Epson ET-1810 MCP server

Connects Claude to an Epson ET-1810 EcoTank printer on Windows.

Read-only facts (status, ink, usage, firmware) come from the printer's own web panel over the network. Printing and queue control go through the Windows spooler, with pages rendered locally and painted onto a driver device context so print options are genuinely applied rather than ignored.

Tools

Supported files: .pdf; images .png .jpg .jpeg .bmp .gif .tif .tiff .webp; text .txt .log .md .csv.

Related MCP server: Bambu Lab MCP Server

Two honest limitations of this printer

Ink levels cannot be read. The ET-1810 is an EcoTank with no electronic ink level sensor. Epson's own web panel draws each tank as a solid grey box rather than a fill level, and this server reports the same thing: level_known: false with level_percent: null. Any tool that gives you a percentage for this model is inventing it. Check the tanks on the front of the printer.

There is no automatic two-sided printing. The driver reports supports_duplex: false, so duplex values other than simplex are rejected with an explanation instead of being silently ignored.

Setup

The printer is reached two ways, and both must work.

1. Network panel — set EPSON_PRINTER_HOST to the printer's IP address or hostname (its address is on the printer's network status sheet, or in your router's client list). Without it, the panel-backed tools say so instead of guessing.

2. Windows printer — the printer installed on a WSD port. Set EPSON_PRINTER_NAME to its name in Windows, or a unique part of it; if the variable is unset the Windows default printer is used. Installed names usually look like EPSONXXXXXX (ET-1810 Series), where the digits differ per device — check Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.

The Windows Print Spooler service must be running:

sc.exe config Spooler start= auto
sc.exe start Spooler

If the printer is not installed in Windows, add it through Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Add device, which discovers it on the network and creates a WSD connection.

Do not add it as a Standard TCP/IP (RAW, port 9100) printer. The printer accepts only these document formats, which it reports over IPP:

application/octet-stream
image/pwg-raster
application/vnd.epson.escpr

There is no PDF or PostScript in that list. Over a RAW port nothing negotiates a format, so the Microsoft IPP Class Driver sends PDF and the printer prints the PDF source as literal text (pages of /BitsPerComponent and friends). A WSD or genuine IPP connection negotiates PWG Raster, which works. Epson's own ESC/P-R driver also works if you prefer to install it.

Client configuration

.mcp.json in this repo carries placeholder values. Fill in your own printer address and Windows printer name there, or in %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "epson-et1810": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\epson-et1810-mcp\\.venv\\Scripts\\epson-mcp.exe",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "EPSON_PRINTER_HOST": "printer.local",
        "EPSON_PRINTER_NAME": "EPSON ET-1810 Series"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop needs the absolute path to the executable. The executable is self-contained in the project's virtual environment, so the client does not need uv or Python on its PATH.

Development

uv sync
.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m epson_mcp   # run the server on stdio

winprint.print_file accepts an output_file argument, which renders to a file instead of paper for drivers that support it (such as Microsoft Print to PDF). This is how the print pipeline is tested without wasting paper.