Debug Probe MCP Server

A stateful debug probe Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for developer tooling and AI agents. Works out of the box with Claude Code, VS Code with Copilot, and any MCP-compatible runtime. Communicates over stdio and drives on-chip debug probes (J-Link first, OpenOCD and pyOCD planned) to flash, debug, and inspect embedded targets.

Example: Let Claude Code list attached J-Link probes, connect to your nRF52840, flash a new firmware, read memory, and reset the target — all conversationally.

Demo

Video walkthrough — connecting to a J-Link probe, flashing firmware, loading ELF and SVD for symbol-aware debugging, RTT logging, and breakpoints.

Why this exists

If you've ever typed J-Link Commander commands by hand, copy-pasted memory addresses between a datasheet and a terminal, re-flashed the same firmware 20 times during a debug session, and juggled multiple tool windows — this is for you.

You have a microcontroller on a debug probe. You want an AI agent to interact with it — connect, flash firmware, read/write memory, reset, halt, resume. This server makes that possible.

It gives any MCP-compatible agent a full set of debug probe tools. The agent calls these tools, gets structured JSON back, and reasons about what to do next — without you manually driving JLinkExe for every operation.

What agents can do with it:

• Flash and iterate — build firmware, flash it, reset, check behavior — all in one conversation
• Inspect memory — read peripheral registers, check RAM contents, verify flash writes
• Debug interactively — halt, step, set breakpoints, inspect state, resume
• Automate test flows — flash → reset → read output → validate
• Multi-probe setups — connect to multiple probes simultaneously, each with its own session

Who is this for?

• Embedded engineers — faster iteration: flash, debug, inspect memory conversationally
• Hobbyists and makers — interact with microcontrollers without learning JLinkExe command syntax
• QA and test engineers — automated flash-and-test sequences across multiple boards
• Researchers — systematic exploration of embedded systems, register inspection

Quickstart (Claude Code)

pip install dbgprobe-mcp-server

# Register the MCP server with Claude Code
claude mcp add dbgprobe -- dbgprobe_mcp

# Or with explicit J-Link path
claude mcp add dbgprobe \
  -e DBGPROBE_JLINK_PATH=/Applications/SEGGER/JLink/JLinkExe \
  -- dbgprobe_mcp

Then in Claude Code, try:

"List attached debug probes, connect to the J-Link, and read 16 bytes from address 0x20000000."

Supported backends

The server is backend-agnostic — tool names (dbgprobe.*) stay the same regardless of which probe you use.

J-Link requirements

Install the SEGGER J-Link Software Pack. The server auto-detects JLinkExe on PATH or in common install locations:

• macOS: /Applications/SEGGER/JLink/
• Linux: /opt/SEGGER/JLink/, /usr/bin/
• Windows: C:\Program Files\SEGGER\JLink\

Or set DBGPROBE_JLINK_PATH to point to the executable directly.

This project is not affiliated with or sponsored by SEGGER. J-Link is used because it's widely available and well-supported.

Tools

See docs/tools.md for full schemas and examples.

Install (development)

# Editable install from repo root
pip install -e ".[test]"

# Or with uv
uv pip install -e ".[test]"

MCP is a protocol — this server works with any MCP-compatible client. Below are setup instructions for the most common ones.

Add to Claude Code

# Standard setup
claude mcp add dbgprobe -- dbgprobe_mcp

# With default target device
claude mcp add dbgprobe \
  -e DBGPROBE_JLINK_DEVICE=nRF52840_xxAA \
  -- dbgprobe_mcp

# Debug logging
claude mcp add dbgprobe -e DBGPROBE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG -- dbgprobe_mcp

Add to VS Code / Copilot

Add to your project's .vscode/mcp.json (or create it):

{
  "servers": {
    "dbgprobe": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dbgprobe_mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "DBGPROBE_JLINK_DEVICE": "nRF52840_xxAA"
      }
    }
  }
}

Adjust env to match your target — set DBGPROBE_JLINK_DEVICE to your chip, or remove it to specify the device at connect time.

Add to Cursor

Add to your project's .cursor/mcp.json (or create it). Cursor does not support dots in tool names, so DBGPROBE_MCP_TOOL_SEPARATOR must be set to _:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dbgprobe": {
      "command": "dbgprobe_mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "DBGPROBE_JLINK_DEVICE": "nRF52840_xxAA",
        "DBGPROBE_MCP_TOOL_SEPARATOR": "_"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment variables

Server

J-Link backend

ELF Support

Attach an ELF file to a session to enable symbol-aware debugging:

• Symbol lookup — resolve function names to addresses and vice versa
• Breakpoints by name — breakpoint.set(symbol="main") instead of raw addresses
• Auto-enriched responses — status, step, and halt include symbol + symbol_offset when an ELF is attached
• Flash integration — flashing an .elf auto-attaches it; flashing .hex/.bin auto-reloads a previously attached ELF; sibling .elf files are suggested via hints

> "Attach the ELF, set a breakpoint on main, run, and show me where it halted."

The agent calls elf.attach, breakpoint.set(symbol="main"), go, then status — and gets back "halted at main+0" instead of a raw hex address.