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Ros

The ROS MCP Server supports robot control by converting user-issued natural language commands into ROS or ROS2 control commands.

developer-tools
By lpigeon
1.3k198Updated 4 days agoPythonApache-2.0

Installation

npx -y ros-mcp-server

Configuration

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

How to use

  1. Run the installation command above (if needed)
  2. Open your Claude Code settings file (~/.claude/settings.json)
  3. Add the configuration to the mcpServers section
  4. Restart Claude Code to apply changes

README

View on GitHub

ROS MCP Server 🧠⇄🤖

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<!-- mcp-name: io.github.robotmcp/ros-mcp-server --> <p align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/robotmcp/ros-mcp-server/blob/main/docs/images/framework.png"/> </p>

ROS-MCP-Server connects large language models (such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini) to robots, enabling bidirectional communication with no changes to existing robot source code.

Why ROS-MCP?

  • No robot source code changes → just add the rosbridge node to your existing ROS setup.
  • True two-way communication → LLMs can both control robots and observe everything happening on the Robot.
  • Full context → publish & subscribe to topics, call services & actions, set parameters, read sensor data, and monitor robot state in real time.
  • Deep ROS understanding → guides the LLM to discover available topics, services, actions, and their types (including custom ones) — enabling it to use them with the right syntax without manual configuration.
  • Works with any MCP client → built on the open MCP standard, supporting Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, and more.
  • Works across ROS versions → compatible across ROS 2 (Jazzy, Humble, and others) and ROS 1 distros.

🎥 Examples in Action

<p align="center"> <a href="https://youtu.be/Yy1loJAn9sA"> <img src="https://github.com/robotmcp/ros-mcp-server/blob/main/docs/images/MCP%20Demos%20Slide%20-%207to12s.gif" alt="ROS MCP demos" /> </a> </p>

🏭 Example - AI Agent diagnosis of Industrial Robot End Effector (Video)

  • The MCP server connects Claude to a production industrial robot, with only the technician manuals as reference.
  • Claude discovers the robot's custom topic and service types and their syntax on its own.
  • From a single prompt to test the gripper, it reads the manuals, runs its own tests, finds an anomaly, and reports the root cause.
<p align="center"> <a href="https://youtu.be/EhZNFULz9P4"> <img src="https://github.com/robotmcp/ros-mcp-server/blob/main/docs/images/ROS%20MCP%20Gripper%20vacuum%20test.jpg" width="400" alt="Testing and debugging an industrial robot" /> </a> </p>

🤖 Example - Controlling "Wilson" with natural language (video)
From a single prompt — "Grab a Coke from the fridge & go to the living room." — Google Gemini uses the MCP server to navigate and manipulate autonomously. Built on ROS 2 with Nav2 (SLAM) for mapping and navigation, and MoveIt to command the manipulator.

<p align="center"> <a href="https://www.traceglarue.com/wilson"> <img src="https://github.com/robotmcp/ros-mcp-server/blob/main/docs/images/Wilson%20thumbnail.jpg" width="400" alt="Wilson robot controlled with natural language" /> </a> </p>

🐕 Example - Controlling Unitree Go2 in NVIDIA Isaac Sim (video)
The MCP server connects Claude to a simulated Unitree Go2 quadruped in NVIDIA Isaac Sim, interpreting natural language commands to navigate and control the robot.

<p align="center"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9StFx4lnvmc"> <img src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/9StFx4lnvmc/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" alt="Controlling Unitree Go2 in NVIDIA Isaac Sim" /> </a> </p>

🛠 Getting Started

Follow the installation guide to get started.

ROS-MCP works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

<p align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/robotmcp/ros-mcp-server/blob/main/docs/images/MCP_topology.png"/> </p>

📚 More Examples & Tutorials

Browse our examples to see the server in action.
We welcome community PRs with new examples and integrations!

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions of all kinds:

  • Bug fixes and documentation updates
  • New features (e.g., Action support, permissions)
  • Additional examples and tutorials

Check out the contributing guidelines and see issues tagged good first issue to get started.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

View source on GitHub

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