PyLumerical MCP Server

PyLumerical MCP Server provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to interact with Ansys Lumerical (FDTD, MODE, DEVICE, INTERCONNECT) through PyLumerical. This server enables natural language interaction with Lumerical for photonics and electromagnetic simulation workflows.

Overview

Key features:

• Multi-session management: Open, list, and close multiple concurrent Lumerical sessions (FDTD, MODE, DEVICE, INTERCONNECT) under user-chosen names.
• Persistent Python execution: Run arbitrary Python and PyLumerical code against live Lumerical handles, with state preserved across tool calls.
• Workflow guidance: Access context and best practices for Lumerical simulations.
• Cross platform support: Enable Windows and Linux support with headless CAD.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, or 3.14
• Ansys Lumerical installation
• Ansys Lumerical license

Installation

For users

Install the latest release with:

pip install ansys-lumerical-mcp

Or run directly without installing using uvx:

uvx --from git+https://github.com/ansys/pylumerical-mcp ansys-lumerical-mcp

For developers

Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ansys/pylumerical-mcp.git
cd pylumerical-mcp

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate or .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install uv

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Run
uv run ansys-lumerical-mcp

Quick start with VS Code or Cursor

If you're using the devopment container:

{
	"servers": {
		"pylumerical-mcp": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "/workspaces/pylumerical-mcp/.venv/bin/ansys-lumerical-mcp",
			"args": []
		}
	},
	"inputs": []
}

Usage

For step-by-step setup instructions for VS Code, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients, follow your client's documentation.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license agreement. See the LICENSE file for details.

Resources

• PyLumerical-MCP documentation
• PyLumerical documentation
• Model Context Protocol
• FastMCP documentation
• Ansys Lumerical
• Repository's Issues page
• Repository's Discussions page

For general PyAnsys questions, email pyansys.core@ansys.com.