Air Q vs Thingsboard MCP
A side-by-side look at the Air Q and Thingsboard MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Air Q for industrial & iot work as a local process; choose Thingsboard MCP for industrial & iot over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Air Q when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
AIRQ_CONFIG_FILE, AIRQ_DEVICES. - You want tools like
list_devices, get_air_quality, get_air_quality_history.
Choose Thingsboard MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You have the keys it needs:
THINGSBOARD_URL, THINGSBOARD_API_KEY, THINGSBOARD_USERNAME, THINGSBOARD_PASSWORD, THINGSBOARD_LOGIN_INTERVAL_SECONDS, HTTP_BIND_ADDRESS, HTTP_BIND_PORT, SPRING_AI_MCP_SERVER_STDIO.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Industrial & IoT | Industrial & IoT |
| Quality signal | 48/100 · Fair | 51/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | AIRQ_CONFIG_FILEAIRQ_DEVICES | THINGSBOARD_URLTHINGSBOARD_API_KEYTHINGSBOARD_USERNAMETHINGSBOARD_PASSWORDTHINGSBOARD_LOGIN_INTERVAL_SECONDSHTTP_BIND_ADDRESSHTTP_BIND_PORTSPRING_AI_MCP_SERVER_STDIO |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 98 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 5 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 20 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Air Q | View Thingsboard MCP |
Tools & capabilities
Air Q tools 20
list_devicesList all configured air-Q devices (with location/group if set)get_air_qualityGet sensor readings — by `device`, `location`, or `groupget_air_quality_historyGet historical sensor data as column-oriented JSONplot_air_quality_historyRender one historical chart per sensor across all matching devicesexport_air_quality_historyExport one historical sensor as one `csv`/`xlsx` across matching devicesget_device_infoGet device metadata (name, model, firmware version)get_configGet full device configurationget_logsGet device log entriesidentify_deviceMake device blink its LEDs for visual identificationget_led_themeGet current LED visualization themeget_possible_led_themesList all available LED visualization themesget_night_modeGet current night mode configuration- +8 more on the listing page
Thingsboard MCP tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Air Q
{
"mcpServers": {
"air-q": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-airq"
],
"env": {
"AIRQ_CONFIG_FILE": "YOUR_AIRQ_CONFIG_FILE_HERE",
"AIRQ_DEVICES": "YOUR_AIRQ_DEVICES_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Thingsboard MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"thingsboard-thingsboard-mcp": {
"url": "http://localhost:8000/sse"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Air Q is categorized under Industrial & IoT and uses a local stdio subprocess. Thingsboard MCP belongs to Industrial & IoT and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Air Q for industrial & iot work and Thingsboard MCP for industrial & iot.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Air Q has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Thingsboard MCP is listed as free. Auth: api key required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add air-q and thingsboard-thingsboard-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Air Q has a quality signal of 48/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Thingsboard MCP has 51/100 (Good) with 5 views, 0 installs and 98 GitHub stars.