PS5 Remote Play MCP

An MCP server that lets an LLM agent (Claude Code, Codex, any MCP client) see the screen of a stock PlayStation 5 and drive it like a gamepad. It uses Sony's official Remote Play protocol over your local network: no jailbreak and no capture card.

Good for menus, settings, launching games, turn-based and slow-paced games, and "what's on screen right now?". Not for real-time action: one frame → model → button round trip takes seconds.

Claude Code ──stdio──▶ ps5-remoteplay-mcp ──HTTP (127.0.0.1)──▶ daemon ──Remote Play (LAN)──▶ PS5

A long-lived daemon owns the single Remote Play session. The thin MCP server is started and restarted by your agent and talks to the daemon. Connecting to the console takes a few seconds, so the daemon survives agent restarts and keeps the session warm. It starts automatically on the first tool call.

Quick start

You need a PS5 on the same network as your computer (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and uv. Tested on Windows 11; macOS and Linux are expected to work but untested.

0. Install uv (once; skip if uv --version works), then open a new terminal:

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

1. On the PS5: Settings → System → Remote Play → Enable Remote Play.

2. Add the server to Claude Code — one command, no IP address needed:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user ps5 -- uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp

No claude command in your terminal (you use Claude Code only inside VS Code)? Ask Claude instead: "Add a user-scope MCP server named ps5 that runs uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp." Then restart Claude Code.

3. Ask the agent: "Connect to my PS5." It finds the console on your network and opens a sign-in window:

1. Sign in to PSN on Sony's page in that window.
2. On the PS5 open Settings → System → Remote Play → Link Device and type the 8-digit PIN into the window.

Done. From now on just ask: "What's on the PS5 screen?"

Tip: turn on a password for purchases in PlayStation Store. The agent is told never to confirm purchases, but it can physically navigate there.

Other ways to connect

Other MCP clients — Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json), Cursor and others (standard mcpServers JSON):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ps5": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["ps5-remoteplay-mcp"] }
  }
}

Codex (~/.codex/config.toml):

[mcp_servers.ps5]
command = "uvx"
args = ["ps5-remoteplay-mcp"]

Latest version from GitHub instead of PyPI: replace uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp with uvx --from git+https://github.com/khodossss/ps5-remoteplay-mcp ps5-remoteplay-mcp.

Set up from a terminal instead of through the agent: uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp setup.

Updating

uvx keeps using the version it downloaded first. To move to the newest release, run once and restart your agent:

uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp@latest stop

This fetches the latest version and stops the running daemon, so the next tool call starts the new one.

Optional

• To let the agent wake the console from rest mode: Settings → System → Power Saving → Features Available in Rest Mode → turn on Stay Connected to the Internet and Enable Turning On PS5 from Network.
• Several consoles on the network, or discovery blocked: pin one with PS5_HOST, e.g. claude mcp add --env PS5_HOST=192.168.1.50 --transport stdio ps5 -- uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp. The console's IP is under Settings → System → System Software → Console Information.

Usage

Talk to your agent in plain language:

• "What's on the PS5 screen right now?"
• "Open Settings and tell me the system software version, then go back to the home screen."
• "Launch Astro Bot and describe its main menu."
• "In the current menu, move down to Display and Video and open it."

The agent looks at a screenshot, presses buttons and looks again. It typically passes snapshot_after_ms so a single tool call returns the screen after the input, with screen_changed saying whether anything moved.

Tools

Tool	Arguments	What it does
setup	redirect_url?, pin? (chat fallback only)	First run: find the PS5 and link this computer (sign-in window + PIN)
status	—	Console state (awake/standby), session, fps, age of the latest frame, firmware
wait_ready	timeout_s=30	Wait until the video stream is live again after a reconnect or stall
snapshot	max_width=1024, quality=80	Current screen as a JPEG
press	button, duration_ms=80	Tap a button
hold	button, duration_ms (≤ 10 000)	Hold a button, then release
stick	side, x, y (-1..1; y=-1 is up), duration_ms	Deflect a stick, then re-center
trigger	side, value (0..1), duration_ms	Analog L2/R2
sequence	steps[]	Several inputs in one call (press / hold / stick / trigger / wait)
release_all	—	Release every button, center the sticks, release the triggers
disconnect	—	End the Remote Play session and stop the daemon, handing the console back
wake	—	Wake the console from rest mode
standby	confirm="yes"	Put the console into rest mode
viewer	show	Open or close a window with the live picture on the user's computer. Closed by default; the agent opens it when you ask to see the screen

Every input tool (press … sequence) also takes snapshot_after_ms (return the screen that long after the input) and until_change (return as soon as the screen changes, waiting at most snapshot_after_ms).

Buttons: cross circle square triangle up down left right l1 r1 l2 r2 l3 r3 options create touchpad ps.

A sequence example:

[{"op": "press", "button": "down"}, {"op": "wait", "duration_ms": 400}, {"op": "press", "button": "cross"}]

CLI

The same package is a command-line tool: uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp <command>. Installed with uv tool install ps5-remoteplay-mcp, it is also on your PATH as ps5-remoteplay-mcp and the short ps5rp.

setup                    # find the console and link this computer (window, or --no-gui for the terminal)
status                   # console + session state
snapshot -o screen.jpg   # save the current screen
press cross              # tap a button
latency                  # press-to-screen latency
view                     # watch the console picture in a window
daemon                   # run the daemon in the foreground with logs (--view opens the window)
stop                     # stop the daemon (releases all input first)

Configuration

All optional. Environment variables; CLI flags of the same name override them.

Variable	Default	Purpose
PS5_HOST	discovered	Console IP; by default the console is found on the LAN and remembered
PS5_USER	first linked	PSN user for the session
PS5_RESOLUTION / PS5_FPS	720p / 30	Stream quality (360p…1080p, 30/60)
PS5_QUALITY	default	Video bitrate: very_low … very_high. Lower it on weak Wi-Fi
PS5_DAEMON_ADDR	127.0.0.1:9395	Daemon API address (loopback only)
PS5_MAX_HOLD_MS	10000	Upper bound for any hold
PS5_BACKEND	pyremoteplay	fake runs without a console (for development)
PS5_VIEWER	off	1: open the picture window whenever the daemon starts (otherwise the agent opens it on request, or run uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp view). Closing it does not stop the session
PS5_IDLE_EXIT_S	600	The daemon closes the session after this long without calls or computer-gamepad activity; 0 = never
PS5_CONFIG_DIR	~/.config/ps5-remoteplay-mcp	Where credentials, the saved console and the log live

Credentials live in ~/.config/ps5-remoteplay-mcp/profiles.json and never appear in logs or tool responses. The daemon log is ~/.config/ps5-remoteplay-mcp/daemon.log. A folder from an earlier version (~/.config/ps5-agent) is moved there automatically.

Playing alongside the agent

• Gamepad on the computer (DualSense by USB or Bluetooth): it shares the daemon's session with the agent, and you take priority. Touching it interrupts the agent and drops its queued commands; the agent is refused until the gamepad has been neutral for two seconds. status reports gamepad and human_input.
• Keep the daemon running while you play this way: disconnect would stop your input too. Unplugging the gamepad releases everything it held; after a session loss, let go of the gamepad before pressing again.
• Controller connected to the PS5 itself: outside this arbitration. Ask the agent to disconnect (the disconnect tool) to hand the console back first.
• Watch on the TV, or in a window on the computer: ask the agent to show the screen, or run uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp view.

Safety and reliability

• No stuck input. Everything is released on error, when the client disconnects, when the daemon stops, and when the session drops. A watchdog releases anything held past the cap. If the daemon is killed hard mid-hold, the console releases the input together with the session (verified on hardware).
• One input queue. Two agents cannot press at the same time.
• Computer-gamepad activity keeps the daemon alive while the human plays.
• Reconnects with exponential backoff; status reports reconnecting honestly. If the console gets a new IP address, it is found again by its MAC address.
• Stale and black frames are flagged. A frame older than 2 s, or a black frame (content blocked from Remote Play), comes with a text warning.
• Wi-Fi: lost video packets are recovered with forward error correction (Cauchy Reed-Solomon). The network test measures the real MTU/RTT.
• The daemon API listens on 127.0.0.1 only.

Measurements

PS5 firmware 26.06-14.10.00.03, Ethernet; host Windows 11.

Metric	Value
Press → visible change on screen	median 110–265 ms, depending on what changes on screen
Stream	1280×720 at ~30 fps
Video decoding	~28% of one CPU core
Session connect	~2 s
3% of video packets dropped artificially	all losses recovered, 0 corrupt frames (46 in 12 s without FEC)

Known limitations

• One Remote Play session per console. If someone else is connected through Remote Play, the daemon waits until that session ends.
• After the daemon is killed, the console keeps the old session for ~30–40 s; the daemon reconnects by itself afterwards.
• The console sometimes ignores a press during a screen-transition animation. The agent sees that on the next screenshot and presses again.
• Analog L2/R2 and sticks are implemented per the protocol but not yet verified inside a game.
• Forwarding a computer gamepad is not yet verified with a real DualSense over USB and Bluetooth.
• No audio.
• The sign-in window needs a desktop session (Edge WebView2 on Windows, WebKit on macOS, GTK or Qt on Linux). Without one, the agent walks you through sign-in in the chat instead.
• macOS is untested.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
no PS5 found on the local network	The console must be on and on the same subnet; otherwise set PS5_HOST
status shows connecting, log says Another Remote Play session is connected to host	Another device (or a just-killed daemon) holds the session. Wait 30–40 s or disconnect the other device
not_set_up	Ask the agent to set up, or run uvx ps5-remoteplay-mcp setup
The console rejects the PIN	PINs expire after a few minutes; open Link Device again for a fresh one
wake fails	Turn on Enable Turning On PS5 from Network in rest-mode features
Garbled picture on Wi-Fi	Set PS5_QUALITY=low or PS5_RESOLUTION=540p
Black screenshot with a warning	The game or app blocks Remote Play video

Development

git clone https://github.com/khodossss/ps5-remoteplay-mcp.git
cd ps5-remoteplay-mcp
uv sync
uv run python tools/gate.py               # lint + format check + tests (one call)
PS5_HOST=<ip> uv run pytest -m hardware   # round trip against a real console
PS5_BACKEND=fake uv run ps5rp daemon      # run without a console

Tests run against a FakeBackend: frames come from a PNG folder or are synthetic, and right/left move focus. Hardware tests run only when PS5_HOST is set.

This section is all a contributor needs. AGENTS.md describes the maintainer's own agent workflow and can be skipped.

Credits

• pyremoteplay by ktnrg45 — the Remote Play protocol implementation. A modified copy is vendored in src/ps5_remoteplay_mcp/vendor/pyremoteplay (changes listed in its NOTICE.md).
• chiaki-ng — reference for protocol details; its FEC test vectors were used to validate the FEC implementation.
• leolobato/ps5-mcp — inspiration for the tool set and the daemon + thin MCP architecture.

Not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation and PS5 are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

License

GPL-3.0. The vendored pyremoteplay is GPL-3.0, so the whole project is distributed under the same license.