isaacsim-mcp-server 0.5.2

Control NVIDIA Isaac Sim robotics simulator through MCP -- 41 tools for scene management, robot control, sensors, and simulation

Isaac Sim MCP Server

Natural language control for NVIDIA Isaac Sim through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Connect any MCP-compatible IDE (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code, Windsurf, JetBrains) to a running Isaac Sim instance and control it with plain-English prompts -- create robots, build scenes, run simulations, and debug physics all from your editor.

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Highlights

• 42 tools across 9 categories -- scene, objects, lighting, robots, sensors, materials, assets, simulation, graphs
• 107+ robots auto-discovered from the Isaac Sim asset library (Franka, UR, Unitree, Boston Dynamics, and more)
• Step-and-observe debugging -- step the simulation and inspect prim positions, joint states, and physics in one call
• Hot-reload -- iterate on Python controllers without restarting Isaac Sim
• Multi-instance -- run multiple Isaac Sim sessions side by side on different ports
• Built for Isaac Sim 5.1.0 with a modular adapter layer for version isolation

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Installation

Option A: pip install (recommended)

pip install isaacsim-mcp-server

This installs the MCP server and the isaacsim-mcp-server CLI. You still need the Isaac Sim extension from the repo (see Launching Isaac Sim below).

Option B: From source

git clone https://github.com/whats2000/isaacsim-mcp-server
cd isaacsim-mcp-server
./scripts/setup_python_env.sh

Requirements

Requirement	Version
NVIDIA Isaac Sim	5.1.0
Python	3.10+
uv	latest (for source install)
Platform	Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+)

[!IMPORTANT] Currently only Linux is supported. Windows support is planned. macOS is not supported because NVIDIA Isaac Sim does not run on macOS.

[!NOTE] We are welcoming contributions to support other Isaac Sim versions. The adapter layer is designed for easy version isolation.

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Quick Start

1. Set up the environment

If you installed from source:

./scripts/setup_python_env.sh

2. Launch Isaac Sim with the extension

./scripts/run_isaac_sim.sh

You should see in the logs:

Registered 41 command handlers
Isaac Sim MCP server started on localhost:8766

Optional: Beaver3D / NVIDIA API keys for 3D generation

export BEAVER3D_MODEL="<your beaver3d model name>"
export ARK_API_KEY="<your beaver3d api key>"
export NVIDIA_API_KEY="<your nvidia api key>"

3. Connect your IDE

Add the MCP server to your editor. Replace the path with your actual repo location.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add isaac-sim /path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh

Or edit ~/.claude.json / .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Open Cursor Settings > MCP, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Edit the config file for your platform:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Open Windsurf Settings > MCP or edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

JetBrains IDEs

Go to Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP Servers and add the server. See the JetBrains MCP docs for details.

4. Start prompting

Check the connection with get_scene_info.
If the scene is empty, create a physics scene.
Add a Franka robot at the origin and a Go1 quadruped at [2, 0, 0].

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Architecture

MCP Client (IDE)
      |
      v
isaacsim-mcp-server          (PyPI package / CLI)
      |
      v  TCP socket (localhost:8766)
      |
isaac.sim.mcp_extension      (Omniverse extension)
      |
      v
Handlers -> Adapter -> Isaac Sim 5.1.0 APIs

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Tools

42 tools across 9 categories:

Category	Count	What you can do
Scene	7	Inspect scenes, create physics, list/load environments, browse prims
Objects	4	Create, delete, transform, and clone primitives
Lighting	2	Create and tune lights
Robots	6	Spawn 107+ robots, inspect joints, set positions, refresh library
Sensors	4	Create cameras/LiDAR, capture images, get point clouds
Materials	2	Create and apply materials
Assets	4	Import URDF, load/search USD, generate 3D models
Graphs	2	Build and edit Action Graphs (OnPlaybackTick, ScriptNode, script file attachment)
Simulation	11	Play/pause/stop/step, execute Python, inspect physics, hot-reload

Full tool list

Scene: get_scene_info create_physics_scene clear_scene list_prims get_prim_info list_environments load_environment

Objects: create_object delete_object transform_object clone_object

Lighting: create_light modify_light

Robots: create_robot list_available_robots refresh_robot_library get_robot_info set_joint_positions get_joint_positions

Sensors: create_camera capture_image create_lidar get_lidar_point_cloud

Materials: create_material apply_material

Assets: import_urdf load_usd search_usd generate_3d

Graphs: create_action_graph edit_action_graph

Simulation: play_simulation pause_simulation stop_simulation step_simulation set_physics_params get_isaac_logs get_simulation_state get_physics_state get_joint_config execute_script reload_script

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Example Prompts

Scene bootstrap

Check the connection with get_scene_info. If the scene is empty, create a physics scene.
Add stronger lighting and place a camera that looks at the workspace.

Robot layout

Create three Franka robots in a row at [0,0,0], [2,0,0], and [4,0,0].
Then add a Go1 robot at [1, 3, 0].

Environment loading

List available environments, choose a warehouse-like one, and load it.
Create a camera and capture an image.

Asset search and 3D generation

Search for a rusty desk, load the best result near [0, 5, 0], scaled to [2, 2, 2].

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Advanced Usage

Multiple Instances

Run multiple Isaac Sim sessions side by side. Each uses a different port (auto-assigned from 8766).

# First instance (default port 8766)
claude mcp add isaac-sim /path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh

# Second instance (port 8767)
claude mcp add isaac-sim-2 -e ISAAC_MCP_PORT=8767 -- /path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh

JSON config for multiple instances

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    },
    "isaac-sim-2": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh",
      "env": { "ISAAC_MCP_PORT": "8767" }
    }
  }
}

Desktop Launcher (Linux)

Install a dedicated Isaac Sim MCP application icon:

./scripts/install_desktop_entry.sh

This creates a launcher that auto-assigns ports, waits for the extension socket, and cleans up on exit.

Recommended Workflow

1. Start with get_scene_info to verify the connection
2. Create a physics scene if the stage is empty
3. Prefer purpose-built tools before execute_script
4. Use list_available_robots / list_environments before loading
5. Use create_action_graph to wire OnPlaybackTick → ScriptNode controllers
6. Use step_simulation with observe_prims and observe_joints for debugging
7. Use reload_script to iterate on controllers without restarting

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Demo: Franka Pick-and-Place

A ready-to-run demo at demo/franka_pick_place.py using RMPflow for motion planning:

Please use the Isaac MCP tool complete this:

Create a physics scene with a ground plane, then spawn a Franka FR3 robot at the origin.

Add two textured tables with a gap along Y. Place a small textured cube with physics enabled on top of the first table.

Use `create_action_graph` to wire `OnPlaybackTick` → `ScriptNode`, and write a pick-and-place controller script using RMPflow for motion planning. Save the script to the `demo/` directory.

Use `get_prim_info` to query actual positions and sizes of the tables and cube before writing the controller — do not hardcode coordinates.

Start the simulation with Play. The robot should pick the cube from table 1 and place it on table 2. Verify the process using `step_simulation` with `observe_prims` on the cube to confirm it reaches table 2.

Uses create_action_graph with script_file for one-step Action Graph + ScriptNode setup, plus the observability tools: get_joint_config, step_simulation with observe_prims, get_physics_state, and edit_action_graph for script hot-reload.

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Development

# Run the MCP inspector
./.venv/bin/python -m mcp dev ./isaac_mcp/server.py

The inspector is available at http://localhost:5173.

Setup Notes

Script	Purpose	Default
setup_python_env.sh	Create venv and install package	Python 3.10
run_isaac_sim.sh	Launch Isaac Sim with extension	$HOME/isaacsim
run_mcp_server.sh	Start the MCP server	Port 8766
launch_isaac_sim_mcp.sh	Combined launcher	Auto-assigns port
dev_mcp_server.sh	Dev server with hot-reload	Port 8766

Override defaults:

PYTHON_SPEC=3.11 ./scripts/setup_python_env.sh
ISAACSIM_ROOT=/opt/isaacsim ./scripts/run_isaac_sim.sh

Troubleshooting

If Isaac Sim says Can't find extension with name: isaac.sim.mcp_extension:

# Make sure you're in the repo root
pwd
test -f ./isaac.sim.mcp_extension/config/extension.toml && echo OK

Note: --ext-folder must point to the repo root, not to isaac.sim.mcp_extension/ directly.

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. Improvements to tools, docs, adapters, and tests are all useful.

License

MIT License. Copyright (c) 2023-2025 omni-mcp, Copyright (c) 2026 whats2000. See LICENSE.