ROS2 MCP Server

A Python implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for ROS2. This server enables AI tooling to connect with ROS2 nodes, topics, and services using the MCP standard over stdio. It is designed to be the easiest ROS2 server to configure in the world.

🎯 Why Choose This MCP Server?

Save hours of development time with native AI integration for your ROS2 projects:

• ⚡ 1-minute setup - World's easiest ROS2 MCP configuration
• 0️⃣ Zero-friction setup - stdio transport, no brokers, no webserver.
• 🔌 Auto-discovery - a built-in “list interfaces” tool dynamically enumerates available topics and services together with their message/service definitions (fields, types, schema) — so the client always knows exactly what data can be published or called.
• 🤖 AI-powered debugging - Let AI help you troubleshoot ROS2 issues in real-time
• 📊 Smart data analysis - Query your robot's sensor data using natural language
• 🚀 Boost productivity - Control robots, analyze logs, and debug issues through AI chat
• 💡 No ROS2 expertise required - AI translates your requests into proper ROS2 commands

Perfect for: Robotics developers, researchers, students, and anyone working with ROS2 who wants to leverage AI for faster development and debugging.

🌍 Real-world examples:

✨ Features

• List available topics
• List available services
• Call service
• Get messages from data storage systems (influxDB alternative to Rosbag2)
• Subscribe topic to get messages
• Publish message on topic
• Echo message on topic
• Get fields from message type

Note: To call service with custom service source it before start server.

⚙️ Installation

Follow the installation guide for step-by-step instructions:

• 🧩 Install in Visual Studio Code Copilot
• 🤖 Install in Claude Desktop
• 💻 Install in Warp
• 🐳 Build Docker Image locally

🔧 ROS 2 Tools

📋 Topics

Tool	Description	Inputs	Outputs
ros2_topic_list	Returns list of available topics	–	topic_name (string): Topic name <br> topic_type (string): Message type
ros2_topic_subscribe	Subscribes to a ROS 2 topic and collects messages for a duration or message limit	topic_name (string) <br> duration (float) <br> message_limit (int) <br> (defaults: first msg, 5s)	messages <br> count <br> duration
ros2_get_messages	Retrieves past messages from a topic (data black box)	topic_name (string) <br> message_type (string) <br> number_of_msg (int) <br> time_start (str) <br> time_end (str)	timestamps <br> messages
ros2_get_message_fields	Gets field names and types for a message type	message_type (string)	Field names + types
ros2_topic_publish	Publishes message to a topic	topic_name (string) <br> message_type (string) <br> data (dict)	status

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🛠 Services

Tool	Description	Inputs	Outputs
ros2_service_list	Returns list of available services	–	service_name (string) <br> service_type (string) <br> request_fields (array)
ros2_service_call	Calls a ROS 2 service	service_name (string) <br> service_type (string) <br> fields (array) <br> force_call (bool, default: false)	result (string) <br> error (string, if any)

🐞 Debugging

Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using the MCP Inspector.

You can launch the MCP Inspector via npm with this command:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/mcp_server_ros2 run mcp_ros_2_server

Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can access in your browser to begin debugging.