rigol-mcp

MCP server for controlling a Rigol DS1000Z series oscilloscope over LAN. Exposes the scope as a set of tools that Claude (or any MCP client) can call to take measurements, configure the instrument, and capture screenshots — entirely through natural language.

Example: unknown signal characterisation in Claude

Unknown signal (square wave into LCR trap), wrong channel enabled, invalid timebase/voltage/trigger. Claude identifies the signal type, corrects the setup, and characterises the waveform.

Supported Hardware

Rigol DS1000Z / MSO1000Z series:

Model	Channels	Notes
DS1054Z	4 analog	Most common, 50 MHz
DS1074Z	4 analog	70 MHz
DS1074Z-S	4 analog + signal gen
DS1104Z	4 analog	100 MHz
DS1104Z-S	4 analog + signal gen
MSO1054Z	4 analog + 16 digital	MSO variant
MSO1074Z	4 analog + 16 digital
MSO1104Z	4 analog + 16 digital

The scope must be connected to your local network via Ethernet (rear panel RJ45). Wi-Fi is not supported by this hardware. USB-VISA is not currently supported — LAN only.

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• uv (recommended) or pip
• Rigol DS1000Z on the same LAN as your computer
• SCPI over TCP/IP enabled on the scope (it is by default)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/erebusnz/rigol-mcp
cd rigol-mcp
uv sync

Scope Network Setup

On the scope, go to Utility → IO Setting → LAN and note the IP address (or assign a static one). The scope listens on port 5555 for raw SCPI commands — no additional configuration is needed.

Replace 192.168.1.123 with the IP address of your scope in all instructions below.

Verify in browser: http://192.168.1.123/DS1000Z_WelcomePage.html

Verify connectivity before using as MCP:

python -c "import pyvisa; rm = pyvisa.ResourceManager(); s = rm.open_resource('TCPIP0::192.168.1.123::5555::SOCKET'); s.write_termination='\n'; s.read_termination='\n'; print(s.query('*IDN?'))"

You should see something like:

RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,DS1054Z,DS1ZA123456789,00.04.04.SP4

Configuration

Set the scope IP for MCP via environment variable:

export RIGOL_IP=192.168.1.123

Or create a .env file (copy from .env.example):

RIGOL_IP=192.168.1.123

Optional:

Variable	Default	Description
RIGOL_IP	(required)	Scope IP address
RIGOL_SCREENSHOT_DIR	screenshots/	Directory for saved PNG screenshots

Claude Desktop / Claude Code Setup

Add to your .mcp.json (or Claude Desktop MCP config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rigol": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "rigol-mcp"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/rigol-mcp",
      "env": {
        "RIGOL_IP": "192.168.1.123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

Identification & State

Tool	Description
idn	Identify the instrument — make, model, serial, firmware
get_scope_state	Snapshot of all channel configs, timebase, and trigger settings

Acquisition Control

Tool	Description
run	Start continuous acquisition
stop	Stop and freeze display
single	Arm for one trigger event, then stop
autoscale	Auto-configure timebase, vertical scale, and trigger

Configuration

Tool	Description
set_channel	Set scale (V/div), offset, coupling (AC/DC/GND), probe ratio, on/off
set_timebase	Set time/div and trigger offset
set_trigger	Configure edge trigger: source, slope (POS/NEG/RFAL), level

Measurement

Tool	Description
measure	Query any single-channel measurement: VMAX, VMIN, VPP, VTOP, VBASE, VAMP, VAVG, VRMS, PVRMS, VUPPER, VMID, VLOWER, VARIANCE, FREQUENCY, PERIOD, PWIDTH, NWIDTH, PDUTY, NDUTY, RTIME, FTIME, OVERSHOOT, PRESHOOT, PSLEWRATE, NSLEWRATE, TVMAX, TVMIN, MAREA, MPAREA, PPULSES, NPULSES, PEDGES, NEDGES
measure_between	Query delay or phase between two channels: RDELAY, FDELAY (seconds), RPHASE, FPHASE (degrees)
get_waveform	Download and analyse waveform data (~1200 points); returns text analysis by default, raw time/voltage arrays with raw_data=true

Cursors

Tool	Description
set_cursors	Set cursor mode (MANUAL/TRACK/OFF) and time positions in seconds
get_cursor_values	Read cursor positions (in seconds) and all delta/amplitude readouts

Utility

Tool	Description
screenshot	Capture display as PNG — returns image inline and saves to disk
send_raw	Send any SCPI command directly (escape hatch)
check_error	Query the SCPI error queue

Example Prompts

Basic measurement session:

"Connect to the scope, check what's configured, then measure the frequency and Vpp on channel 1."

Signal characterisation:

"Stop the scope, download the waveform from channel 2, and tell me the rise time, overshoot percentage, and estimated fundamental frequency."

Setup from scratch:

"Set channel 1 to 2V/div DC coupling with a 10x probe, set the timebase to 1ms/div, trigger on channel 1 rising edge at 1V, then run and take a screenshot."

Cursor measurement:

"Put manual cursors on the first rising edge of the signal on channel 1 — cursor A at the 10% level and cursor B at the 90% level — and read the rise time from the delta."

Transient / ringing characterisation:

"There's a damped oscillation on channel 1 after a step edge. Stop the scope, measure Vpp, Vmax, Vmin, and Vrms, then estimate the ring frequency and how many cycles it takes to decay."

Iterative debugging:

"I'm verifying the gain of an amplifier. Channel 1 is the input, channel 2 is the output. The expected gain is 20 dB. Figure out whether it's within spec."

Unknown signal characterisation:

"There's an unfamiliar signal on channel 1. I don't know its frequency, amplitude, or shape. Keep adjusting the timebase and vertical scale until you have a stable, well-framed view of at least two full cycles, then give me a complete characterisation of what you see."

Architecture

Claude / MCP client
        │  MCP protocol (stdio)
rigol_mcp.server      ← tool definitions, request routing
        │  Python function calls
rigol_mcp.scope       ← VISA connection, SCPI command helpers
        │  SCPI over TCP/IP (port 5555)
Rigol DS1000Z         ← 192.168.1.123

The VISA connection is cached across tool calls (one TCP connection per server session) and reconnects automatically on network errors.

SCPI Transport

The server connects using raw socket VISA (TCPIP0::<ip>::5555::SOCKET), not VXI-11. This avoids the NI-VISA dependency and works with the pure-Python pyvisa-py backend. It also eliminates the VXI-11 handshake overhead, making individual commands faster.

Limitations

• LAN only (no USB) - USB just adds more problems and OS-specific implementation challenges!
• No support for math channels, digital channels (MSO), or protocol decode in the current tools yet — use send_raw for those
• Waveform download uses NORMAL mode (screen buffer, ~1200 points); full memory depth (RAW mode, up to 56M points) is not yet implemented

License

MIT — see LICENSE.