mcp-remote-access

SSH and serial-port control for embedded devices over MCP — log into a Raspberry Pi, talk to a UART, drive a USB-CDC console from your assistant.
Drive it from your IDE, terminal, or AI agent and let the model run the lab bench for you.

Quick start ·
Tools ·
Workflows ·
Documentation

What is mcp-remote-access?

mcp-remote-access is an MCP server that exposes SSH (over paramiko)
and serial / UART (over pyserial) as MCP tools. It's the "give the
agent root on the bench" MCP — once it's running, your assistant can
log into a Pi, run commands, transfer files, open the serial console,
send AT-style command sequences, and reset a device over DTR/RTS.

It's deliberately thin: 24 tools, two transports, no orchestration
language. Higher-level workflow logic lives in your agent's prompts.

What it does well:

• 🤖 AI-native via MCP. First-class Model Context Protocol
  server with 24 tools across SSH and UART.
• 🐍 Embedded-friendly. Connect to a serial port by VID / PID /
  serial / description match — no more guessing /dev/ttyUSB0 vs
  /dev/ttyUSB1.
• ⏳ Background SSH commands. Long-running commands (make,
  pytest, tcpdump) run async via ssh_execute_background; poll
  with ssh_check_background.
• 🤝 Prompt-aware UART. serial_expect and serial_wait_for
  handle login prompts, AT-style flows, and bootloader handshakes
  without race conditions.
• 🔌 DTR / RTS control. Hard-reset MCUs over USB-serial, send
  break signals, hold the boot pin low — the usual embedded tricks.
• 🔒 AGPL-3.0-or-later. Memory-only credentials, no on-disk session store.

Quick start

Install

git clone https://github.com/RFingAdam/mcp-remote-access.git
cd mcp-remote-access
uv pip install -e .

Two surfaces, same answer

uv run --directory /path/to/mcp-remote-access \
  mcp-remote-access

codex mcp add remote-access -- \
  uv run --directory /path/to/mcp-remote-access mcp-remote-access

claude mcp add remote-access -- \
  uv run --directory /path/to/mcp-remote-access mcp-remote-access

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-access": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/mcp-remote-access", "mcp-remote-access"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

24 MCP tools across two transports. Full reference in docs/tools.md.

SSH (9)

Serial / UART (15)

Workflows

mcp-remote-access fits in the following eng-mcp-suite
workflow bundles:

• lab-automation — pair with mcp-rs-spectrum-analyzer,
  mcp-rs-siggen, copper-mountain-vna-mcp to fully script a
  bench (DUT login over SSH or UART, lab gear over SCPI).
• embedded-bringup — serial_connect_match + serial_expect +
  ssh_upload for boot-loader interaction and image flashing.

Part of eng-mcp-suite.
Use in the lab-automation workflow bundle.

See the suite manifest
for the full list of sibling MCPs and bundle definitions.

Documentation

• 📘 Quick Start — install through first call.
• 🛠️ Tool reference — every MCP tool, every argument.
• 📐 Usage examples — practical end-to-end walkthroughs.
• 🏗️ Architecture — how this MCP fits in eng-mcp-suite.

Part of eng-mcp-suite

_{This MCP server is part of}

_{An open umbrella for engineering MCP servers across RF, EMC, PCB,
signal integrity, EM simulation, and lab test. Same brand, same docs
structure, designed to compose. See the
full catalog
or jump to a sibling:}

Security notes

• SSH passwords are kept in memory only and cleared on server
  restart.
• Connections are session-scoped; the server does not persist a
  session store on disk.
• Use SSH keys where possible.
• The MCP server runs over stdio — it only accepts connections from the
  local MCP client, never from the network.

Troubleshooting

SSH connection issues — verify the host is reachable
(ping vpn-ap.local), that SSH is listening on the target
(ssh [email protected] from the same shell), and that credentials are
correct.

Serial port issues — check port permissions
(ls -la /dev/ttyUSB*), add your user to the dialout group
(sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER and re-login), and confirm the
device is present (dmesg | tail).

VID/PID match selects wrong device — serial_connect_match returns
the first hit; pair the match on description or serial_number to
disambiguate.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

1. Pick a GitHub issue.
2. Fork + branch (feature/your-thing or fix/your-bug).
3. Run tests (uv run pytest) if present.
4. Open a PR — link the issue, request review.

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later. Relicensed from Apache-2.0 in v0.2.0 to
align with the eng-mcp-suite toolkit-wide AGPL move.

Acknowledgments

• paramiko — SSH transport.
• pyserial — serial / UART transport.
• The MCP working group — for the Model Context Protocol specification.