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

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.

Before configuring your MCP client, you must provide the server with your local paths to OpenROAD and ORFS.

1. Find Your Paths

Run these commands in your terminal to locate the necessary directories:

# Get your OpenROAD binary directory:
dirname $(which openroad)

# Check for the default ORFS flow directory:
ls ~/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/flow
# (If not found, search with: find ~ -maxdepth 4 -type d -name flow -path "*/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/*" 2>/dev/null)

2. Set Up Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file and fill in the paths you just found:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env to ensure PATH includes your OpenROAD binary directory, and ORFS_FLOW_PATH points to your ORFS checkout. Pass these values into your MCP client's configuration via the env block.

Supported MCP Clients

Here is the standard base configuration used across most clients:

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

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

(Note: If your client supports environment variables in the config, inject your PATH and ORFS_FLOW_PATH directly in the snippet).

Claude Code

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

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

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":

{
  "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:

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

Zed

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

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 openroad is on your PATH. The server spawns it by name; if it's missing, session creation (not startup) will fail.
• Commands rejected with CommandBlocked: You sent a state-modifying command to interactive_openroad_query. Use interactive_openroad_exec instead.
• Report images not found: Make sure ORFS_FLOW_PATH points to your ORFS flow/ directory.

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

Development

Clone the repository and run:

cd typescript
npm install
npm run build

Testing:

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

Linting & type checking:

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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