Vivado MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants like Claude to directly interact with AMD/Xilinx Vivado FPGA development tools.

Features

• Session Management: Start/stop persistent Vivado TCL sessions (avoids 30s startup per command)
• Project Management: Open/close Vivado projects (.xpr files)
• Design Flow: Run synthesis, implementation, and bitstream generation
• Reports & Analysis: Get timing summaries, utilization reports, and design analysis
• Design Queries: Explore hierarchy, ports, nets, and cells
• Simulation: Control Vivado's integrated simulator (xsim)
• Raw TCL: Execute arbitrary Vivado TCL commands for advanced operations

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• AMD/Xilinx Vivado installed (tested with 2023.2+)
• Vivado must be in your PATH, or specify the full path when starting a session

Installation

From GitHub

git clone https://github.com/coreyhahn/vivado_mcp.git
cd vivado_mcp
pip install -e .

Configure Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code MCP configuration (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json or project-level .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vivado": {
      "command": "vivado-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or if you want to specify the Python interpreter:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vivado": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "vivado_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once configured, Claude can interact with Vivado through natural language. Example workflow:

1. Start Vivado session: "Start a Vivado session"
2. Open project: "Open my project at /path/to/project.xpr"
3. Run synthesis: "Synthesize the design"
4. Check timing: "What's the timing summary? Is timing met?"
5. Check utilization: "Show me the resource utilization"
6. Close session: "Stop the Vivado session"

Available Tools

Session Management

• start_session - Start a persistent Vivado TCL session
• stop_session - Stop the Vivado session
• session_status - Get session statistics

Project Management

• open_project - Open a Vivado project (.xpr)
• close_project - Close the current project
• get_project_info - Get project information (part, directory, etc.)

Design Flow

• run_synthesis - Run synthesis
• run_implementation - Run place and route
• generate_bitstream - Generate bitstream

Reports & Analysis

• get_timing_summary - Get timing summary (WNS, TNS, WHS, THS)
• get_timing_paths - Get detailed timing paths for failing/critical paths
• get_utilization - Get resource utilization (LUTs, FFs, BRAMs, DSPs)
• get_clocks - Get clock information
• get_messages - Get synthesis/implementation messages

Design Queries

• get_design_hierarchy - Get module/instance hierarchy
• get_ports - Get top-level ports
• get_nets - Search for nets
• get_cells - Search for cells/instances

Simulation

• launch_simulation - Launch behavioral/post-synth/post-impl simulation
• run_simulation - Run simulation for specified time
• restart_simulation - Restart from time 0
• close_simulation - Close the simulator
• get_simulation_time - Get current simulation time
• get_signal_value - Get a signal's current value
• get_signal_values - Get multiple signal values by pattern
• add_signals_to_wave - Add signals to waveform viewer
• set_simulation_top - Set the testbench module
• get_simulation_objects - List signals in a scope
• get_scopes - List hierarchy scopes
• step_simulation - Step simulation
• add_breakpoint - Add signal breakpoint
• remove_breakpoints - Remove all breakpoints

Advanced

• run_tcl - Execute raw TCL commands
• generate_full_report - Generate full reports to file
• read_report_section - Read portions of large reports
• request_feature - Request new features
• list_feature_requests - List submitted requests

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     MCP Protocol      ┌─────────────────┐
│   Claude Code   │◄────(JS

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/coreyhahn/vivado_mcp#readme)