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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,
  "variables": {
    "x": "double (1x1)",
    "y": "double (1x1)"
  }
}

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"
    },
    {
      "line": 7,
      "column": 12,
      "message": "Undefined function or variable",
      "severity": "error"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "1 warning(s), 1 error(s)"
}

get_workspace

Get variables in the current MATLAB workspace.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Returns the output of MATLAB's whos command, showing variable names, sizes, and types.

Example response:

{
  "output": "  Name      Size            Bytes  Class     Attributes\n  x         1x1                8  double\n  y         1x100            800  double",
  "variables": [
    {
      "name": "x",
      "size": "1x1",
      "bytes": 8,
      "class": "double"
    },
    {
      "name": "y",
      "size": "1x100",
      "bytes": 800,
      "class": "double"
    }
  ]
}

Job Management

get_job_status

Get status and progress of a running or completed job.

Parameter Type Required Description
job_id string yes Job ID from execute_code

Example response (running):

{
  "job_id": "abc123-def456",
  "status": "running",
  "progress": 65.0,
  "message": "Trial 650000/1000000",
  "elapsed_seconds": 120.5,
  "estimated_remaining_seconds": 64.2
}

Example response (completed):

{
  "job_id": "abc123-def456",
  "status": "completed",
  "elapsed_seconds": 185.0,
  "execution_time": 184.7
}

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 matrix: [1.23, 4.56; 7.89, 10.11]",
  "variables": {
    "result": "double (2x2)",
    "timestamp": "datetime (1x1)"
  },
  "execution_time": 45.2
}

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 successfully cancelled"
}

list_jobs

List all jobs in the current session.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "jobs": [
    {
      "job_id": "abc123-def456",
      "status": "completed",
      "submitted_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "completed_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:45Z",
      "execution_time": 45.2
    },
    {
      "job_id": "xyz789-uvw012",
      "status": "running",
      "submitted_at": "2024-01-15T10:31:00Z",
      "elapsed_seconds": 30.5
    }
  ],
  "total": 2
}

Discovery

list_toolboxes

List available MATLAB toolboxes (filtered by config).

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "toolboxes": [
    {
      "name": "MATLAB",
      "version": "R2023b",
      "release": "23.2"
    },
    {
      "name": "Signal Processing Toolbox",
      "version": "9.5"
    },
    {
      "name": "Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox",
      "version": "12.4"
    }
  ],
  "total": 3
}

list_functions

List functions in a specific toolbox.

Parameter Type Required Description
toolbox_name string yes Name of the toolbox

Example response:

{
  "toolbox_name": "Signal Processing Toolbox",
  "functions": [
    "fft",
    "ifft",
    "filter",
    "butter",
    "cheby1",
    "freqz"
  ],
  "output": "Signal Processing Toolbox\n\nFourier 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:

{
  "function_name": "fft",
  "help_text": "FFT Fast Fourier transform.\n  FFT(X) is the discrete Fourier transform of vector X.\n  For matrices, the FFT operation is applied to each column.\n  FFT(X,N) pads or truncates the vector X to length N before...",
  "source": "Signal Processing Toolbox"
}

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:

{
  "filename": "data.csv",
  "path": "/tmp/session_abc123/data.csv",
  "size_bytes": 2048,
  "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:

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

list_files

List files in the session's temporary directory.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "files": [
    {
      "name": "data.csv",
      "size_bytes": 2048,
      "path": "/tmp/session_abc123/data.csv",
      "modified_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
    },
    {
      "name": "results.mat",
      "size_bytes": 5120,
      "path": "/tmp/session_abc123/results.mat",
      "modified_at": "2024-01-15T10:31:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "total_files": 2,
  "total_size_bytes": 7168
}

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 file to read

Example response:

{
  "filename": "myscript.m",
  "content": "% My MATLAB script\nx = 1:100;\ny = sin(x);\nplot(x, y);\ntitle('Sine Wave');"
}

read_data

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

Parameter Type Required Description
filename string yes Name of the file to read
format string no summary (default) or raw. For .mat files: summary shows variable metadata; raw returns base64. Text files return inline.

Example response (summary format for .mat):

{
  "filename": "results.mat",
  "format": "summary",
  "variables": [
    {
      "name": "x",
      "size": "1x1000",
      "bytes": 8000,
      "type": "double"
    },
    {
      "name": "y",
      "size": "1x1000",
      "bytes": 8000,
      "type": "double"
    }
  ]
}

Example response (text file):

{
  "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 temporary directory.

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

Returns: An inline content block containing the image data that renders in agent UIs.

Example response:

{
  "type": "image",
  "data": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mNkYPhfDwAChwGA60e6kgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==",
  "filename": "plot.png"
}

Admin

get_pool_status

Get the current status of the MATLAB engine pool.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "total_engines": 4,
  "available_engines": 3,
  "busy_engines": 1,
  "max_engines": 8,
  "queue_length": 0
}

Monitoring

get_server_metrics

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

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response:

{
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "pool": {
    "total_engines": 4,
    "available_engines": 3,
    "busy_engines": 1,
    "max_engines": 8
  },
  "jobs": {
    "total": 42,
    "completed": 38,
    "running": 2,
    "cancelled": 2,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "sessions": {
    "active": 5,
    "total_created": 12
  },
  "system": {
    "cpu_percent": 45.2,
    "memory_percent": 62.1,
    "uptime_seconds": 86400
  }
}

get_server_health

Get server health status with issue detection.

Parameter Type Required Description
(none) — — —

Example response (healthy):

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "message": "All systems operational",
  "issues": []
}

Example response (degraded):

{
  "status": "degraded",
  "message": "Some issues detected",
  "issues": [
    {
      "component": "pool",
      "severity": "warning",
      "message": "Engine queue length is 5"
    }
  ]
}

Example response (unhealthy):

{
  "status": "unhealthy",
  "message": "Critical issues detected",
  "issues": [
    {
      "component": "engines",
      "severity": "critical",
      "message": "No engines available"
    },
    {
      "component": "memory",
      "severity": "critical",
      "message": "Memory usage at 95%"
    }
  ]
}

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:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:25:30Z",
      "level": "error",
      "component": "execution",
      "message": "Job abc123 failed: Undefined function 'foo'"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:20:15Z",
      "level": "warning",
      "component": "pool",
      "message": "Engine exhausted, 3 jobs queued"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:15:00Z",
      "level": "info",
      "component": "session",
      "message": "Session xyz789 created"
    }
  ],
  "total": 3
}

Custom Tools

Custom tools can be configured via custom_tools.yaml and are dynamically registered at runtime. Each custom tool is exposed as an MCP tool with its own parameters and return type. Custom tools follow the same patterns as built-in tools and can be invoked using execute_code or through direct tool calls if they are registered as separate tools.

Refer to your custom_tools.yaml configuration file for the list and documentation of available custom tools in your deployment.

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