Rigol Oscilloscope — MCP Server

Let an AI agent read the setup, adjust channels, timebase and trigger, run single acquisitions, take the scope's own measurements, capture calibrated waveforms and grab screenshots on Rigol digital oscilloscopes over SCPI.

Try it without hardware

uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --simulate --check
uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --simulate --option sim_model=DHO804 --check    # also DS1202Z-E, MSO5074, DHO1204 ...

The simulated scope has a 1 kHz, 0-3 V square wave on CH1 and a 2 kHz, 1 V sine on CH2 (CH3/CH4 grounded). It answers :WAVeform:DATA? and :DISPlay:DATA? with real IEEE 488.2 binary blocks, keeps an SCPI error queue, and its trigger only fires when the level is inside the signal, so you can try single with a bad trigger level.

Connect your oscilloscope

1. USB: plug in the USB device port. The server uses PyVISA with the pure-Python pyvisa-py backend, which needs libusb on the system (brew install libusb, apt install libusb-1.0-0; on Windows use NI-VISA with ?backend=@ivi). Find the resource with python -m pyvisa info or uvx labmcp ports.
2. LAN: in the scope's Utility I/O / LAN settings enable DHCP or set a static IP, and note the address.
3. Test the connection:

   uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --address USB0::0x1AB1::0x04CE::DS1ZA123456789::INSTR --check   # USB-TMC
   uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --address TCPIP0::192.168.1.50::INSTR --check                   # LAN (VXI-11)
   uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --address tcp://192.168.1.50:5555 --check                        # LAN raw socket
   

   --check prints the *IDN? identity and the detected command family.

Add to your MCP client

Claude Code

claude mcp add scope -- uvx labmcp-rigol-scope --address TCPIP0::192.168.1.50::INSTR

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf (claude_desktop_config.json, .cursor/mcp.json, …)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scope": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["labmcp-rigol-scope", "--address", "TCPIP0::192.168.1.50::INSTR"]
    }
  }
}

Add --read-only to allow reading settings, measurements, waveforms and screenshots while blocking every tool that changes the scope setup. For other clients, generate the snippet with uvx labmcp config rigol-oscilloscope --address TCPIP0::192.168.1.50::INSTR --client vscode (also cursor, codex, claude-code).

Tools

get_connection_info, get_command_log and reconnect are built into every LabMCP server. The command log shows every SCPI command sent.

Safety limits

Override at launch, e.g. --limit max_memory_points=24000000. An oscilloscope does not source energy, so there are no hazard tools; this server does not control the built-in waveform generator some models have.

Example prompts

• "What is on the scope right now? Give me the channel settings, timebase and trigger."
• "Measure the frequency, Vpp and rise time on CH1."
• "Set CH2 to 200 mV/div, AC coupling, trigger on CH2 falling edge at 0 V, then take a single shot and save the full memory record to ~/data/burst.csv."
• "Capture the CH1 waveform from the screen and tell me the duty cycle and whether the trace is clipped."
• "Take a screenshot of the scope so I can put it in my lab notebook."

Notes

• One driver, three command families. Commands common to all guides are used as written (long forms, e.g. :TRIGger:EDGE:LEVel, :MEASure:ITEM? VPP,CHANnel1, :WAVeform:PREamble?). The differences are taken from each guide: autoscale is :AUToscale (DS1000Z, MSO5000) or :AUToset (DHO); screenshots are :DISPlay:DATA? ON,OFF,PNG (DS1000Z), :DISPlay:DATA? PNG (DHO) or :DISPlay:DATA? → BMP (MSO5000); screen captures return 1200 points (DS1000Z, 12 divisions) or 1000 (MSO5000/DHO, 10 divisions). The family is detected from *IDN?; unknown Rigol models are refused unless you force --option profile=DS1000Z|MSO5000|DHO.
• Waveform scaling always uses :WAVeform:PREamble? and BYTE format: volts = (byte − YORigin − YREFerence) × YINCrement. WORD format is not used because the DHO guides do not document its byte order. For the 12-bit DHO scopes this means 8-bit screen/memory data.
• Deep memory (mode="memory") follows the documented RAW procedure: stop the scope, then read in batches of 250 000 points with :WAVeform:STARt/STOP (the DS1000Z maximum for BYTE). The MSO5000 and DHO guides document batched reads but not a maximum; the server checks every batch length and fails clearly if a batch comes back short. Not yet verified on MSO5000/DHO hardware.
• Captures hold the connection from source selection to the last byte, then re-read the preamble: if V/div or the timebase changed during the read, the capture is refused rather than mis-scaled. clipped_fraction counts points at the ADC limits (codes 0/255) in both modes. The returned trace keeps each block's minimum and maximum sample, so narrow glitches survive downsampling. save_path (CSV) and the screenshot save_path (.png, .bmp on the MSO5000) must be new files: they are checked before anything is read, and existing files are never overwritten.
• Measurements return null when the scope answers 9.9E37 (cannot measure). Duty cycle and overshoot are reported exactly as the scope returns them (the DS1000Z guide defines duty as a ratio).
• Setting commands are checked by reading :SYSTem:ERRor? afterwards, so an out-of-range scale, offset or trigger level is reported instead of silently ignored. The scale snaps to 1-2-5 steps unless fine adjustment (VERNier) is on.
• LAN: the programming guides describe LAN access through VISA (VXI-11/LXI, TCPIP0::<ip>::INSTR). Rigol scopes also accept raw SCPI on TCP port 5555 (tcp://<ip>:5555); that port is widely used but not stated in these guides.
• USB additionally needs libusb for pyvisa-py; pyusb is installed with this package.
• Screenshots are returned as MCP image content only for PNG; large BMP screenshots (MSO5000) are saved to disk and the path is returned.

Hardware verification