OpenROAD MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides tools for interacting with OpenROAD and ORFS.

About OpenROAD MCP

New here? Check out the Quick Start Guide to get your AI assistant analyzing designs in 5 minutes.

OpenROAD MCP eliminates the barrier between your AI assistant and physical design by connecting Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients directly to the OpenROAD layout tools.

OpenROAD is the leading open-source, foundational application for semiconductor digital design, delivering an Autonomous, No-Human-In-Loop (NHIL) flow from RTL-GDSII. OpenROAD-flow-scripts (ORFS) is the fully autonomous flow built around it.

With this MCP server, your AI assistant can:

Execute Commands - Run interactive OpenROAD sessions with full PTY support.
Manage Sessions - Create, list, inspect, and terminate multiple physical design sessions.
Track History & Metrics - Access full command history and performance metrics for analysis.
Visualize Reports - List and read report images from ORFS runs directly in the chat.

Demo

OpenROAD MCP Demo

Watch full demo video

Requirements & Installation

To use this MCP server, you need the server runtime, plus the underlying OpenROAD layout tools.

1. Server Runtime

Node.js 22+ is required to run the npx distribution.

2. OpenROAD

OpenROAD must be installed and available in your PATH.

Official OpenROAD Installation Guide

3. OpenROAD-flow-scripts (ORFS)

ORFS is optional but highly recommended for complete RTL-to-GDS flows and report visualization.

Official ORFS Local Build Guide

Configuration

For platform-specific Node.js and C++ toolchain setup instructions, see the Cross-Platform Build Guide.

You do not need to clone this repo or pass path environment variables in the common case. The published npx package does not read a .env file.

On startup the server inherits the MCP client's environment, then fills PATH the same way which openroad would: current PATH, then your login-shell PATH, then common install locations (/opt/homebrew/bin, conda, local OpenROAD builds). ORFS_FLOW_PATH defaults to ~/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/flow, and is also detected when ORFS sits next to the openroad binary.

Supported MCP Clients

Here is the standard base configuration used across most clients:

config.json

{
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "openroad-mcp"]
}

Find your specific client below for the exact configuration snippet and file location.

Claude Code

Terminal

claude mcp add --transport stdio openroad-mcp -- npx -y openroad-mcp

Or add the standard config to .mcp.json / .claude/settings.json.

If a GUI-launched client still cannot find openroad, pass an override. Use command -v so you do not hard-code paths:

Terminal

claude mcp add \
  --env PATH="$(dirname "$(command -v openroad)"):${PATH}" \
  --env ORFS_FLOW_PATH="${HOME}/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/flow" \
  --transport stdio openroad-mcp \
  -- npx -y openroad-mcp

Put --transport between --env and the server name so the CLI does not treat the name as another KEY=value pair.

Claude Desktop

Add the standard config to:

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

Cursor

Add the standard config to .cursor/mcp.json.

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json. Requires "type": "stdio":

config.json

{
  "servers": {
    "openroad-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "openroad-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add the standard config to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.

Cline / Roo Code

Add the standard config to cline_mcp_settings.json (Cline) or .roo/mcp.json (Roo Code).

Continue / PearAI

Add to your respective config.json under modelContextProtocolServers:

config.json

{
  "transport": {
    "type": "stdio",
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "openroad-mcp"]
  }
}

Zed

Add to ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

config.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "openroad-mcp": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "openroad-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Docker / MCP Registry / Others

The server is available on the MCP Registry and via Docker:

Terminal

docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/the-openroad-project/openroad-mcp:latest

Most other standard STDIO clients are fully supported. Refer to your tool's MCP setup guide.

Available Tools

Once configured, your AI assistant will have access to the following tools. For detailed parameters, schemas, and return formats, see the API Reference.

interactive_openroad_query
interactive_openroad_exec
create_interactive_session
list_interactive_sessions
terminate_interactive_session
inspect_interactive_session
get_session_history
get_session_metrics
list_report_images
read_report_image

Troubleshooting

The server fails to start: Ensure you have Node.js 22+. Older versions will fail.
Session creation fails: Confirm command -v openroad works in a terminal. The server inherits PATH and searches common install locations; if your prefix is unusual, pass PATH with --env as shown in the Claude Code section.
Commands rejected with CommandBlocked: You sent a state-modifying command to interactive_openroad_query. Use interactive_openroad_exec instead.
Report images not found: The server defaults to ~/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/flow. If ORFS lives elsewhere, set ORFS_FLOW_PATH in the MCP client's env block (not a .env file).

To get more detail, set LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG in the server's environment.

Development

Clone the repository. .env.example is a local-dev reference only; copy it to .env if you use direnv or similar. The server still reads process.env (the MCP client's env block), not the file.

Then run:

bash

cd typescript
npm install
npm run build

Testing:

Terminal

npm run test             # unit tests
npm run test:integration # integration tests
npm run test:performance # performance benchmarks

Linting & type checking:

Terminal

npm run typecheck
npm run lint

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed instructions on our development workflow and code standards.

License

BSD 3-Clause License. See LICENSE file.

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