.0) for database/survey introspection.

• the Command Driver (od_main --cmd script.odcmd) for GUI actions (import / track / export).

A pure‑Python scoring layer that turns two tracked horizons into quantitative numbers.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by dGB Earth Sciences. "OpendTect" is a trademark of dGB Earth Sciences; it is used here only to describe interoperability. This project ships no OpendTect code or data — it invokes a separately‑installed OpendTect via its documented interfaces.

What it exposes (MCP tools)

The GUI‑action tools accept dry_run=True to return the generated .odcmd without executing, so you can calibrate menu labels for your OD version safely.

Related MCP server: peaka-api-mcp-server

Install

cd opendtect-mcp
pip install -e .            # or: pip install -e ".[dev]" for tests

Python ≥ 3.10. odpy ships with OpendTect; if it isn't on your Python path, pip install odpy or run this server with OpendTect's bundled Python.

Configure

All via env (auto‑detects common install locations otherwise) — see .env.example:

export OPENDTECT_BIN=/path/to/od_main
export OPENDTECT_DATA_ROOT=/path/to/SurveyDataRoot
export OPENDTECT_SURVEY=YourSurvey

Verify:

python -c "from opendtect_mcp.config import ODConfig; import json; print(json.dumps(ODConfig.from_env().check(), indent=2))"

Connect to an MCP client (e.g. Claude Code)

Add to your MCP config (.mcp.json in a project, or the user‑level config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opendtect": {
      "command": "opendtect-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OPENDTECT_BIN": "/path/to/od_main",
        "OPENDTECT_DATA_ROOT": "/path/to/SurveyDataRoot",
        "OPENDTECT_SURVEY": "YourSurvey"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then ask the assistant to call survey_info first.

Status & calibration

• ✅ Works now, no OD: read_horizon, compare_horizons, all dry_run script generation, the unit tests (pytest).

• ✅ M0/M1 (introspection + import/export): functional; the .odcmd menu labels are version‑specific and may need one‑time calibration (see odcmd_templates.py, lines marked # CALIBRATE). Use dry_run=True, run against your OD, read odcmdlog.txt, adjust labels.

• 🚧 M2 (autotrack_horizon): scaffolded; seed placement is the trickiest GUI op to script and needs calibration before dry_run=False.

The Command Driver navigates the GUI by label, so a given OD version only needs calibrating once — keep validated strings in odcmd_templates.py.

See examples/horizon_tracking_comparison.md for the end‑to‑end baseline‑vs‑candidate tracking workflow.

Platform notes — headless Command Driver

The Command Driver tools (import_segy, autotrack_horizon, export_horizon_ascii) need to launch OpendTect's GUI headlessly. Status by platform:

• Linux / Windows: expected to work — OD auto‑opens the last survey, so the CD runs the .odcmd at startup. (command_driver.py builds the command + a conda‑clean environment via OpendTect's bundled odpy — getODCommand + getEnvForOpendTect — so a conda‑hosted server doesn't clash with OD's Qt libs.)

• macOS (OD 7.0.x): known blocker — not yet automatable. Two issues compound:

  1. (fixed) a conda env launching bare od_main clashes with OD's Qt libraries and the process won't start. command_driver.py fixes this by running through odpy.getEnvForOpendTect (strips CONDA_*/Qt paths, sets DTECT_APPL).

  2. (open) OD shows a modal "Survey Setup and Selection" dialog on every launch and the Command Driver cannot dismiss modal dialogs (per the Command Driver Manual). It loads before the CD plugin, so the CD never runs (no odcmdlog.txt is ever written). Driving the dialog from outside via osascript/System Events (even with Accessibility granted, and launching via open as a foreground app) reports success but does not reliably activate the dialog's button on OD's Qt widgets.

  Until this is resolved, on macOS use the GUI for the survey + tracking steps and this server only for scoring (compare_horizons, read_horizon, which need no OD). See docs/MACOS_HEADLESS_ISSUE.md for the full reproduction and the open question filed with dGB.

Layout

opendtect_mcp/
  config.py            env-driven OD/survey resolution + readiness check
  command_driver.py    write+run .odcmd, parse odcmdlog.txt
  odcmd_templates.py   parameterized .odcmd builders  (← calibrate here)
  odpy_bridge.py       odpy dbman/common wrappers (degrade gracefully)
  horizon_io.py        ASCII horizon parse + agreement scoring (no OD)
  server.py            FastMCP server + tool definitions
tests/                 no-OD unit tests
examples/              workflow guide