Carbon vs ChirpStack
A side-by-side look at the Carbon and ChirpStack MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Carbon for industrial & iot work; choose ChirpStack for industrial & iot as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Carbon when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You have the keys it needs:
CARBON_API_KEY.
Choose ChirpStack when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Industrial & IoT domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
CHIRPSTACK_SERVER, CHIRPSTACK_API_KEY, CHIRPSTACK_TOOLSETS, CHIRPSTACK_TLS, CHIRPSTACK_TRANSPORT, CHIRPSTACK_HTTP_PORT.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Industrial & IoT | Industrial & IoT |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 37/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | CARBON_API_KEY | CHIRPSTACK_SERVERCHIRPSTACK_API_KEYCHIRPSTACK_TOOLSETSCHIRPSTACK_TLSCHIRPSTACK_TRANSPORTCHIRPSTACK_HTTP_PORT |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2,755 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Carbon | View ChirpStack |
Tools & capabilities
Carbon tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
ChirpStack 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.
Carbon
No confirmed install command for Carbon yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
ChirpStack
{
"mcpServers": {
"chirpstack": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"chirpstack-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"CHIRPSTACK_SERVER": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_SERVER_HERE",
"CHIRPSTACK_API_KEY": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_API_KEY_HERE",
"CHIRPSTACK_TOOLSETS": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_TOOLSETS_HERE",
"CHIRPSTACK_TLS": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_TLS_HERE",
"CHIRPSTACK_TRANSPORT": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_TRANSPORT_HERE",
"CHIRPSTACK_HTTP_PORT": "YOUR_CHIRPSTACK_HTTP_PORT_HERE"
}
}
}
}