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MCP Tools Reference

The server exposes 20 built-in tools plus any custom tools defined in your custom_tools.yaml.

Execution & Workspace

execute_code

Execute MATLAB code in the session's engine.

Parameter Type Required Description
code string yes MATLAB code to execute

Behavior:

  • Runs synchronously if it completes within sync_timeout (default 30s)
  • Auto-promotes to async if it exceeds the timeout
  • Returns inline result for sync, or job_id for async

Example response (sync):

{
  "status": "completed",
  "output": "ans =\n    15",
  "execution_time": 0.23
}

Example response (async promotion):

{
  "status": "running",
  "job_id": "abc123-def456",
  "message": "Job promoted to async execution"
}

check_code

Lint MATLAB code using checkcode/mlint.

Parameter Type Required Description
code string yes MATLAB code to check

Example response:

{
  "issues": [
    {
      "line": 3,
      "column": 5,
      "message": "Variable 'x' might be unused",
      "severity": "warning"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "1 warning(s), 0 error(s)"
}

get_workspace

Get variables in the current MATLAB workspace.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Returns the output of MATLAB's whos command.

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "output": "  Name        Size            Bytes  Class     Attributes\n\n  A           5x5               200  double\n  B           1x10              80  double"
}

Job Management

get_job_status

Get status and progress of a running job.

Parameter Type Required Description
job_id string yes Job ID from execute_code

Example response:

{
  "job_id": "abc123-def456",
  "status": "running",
  "progress": 65.0,
  "message": "Trial 650000/1000000",
  "elapsed_seconds": 120.5,
  "estimated_remaining_seconds": 65.0
}

get_job_result

Get the full result of a completed job.

Parameter Type Required Description
job_id string yes Job ID

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "output": "result =\n  42",
  "execution_time": 245.5,
  "variables": {
    "result": "double"
  }
}

cancel_job

Cancel a pending or running job.

Parameter Type Required Description
job_id string yes Job ID

Example response:

{
  "job_id": "abc123-def456",
  "status": "cancelled",
  "message": "Job cancelled successfully"
}

list_jobs

List all jobs in the current session.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "session_id": "sess-001",
  "jobs": [
    {
      "job_id": "abc123-def456",
      "status": "completed",
      "submitted_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "completed_at": "2024-01-15T10:35:45Z",
      "execution_time": 345.5
    },
    {
      "job_id": "xyz789-uvw012",
      "status": "running",
      "submitted_at": "2024-01-15T10:40:00Z",
      "elapsed_seconds": 120.0
    }
  ],
  "total_jobs": 2
}

Discovery

list_toolboxes

List available MATLAB toolboxes.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "output": "MATLAB Version 23.2.0.2459053 (R2023b) Update 5\n\nSignal Processing Toolbox                 Version 9.2        (R2023b)\nImage Processing Toolbox                  Version 11.8        (R2023b)\nStatistics and Machine Learning Toolbox   Version 12.5        (R2023b)",
  "toolboxes": [
    "Signal Processing Toolbox",
    "Image Processing Toolbox",
    "Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox"
  ]
}

list_functions

List functions in a specific toolbox.

Parameter Type Required Description
toolbox_name string yes Name of the toolbox

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "toolbox_name": "Signal Processing Toolbox",
  "output": "Signal Processing Toolbox\n\n  Filtering\n    filter          - 1-D digital filter\n    filtfilt        - Zero-phase digital filtering\n\n  Transforms\n    fft             - Fast Fourier transform\n    ifft            - Inverse fast Fourier transform"
}

get_help

Get MATLAB help text for any function.

Parameter Type Required Description
function_name string yes Name of the function

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "function_name": "fft",
  "output": "FFT 2-D fast Fourier transform.\n  Y = FFT(X) computes the discrete Fourier transform of X using\n  a fast Fourier transform algorithm.\n  \n  Y = FFT(X,N) pads X with zeros to length N before transforming."
}

File Operations

upload_data

Upload a data file to the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the file to create
content_base64 string yes Base64-encoded file content

Example response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "filename": "data.csv",
  "size_bytes": 1024,
  "path": "/tmp/matlab_session_abc123/data.csv",
  "message": "File uploaded successfully"
}

delete_file

Delete a file from the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the file to delete

Example response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "filename": "data.csv",
  "message": "File deleted successfully"
}

list_files

List files in the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "session_temp_dir": "/tmp/matlab_session_abc123",
  "files": [
    {
      "name": "data.csv",
      "size_bytes": 1024,
      "path": "/tmp/matlab_session_abc123/data.csv"
    },
    {
      "name": "script.m",
      "size_bytes": 2048,
      "path": "/tmp/matlab_session_abc123/script.m"
    }
  ],
  "total_files": 2
}

read_script

Read a MATLAB .m script file from the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the .m script file

Example response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "filename": "script.m",
  "content": "function result = calculate(x)\n  % Calculate the square\n  result = x .^ 2;\nend"
}

read_data

Read a data file (.mat, .csv, .json, .txt, .xlsx) from the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the data file
format string no summary (default) or raw for .mat files; ignored for text files

Example response (summary mode for .mat):

{
  "status": "success",
  "filename": "workspace.mat",
  "format": "summary",
  "variables": [
    {
      "name": "A",
      "size": "5x5",
      "type": "double",
      "bytes": 200
    },
    {
      "name": "B",
      "size": "1x10",
      "type": "double",
      "bytes": 80
    }
  ]
}

Example response (text file):

{
  "status": "success",
  "filename": "data.csv",
  "content": "x,y,z\n1,2,3\n4,5,6\n7,8,9"
}

read_image

Read an image file (.png, .jpg, .gif) from the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the image file

Returns: An inline image content block that renders in agent UIs. The image data is base64-encoded and included with appropriate MIME type metadata.

Admin

get_pool_status

Get the current status of the MATLAB engine pool.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "total_engines": 4,
  "available_engines": 2,
  "busy_engines": 2,
  "max_engines": 8,
  "utilization_percent": 50.0
}

Monitoring

get_server_metrics

Get comprehensive server metrics including pool, jobs, sessions, and system stats.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:45:30Z",
  "pool_metrics": {
    "total_engines": 4,
    "available_engines": 2,
    "busy_engines": 2,
    "max_engines": 8,
    "utilization_percent": 50.0
  },
  "job_metrics": {
    "total_jobs": 42,
    "completed_jobs": 38,
    "running_jobs": 3,
    "failed_jobs": 1
  },
  "session_metrics": {
    "active_sessions": 5,
    "total_sessions": 15
  },
  "system_metrics": {
    "cpu_percent": 35.2,
    "memory_percent": 62.1,
    "uptime_seconds": 86400
  }
}

get_server_health

Get server health status with issue detection.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "message": "All systems operational",
  "checks": {
    "pool_health": "ok",
    "job_queue": "ok",
    "memory_usage": "ok",
    "session_count": "ok"
  },
  "issues": []
}

get_error_log

Get recent server errors and notable events for diagnosing issues.

Parameter Type Required Description
limit integer no Maximum number of log entries to return (default: 20)

Example response:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "entries": [
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:15Z",
      "level": "error",
      "source": "job_executor",
      "message": "MATLAB execution failed: Undefined variable 'x'"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:25:42Z",
      "level": "warning",
      "source": "pool_manager",
      "message": "Engine timeout detected, restarting engine pool-2"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:20:00Z",
      "level": "info",
      "source": "session_manager",
      "message": "New session created: sess-001"
    }
  ],
  "total_entries": 3
}

Custom Tools

Custom tools can be registered via the custom_tools.yaml configuration file. Custom tools are dynamically loaded at server startup and are available alongside the 20 built-in tools. Each custom tool definition includes:

  • name: The tool identifier
  • description: Human-readable description
  • parameters: Input schema (name, type, required, description)
  • handler: The Python function or MATLAB code to execute

Custom tools are useful for domain-specific workflows, preprocessing/postprocessing, and integration with external systems. They follow the same async execution model as built-in tools and are fully tracked in the job management system.

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