mcpyvisa

22 Tools

Four tool categories covering the full stack: universal instrument control, GPIB bus operations, AR488 adapter management, and pymeasure-validated drivers.

pymeasure Drivers

8 instruments have validated pymeasure drivers. Out-of-range values are rejected before reaching hardware — protecting expensive equipment from bad commands.

Multi-Backend

Connect AR488 serial adapters, USB-TMC instruments, LAN/VXI-11 devices, and NI-VISA resources simultaneously. Run cross-backend workflows with concurrent access across independent buses.

Zero-Config Discovery

Auto-discover instruments on connect. Devices are identified via *IDN? and registered for immediate use. Address by VISA resource string or friendly alias — no manual mapping required.

How it works

graph LR
    LLM["Your LLM"]
    MCP["mcpyvisa<br/>FastMCP Server"]
    RM["pyvisa<br/>ResourceManager(s)"]

    AR["AR488<br/>Serial / WiFi"]
    PY["pyvisa-py<br/>USB-TMC / LAN"]
    NI["NI-VISA<br/>System"]

    INST1["GPIB<br/>Instruments"]
    INST2["USB / LAN<br/>Instruments"]
    INST3["Any VISA<br/>Instrument"]

    LLM -- "MCP" --> MCP
    MCP --> RM
    RM --> AR
    RM --> PY
    RM --> NI
    AR --> INST1
    PY --> INST2
    NI --> INST3

    style LLM fill:#78350f,stroke:#d97706,color:#fde68a
    style MCP fill:#78350f,stroke:#d97706,color:#fde68a
    style RM fill:#451a03,stroke:#d97706,color:#fde68a
    style AR fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0
    style PY fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0
    style NI fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0
    style INST1 fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0
    style INST2 fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0
    style INST3 fill:#334155,stroke:#94a3b8,color:#e2e8f0

See it in action

A typical session: discover instruments across backends, identify them by alias, take a measurement, and read the result.

> What instruments are available?

Server status: 2 backend(s), 4 instrument(s)
  bench-a (ar488, serial): connected
    GPIB0::5::INSTR  — Agilent Technologies E3631A (alias: psu)
    GPIB0::22::INSTR — KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS INC.,MODEL 2000 (alias: dmm)
  lan-rack (pyvisa-py): connected
    TCPIP::192.168.1.10::INSTR — Tektronix TDS2024B (alias: scope)
    USB0::0x0957::0x0607::MY12345::INSTR — Agilent 34461A (alias: bench-dmm)

> What voltage is the dmm reading?

Reading "voltage" property via pymeasure driver...
Result: 4.23451

The Keithley 2000 (alias "dmm") is reading 4.23451 VDC.
(pymeasure driver handled SCPI commands and response parsing)

Quick Install

uv

uv add mcpyvisa

pip

pip install mcpyvisa

From Source

git clone https://git.supported.systems/warehack.ing/mcgpib.git
cd mcgpib
uv run mcpyvisa

Add to Claude Code:

claude mcp add mcpyvisa -- uvx mcpyvisa

Capabilities

Category	Tools	Description
Universal	8	Connect backends, discover instruments, query, write, identify, and reset — works with any pyvisa backend
GPIB	7	Serial poll, SRQ check, bus trigger, interface clear, instrument clear, local/remote control
AR488	3	Raw ++ commands, extended diagnostics, and AR488-specific configuration
pymeasure	4	Validated inspect, get, set, and call through pymeasure drivers