MATLAB MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables seamless integration between MATLAB and MCP-compatible applications like Claude Code. Execute MATLAB code, manage workspace variables, create plots, handle data I/O, and more - all through a token-efficient MCP interface.

Features

Execute MATLAB Code: Run MATLAB commands and scripts with persistent session
Workspace Management: Get, set, list, and clear workspace variables
Figure Operations: Save, export, and close MATLAB figures (PNG, SVG, PDF, etc.)
Data I/O: Import/export data (CSV, JSON, XLSX) and load/save MAT files
Environment Info: Check MATLAB version and installed toolboxes
Documentation Access: Get MATLAB help, search functions, and find toolbox locations
Token-Efficient Design: Multi-operation tools minimize API calls
JSON Resources: Structured access to workspace, toolboxes, and session info

Quick Start

Prerequisites:

MATLAB installed on your system
uv package manager installed (install uv)

Installation

Choose your MCP client below for setup instructions:

Claude Code (CLI)

Using CLI (Recommended):

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
claude mcp add --transport stdio matlab \
  --env DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64 \
  -- uvx matlab-mcp-server

# macOS (Intel)
claude mcp add --transport stdio matlab \
  --env DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maci64 \
  -- uvx matlab-mcp-server

# Linux
claude mcp add --transport stdio matlab \
  --env LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2024b/bin/glnxa64 \
  -- uvx matlab-mcp-server

Scope options:

Default (local): Private to you, only this project
--scope project: Share with team (stores in .mcp.json, can be committed to git)
--scope user: Available across all your projects

Manual configuration (.mcp.json in project root):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "matlab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["matlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace with your MATLAB path. Use LD_LIBRARY_PATH for Linux.

Verify:

claude mcp list
claude mcp info matlab

Claude Desktop

Configuration File Location:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "matlab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["matlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
      }
    }
  }
}

Platform-specific environment variables:

macOS (Apple Silicon): "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
macOS (Intel): "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maci64"
Linux: "LD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/usr/local/MATLAB/R2024b/bin/glnxa64"
Windows: Usually not needed (installer handles library paths)

Steps:

Create or edit the config file at the location above
Add your MCP server configuration with correct MATLAB path
Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen)
Look for the MCP server icon (🔨) in Claude Desktop interface

Cursor

UI Configuration:

Go to Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP Server:

Name: matlab
Command: uvx matlab-mcp-server
Click Edit to add environment variables

Configuration File Location:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/mcp_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\mcp_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Cursor/mcp_config.json

Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "matlab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["matlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace with your MATLAB path (see Claude Desktop section for platform-specific paths).

Steps:

Create mcp_config.json if it doesn't exist
Add MCP server configuration
Restart Cursor completely

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

VS Code Settings (User or Workspace):

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
    "matlab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["matlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
      }
    }
  }
}

CLI Installation:

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
code --add-mcp '{"name":"matlab","command":"uvx","args":["matlab-mcp-server"],"env":{"DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH":"/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"}}'

# Linux
code --add-mcp '{"name":"matlab","command":"uvx","args":["matlab-mcp-server"],"env":{"LD_LIBRARY_PATH":"/usr/local/MATLAB/R2024b/bin/glnxa64"}}'

Replace with your MATLAB path (see Claude Desktop section for platform-specific paths).

Resources:

Use MCP servers in VS Code

Codex

CLI:

codex mcp add matlab uvx "matlab-mcp-server"

Then manually edit ~/.codex/config.toml to add environment variables:

Edit ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.matlab]
command = "uvx"
args = ["matlab-mcp-server"]

[mcp_servers.matlab.env]
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH = "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"

Platform-specific environment variables:

macOS (Apple Silicon): DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH = "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
macOS (Intel): DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH = "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maci64"
Linux: LD_LIBRARY_PATH = "/usr/local/MATLAB/R2024b/bin/glnxa64"

Resources:

Codex MCP Documentation

For 11 additional clients (Windsurf, Continue, Amp, Cline, Gemini CLI, Goose, Kiro, LM Studio, opencode, Qodo Gen, Warp), see Complete Setup Guide →

Finding Your MATLAB Library Path

If you don't know your MATLAB library path, use the configuration helper:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/subspace-lab/matlab-mcp-server/main/install-matlab-mcp.sh | bash

The script will:

Auto-detect your MATLAB installation
Display the config with the correct paths
You copy and paste it into your MCP client's config file

That's it! When your MCP client starts, uvx will automatically:

Download matlab-mcp-server from PyPI
Install matlabengine and all dependencies
Start the MATLAB MCP server

Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually or the automated installer doesn't work:

1. Install matlabengine

# Navigate to your MATLAB Python engine directory
cd /Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app/extern/engines/python  # macOS
# OR
cd /usr/local/MATLAB/R20XXx/extern/engines/python  # Linux

# Install using uv
uv pip install .

Replace R20XXx with your MATLAB version (e.g., R2024a, R2024b, R2025a).

2. Install matlab-mcp-server

uv pip install matlab-mcp-server

3. Configure MCP server

Follow the configuration instructions for your MCP client in the sections above. Use matlab-mcp as the command instead of uvx matlab-mcp-server.

Example for Claude Code (.mcp.json in project root):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "matlab": {
      "command": "matlab-mcp",
      "env": {
        "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH": "/Applications/MATLAB_R2025b.app/bin/maca64"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace with your MATLAB path:

macOS (Apple Silicon): DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH → /Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app/bin/maca64
macOS (Intel): DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH → /Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app/bin/maci64
Linux: LD_LIBRARY_PATH → /usr/local/MATLAB/R20XXx/bin/glnxa64
Windows: Usually not needed

For other MCP clients, see configuration sections above or MCP_CLIENT_SETUP.md

Available Tools

The server provides 8 MCP tools for interacting with MATLAB:

execute_matlab - Execute MATLAB code and get results
workspace - Manage workspace variables (get, set, list, clear)
figure - Save, export, and manage MATLAB figures (PNG, SVG, PDF, etc.)
data_io - Import/export data in various formats (CSV, JSON, XLSX, MAT files)
env - Get MATLAB version and check installed toolboxes
get_help - Access MATLAB documentation and search functions
route_intent - Suggest appropriate tool mode (meta-tool)
select_mode - Enable optional tool groups (meta-tool)

For detailed documentation on each tool, see TOOLS.md or MATLAB_MCP_GUIDE.md.

Troubleshooting

MATLAB Engine Not Found

If you get an error about MATLAB engine not being found:

Ensure MATLAB is properly installed
Verify MATLAB Engine API for Python is installed
Check Python version matches MATLAB compatibility
Verify library path is correctly set in config

Library Path Issues

Default MATLAB locations:

macOS: /Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app
Linux: /usr/local/MATLAB/R20XXx
Windows: C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R20XXx

If MATLAB is in a non-standard location, update the library path in your config.

Documentation

CONTRIBUTING.md - Development setup and guidelines
PLANNING.md - Roadmap and architecture
MATLAB_MCP_GUIDE.md - Detailed usage guide
TOOLS.md - Tool catalog

License

MIT License

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 15 Commits
examples		examples
md-files		md-files
scripts		scripts
src/matlab_mcp_server		src/matlab_mcp_server
tests		tests
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
.python-version		.python-version
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
install-matlab-mcp.sh		install-matlab-mcp.sh
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml

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MATLAB MCP Server

Features

Quick Start

Installation

Finding Your MATLAB Library Path

Manual Installation

1. Install matlabengine

2. Install matlab-mcp-server

3. Configure MCP server

Available Tools

Troubleshooting

MATLAB Engine Not Found

Library Path Issues

Documentation

License

Contributing

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MATLAB MCP Server

Features

Quick Start

Installation

Finding Your MATLAB Library Path

Manual Installation

1. Install matlabengine

2. Install matlab-mcp-server

3. Configure MCP server

Available Tools

Troubleshooting

MATLAB Engine Not Found

Library Path Issues

Documentation

License

Contributing

Star History

About

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License

Contributing

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