Digilent WaveForms MCP Server

dwf-mcp-server

MCP Server for Digilent WaveForms instruments — oscilloscope, arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), and logic analyzer. Built on dwfpy, a Python binding for the Digilent WaveForms SDK (libdwf).

Supported Devices

• Analog Discovery 2 (AD2)
• Analog Discovery 3 (AD3)
• Digital Discovery (DD)
• Any device supported by the Digilent WaveForms SDK

Prerequisites

• Docker installed on the host machine.
• No host-side WaveForms SDK installation is required. The proprietary libdwf.so is added via a derived Dockerfile layer (see Installation).
• USB device permissions — Digilent USB devices default to root:root 0664. If the container cannot find any devices, add a udev rule on the host:

  # /etc/udev/rules.d/99-digilent.rules
  SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1443", MODE="0666"
  

  Then reload: sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

Installation

The public Docker image does not bundle any Digilent proprietary software (Adept 2 Runtime, WaveForms SDK / libdwf.so). You must create a derived image that adds them.

1. Create a derived Dockerfile

Create a file named Dockerfile.dwf:

FROM ghcr.io/kenosinc/dwf-mcp-server:latest

ARG ADEPT_VERSION=2.27.9
ARG WAVEFORMS_VERSION=3.24.4
RUN ARCH="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" \
    && apt-get update \
    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl \
    && curl -fsSL "https://files.digilent.com/Software/Adept2%20Runtime/${ADEPT_VERSION}/digilent.adept.runtime_${ADEPT_VERSION}-${ARCH}.deb" \
       -o /tmp/adept-runtime.deb \
    && curl -fsSL "https://files.digilent.com/Software/Waveforms/${WAVEFORMS_VERSION}/digilent.waveforms_${WAVEFORMS_VERSION}_${ARCH}.deb" \
       -o /tmp/waveforms.deb \
    && (apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends /tmp/adept-runtime.deb /tmp/waveforms.deb || true) \
    && for cmd in xdg-desktop-menu xdg-icon-resource xdg-mime; do \
         printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n' > "/usr/bin/$cmd" && chmod +x "/usr/bin/$cmd"; \
       done \
    && dpkg --configure -a \
    && apt-get purge -y curl \
    && apt-get autoremove -y \
    && rm -f /tmp/adept-runtime.deb /tmp/waveforms.deb \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

2. Build the image

docker build -f Dockerfile.dwf -t dwf-mcp-server .

3. Configure your MCP client

Claude Code

claude mcp add dwf -- docker run -i --rm --privileged dwf-mcp-server

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dwf": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "--privileged",
        "dwf-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Pass --privileged so the container can access USB devices.

Project-level config (Claude Code)

If you have cloned this repository, copy the bundled example to a project-local .mcp.json (which is gitignored) so Claude Code picks it up automatically when opened against this directory:

cp .mcp.example.json .mcp.json

Edit the resulting .mcp.json to match your local image tag or to add other servers; the original .mcp.example.json stays clean and shareable.

Available MCP Tools

Tool	Description
list_devices	List all connected Digilent WaveForms devices
device_info	Get detailed information about a specific device
analog_capture	Capture analog waveform samples (oscilloscope); supports action="single" / "start" / "read" / "stop" for continuous capture across tool calls
generate_waveform	Generate an analog signal (AWG): sine, square, triangle, ...; supports action="pulse" / "start" / "stop" for persistent output
measure	Measure DC voltage, RMS, frequency, period, or peak-to-peak
power_supply	Control the programmable power supply (V+ / V-)
digital_capture	Capture digital logic signals (logic analyzer); supports action="single" / "start" / "read" / "stop" for continuous capture across tool calls
gpio_read	Read the logic level of a digital I/O pin
gpio_write	Set the logic level of a digital I/O pin
spi_transfer	Send and receive data over SPI using the digital protocol interface
device_state	Report per-sub-instrument running/idle status (AWG, scope, LA, power supply)
close_device	Close the persistent device session and stop all outputs
device_session_status	Check whether the persistent device session is currently open

Development

See CLAUDE.md for development setup, coding conventions, and release procedures.

License

MIT