Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)

Give your AI assistant full control over Arduino - compile, upload, monitor serial, and verify wiring safety, all through natural language. Its 23 documented tools cover serial, arduino, cli, board. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People connecting DevOps & monitoring tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in JavaScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-22 · ★ 16 · #26 OF 101 MAINTAINED DEVOPS & MONITORING · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · JavaScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)

before you install - you'll need

Set ARDUINO_CLI_PATH, ARDUINO_SKETCH_ROOT before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add hardware-mcp-arduino-mcp-server -- npx -y arduino-mcp-server

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hardware-mcp-arduino-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "arduino-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package arduino-mcp-server - unscoped; check the name against the project README before installing

registry namespace io.github.hardware-mcp is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can detect connected boards and infer FQBNs, list all connected Arduino boards, list available serial ports, and upload compiled sketch to a board.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) lets an agent do.

Serial

8 tools - e.g. List available serial ports; Open a stateful serial session; Read buffered serial data

list_serial_ports · serial_open_session · serial_read · serial_expect · serial_write · serial_close_session…

Arduino

4 tools - e.g. Check Arduino CLI installation and version; Guide through arduino-cli installation; policy for arduino-cli setup behavior

arduino_cli_doctor · install_arduino_cli · arduino-cli-bootstrap-policy · arduino-setup-assistant

Board

3 tools - e.g. Get pin/capability details for a board; Browse board pin reference; Search board reference by keyword

get_board_details · list_board_reference · search_board_reference

read & search

2 tools - e.g. List all connected Arduino boards; List all boards arduino-cli supports

list_connected_boards · list_supported_boards

create & write

2 tools - e.g. Upload compiled sketch to a board; Upload and wait for device ready signal

upload_sketch · upload_and_wait_ready

Detect

1 tool - e.g. Detect connected boards and infer FQBNs

detect_hardware

Ensure

1 tool - e.g. Check/install board cores

ensure_core_installed

Compile

1 tool - e.g. Compile a sketch for a target board

compile_sketch

Latest releases

v0.2.8 · 2026-03-08

v0.2.7 · 2026-03-02

Build an mcpb package to support Claude Desktop via MCP

v0.2.6 · 2026-03-01

Added CI/CD pipeline to auto update npm artifactory and MCP Registry · Normalize bin path to satisfy npm pkg fix · Release/0.2.3 · More MCP Features · remove manifest validate step and shorten registry description

04 · Who maintains Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)

Arduino MCP Server is maintained by hardware-mcp. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Feb 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/hardware-mcp/arduino-mcp-server
website: https://github.com/hardware-mcp/arduino-mcp-server
category: DevOps & monitoring - ranked #26 of 101 actively-maintained DevOps & monitoring servers as of 2026-08-25.
registry: io.github.hardware-mcp/arduino-mcp-server (active, first published 2026-03-08)
packages: npm:arduino-mcp-server

06 · Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) FAQ

Is Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-22. We re-verify nightly.

What can Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) do?

With this server connected, an agent can detect connected boards and infer FQBNs, list all connected Arduino boards, list available serial ports, and upload compiled sketch to a board.

How do I install Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)?

Run `npx -y arduino-mcp-server`. The README documents 2 environment variables (ARDUINO_CLI_PATH, ARDUINO_SKETCH_ROOT) to set first. Set ARDUINO_CLI_PATH, ARDUINO_SKETCH_ROOT before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)

Alternatives to Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp)

Maintained DevOps & monitoring servers if Arduino MCP Server (hardware-mcp) isn't the fit.

Pairs well with

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