tinymcp: Let LLMs control embedded devices via the Model Context Protocol
10 months ago
- #LLM
- #embedded-devices
- #MCP
- LLMs can control embedded devices via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) using the experimental project tinymcp.
- tinymcp includes an MCP server that communicates with remote devices via the Golioth management API, using LightDB State and Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).
- RPCs can be exposed as tools by including a schema in the mcp/tools/schema path in LightDB State, allowing existing devices to be used without firmware modification.
- To use tinymcp, connect a device to Golioth and run the tinymcp server locally with required environment variables (TINYMCP_PROJECT, TINYMCP_DEVICE, TINYMCP_API_KEY).
- The blinky example demonstrates exposing LED control to an LLM via tinymcp, requiring Zephyr RTOS setup and workspace initialization with west commands.
- MCP clients like MCP Inspector, Claude Code, and Gemini CLI can interact with tinymcp, with setup instructions provided for each.