Keysight MCP Server for Instrument Control Download

Keysight MCP Server for Instrument Control

Control Keysight test instruments from any local MCP-compatible AI-client or AI based development environment using this tool. Download now.

What's New?

Platform & Installation

• The installer now auto-generates ready-to-use MCP client configuration files for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), and Cursor, placed in a client-configs folder with a README.txt. 
• Linux is now a supported platform (tested on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and later). A dedicated Linux installer places files under /opt/keysight/MCP/Instrument Control/ and generates the same ready-to-use AI client configuration files as Windows. On Linux, instruments are reached through a direct LAN connection; GPIB, USB, and serial (RS-232) instruments, and connection through Keysight IO Libraries Suite, NI-VISA, or R&S VISA, aren't supported there yet.

Instrument & Workflow Support

• Working with an instrument that has no IDF (commonly a non-Keysight Technologies instrument, or a Keysight virtual instrument without a published IDF) no longer hard-fails the workflow. Discovery flags the instrument up front, and command-resolution tools degrade to a warning that routes to the existing bring-your-own-SCPI + preview_commands path instead of inventing commands. 

Tools

• Every tool now carries MCP tool annotations (Read-only, Destructive, Idempotent, Open World), so an AI client can decide automatically how to handle a given tool call, for example asking for confirmation before a tool tagged Destructive. 
• New describe_commands tool: given a model and one or more existing SCPI command headers, returns each command's real IDF description, parameters, and send form, without previewing or executing anything. Use it to translate a SCPI sequence from one instrument model to another: look up each command's real meaning against the source model, then resolve the equivalent against the target model with resolve_commands before validating with preview_commands. 
• list_procedures and resolve_procedure have been removed. Their functionality now lives in search_instrument_capabilities. A keyword search still returns the complete procedure. Leaving out the keyword instead lists every procedure available for that instrument type, up to 50 at a time; search again with a keyword to see the full steps. 
• preview_commands now validates SCPI the engineer supplies directly, in either short or long form, instead of only sequences Assure generated itself. For an instrument with no matching IDF, it checks any commands it recognizes as universal (such as *IDN? and *OPC?) and marks the rest as unchecked, rather than blocking the preview. 
• Resolving and previewing a SCPI sequence no longer requires the instrument to be connected or powered on. Only execute_commands needs the instrument reachable; if it isn't, the tool reports a clear timeout with suggested checks (power, LAN status, cabling, network path) instead of failing silently.

Defects Fixed

Tools

• Fixed an issue where searching for procedures incorrectly required specifying an instrument model.
• Fixed an issue where some SCPI parameter enum values defined in an instrument's IDF (for example, sweep modes or step lists) were missing from search results and command resolution.
• Fixed an issue where long instructions sent to the MCP server could be truncated.

IDF & Instrument Communication

• Fixed IDF matching so firmware version strings using wildcard placeholders resolve correctly.
• Fixed an issue where instrument discovery intermittently returned only instruments known to Keysight Connection Expert, omitting other auto-discovered devices.
• Fixed binary data handling over the direct socket connection method, affecting waveform file transfers and some query responses.

Installer

• Fixed a momentary flashing background window during Windows installation.

Known Issues

• The SOLT calibration procedure (na_calibration_solt) supports 1-port calibration only. 2-port SOLT is not yet available.
• Session state is held in memory. Restarting the MCP server clears all session context, including discovered instruments and logged results.

Keysight MCP Server for Instrument Control

First public preview release (Beta)

Control Keysight test instruments from any local MCP-compatible AI-client or AI based development environment using this tool. Download now.