Reachy Mini MCP

Give your AI a body.

This MCP server lets AI systems control Pollen Robotics' Reachy Mini robot—speak, listen, see, and express emotions through physical movement. Works with Claude, GPT, Grok, or any MCP-compatible AI.

7 tools. 30 minutes to first demo. Zero robotics expertise required.

---

For AI Systems

Token-efficient tool reference for programmatic use:

Tool	Args	Purpose
speak	text, listen_after=0	Voice + gesture, optionally listen after
listen	duration=3	STT via Deepgram Nova-2
snap	-	Camera capture (base64 JPEG)
show	emotion, move=""	Express emotion or play recorded move
look	roll, pitch, yaw, z, duration	Head positioning (degrees)
rest	mode="neutral"	neutral / sleep / wake
discover	library="emotions"	Find available recorded moves

speak()

Supports embedded move markers for choreographed speech:

speak("[move:curious1] What's this? [move:surprised1] Oh wow!")

Moves fire right before their speech chunk. Use listen_after=5 to hear response.

show()

Built-in emotions (fast, local): neutral, curious, uncertain, recognition, joy, thinking, listening, agreeing, disagreeing, sleepy, surprised, focused

Recorded moves (81 from Pollen):

show(move="loving1")
show(move="fear1")
show(move="serenity1")

Use discover() to see all available moves.

---

Quick Start

# Install
cd reachy-mini-mcp
poetry install

# Set API key (required for speak/listen)
export DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=your_key_here

# Start simulator daemon
mjpython -m reachy_mini.daemon.app.main --sim --scene minimal

# Run MCP server
poetry run python src/server.py

Architecture

AI (Claude/GPT/Grok) → MCP Server → SDK → Daemon → Robot/Simulator

7 tools following Miller's Law—fits in working memory.

Voice Providers

Provider	Status	Use Case
Grok Voice	✅ Supported	xAI's expressive voice (Eve, Ara, Leo, Rex, Sal)
Deepgram	✅ Supported	TTS (Aura 2) + STT (Nova 2)

Grok Voice is used automatically when XAI_API_KEY is set. Falls back to Deepgram otherwise.

MCP Config

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reachy-mini": {
      "command": "poetry",
      "args": ["-C", "/path/to/reachy-mini-mcp", "run", "python", "src/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "DEEPGRAM_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reachy-mini": {
      "command": "poetry",
      "args": ["-C", "/path/to/reachy-mini-mcp", "run", "python", "src/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "DEEPGRAM_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Purpose
XAI_API_KEY	No	-	Grok Voice TTS (preferred)
GROK_VOICE	No	Eve	Grok voice: Ara, Eve, Leo, Rex, Sal, Mika, Valentin
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY	Yes*	-	TTS (fallback) + STT
REACHY_DAEMON_URL	No	http://localhost:8321/api	Daemon API endpoint

*Required if XAI_API_KEY not set

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• reachy-mini SDK (installed via poetry)
• MuJoCo (for simulation)
• Deepgram API key (for speak/listen)

Hardware Notes

• Simulator: mjpython required on macOS for MuJoCo visualization
• Real hardware: Same MCP server, daemon auto-connects
• Port conflicts: Zenoh uses 7447, daemon uses 8321 by default

License

MIT License - see LICENSE

Acknowledgments

• Reachy Mini SDK by Pollen Robotics (Apache 2.0)
• Grok Voice integration pattern from dillera's reachy_mini_conversation_app

Links

• Reachy Mini SDK (Apache 2.0)
• FastMCP
• MCP Protocol
• mVara