studio5000-mcp-server

MCP server for Rockwell/Allen-Bradley Studio 5000 — parse L5X project exports and give AI agents structured access to PLC tags, UDTs, routines, and programs.

[!NOTE] This connector is early community tooling from Nodeblue. The complete system is Nexus, our industrial intelligence platform — these repos are just its connector layers.

Nexus reads and reasons over your entire operation: PLC logic, SCADA systems, live controller data, documentation, fault history, and MES/ERP records. It works across vendors — Rockwell, Siemens, Ignition, the CODESYS family, and 500+ more brands through PLCopen. It diagnoses faults on the running line, holds a persistent memory of the operation, and answers in plain English, cited to the source.

The Nodeblue open-source connectors

Connector	What it does
studio5000-mcp-server (this repo)	Rockwell/Allen-Bradley Studio 5000 — parse L5X exports: tags, UDTs, routines, AOIs, cross-references
ignition-mcp-server	Ignition SCADA — views, scripts, tags, UDTs, alarms, live gateway read/write
bridge-mcp-server	Correlates Ignition SCADA tags with Studio 5000 PLC logic end-to-end

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What This Does

studio5000-mcp-server connects AI agents (Claude, GPT, local LLMs) to your Rockwell/Allen-Bradley PLC projects via the Model Context Protocol. It parses L5X project exports and gives the AI structured access to:

• Tags — controller-scoped and program-scoped tags with data types, descriptions, and values
• UDTs — User Defined Type definitions with member details
• Routines — ladder logic as compact NeutralText (not raw XML), Structured Text as-is
• Programs & Tasks — program structure, task scheduling, and assignments
• Rung Comments — per-rung documentation extracted alongside logic

Smart Chunking

A single ladder rung can be hundreds of lines of verbose L5X XML. This server extracts the compact NeutralText representation instead:

// Raw XML: ~200 lines per rung
// NeutralText: 1 line
XIC(StartPB) XIO(StopPB) XIO(EmergencyStop) OTE(SystemRunning) ;

This keeps context windows small and gives LLMs something they can actually reason about.

Works with L5X exports from Studio 5000 Logix Designer v20+ and RSLogix 5000 v17+.

Why This Exists

Studio 5000 has ~500,000+ active licenses and zero AI tooling. Rockwell's AI investment targets FactoryTalk Design Studio (their new cloud IDE) — not Studio 5000, which the vast majority of the installed base runs.

This server fills that gap. It's open-source, agent-agnostic, and works offline.

Built and maintained by Nodeblue. These connectors are early community tooling from our work on Nexus, where this capability ships production-grade — alongside cross-vendor correlation, live fault diagnosis, and a persistent memory of the operation.

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Installation

Install from source:

git clone https://github.com/nodeblue-ai/studio5000-mcp-server.git
cd studio5000-mcp-server
pip install .

Requires Python 3.10+.

Note: pip install studio5000-mcp-server from PyPI is coming soon. For now, install from source.

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Quick Start

stdio (local — kiro-cli, Claude Desktop, Claude Code)

studio5000-mcp-server

SSE (remote — server on one machine, agent on another)

studio5000-mcp-server --transport sse --port 8080

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Configuration

kiro-cli

Add to your ~/.kiro/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "studio5000": {
      "command": "studio5000-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "studio5000": {
      "command": "studio5000-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

SSE (remote)

Start the server on your engineering workstation:

studio5000-mcp-server --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080

Connect from any MCP client using the SSE URL: http://<host>:8080/sse

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Available Tools

ping

Health check. Returns "pong".

load_project(l5x_path)

Parse an L5X file and return a project summary — controller name, processor type, firmware version, programs, tasks, UDT count, tag count.

get_tags(l5x_path, scope?, data_type?)

List tags from the project. Filter by scope ("controller" or a program name) and/or data type ("BOOL", "DINT", "Motor_UDT", etc.).

get_tags("/path/to/project.l5x", "controller", "BOOL")
get_tags("/path/to/project.l5x", "MainProgram")

get_tag(l5x_path, tag_name)

Get details for a specific tag — data type, description, scope, radix.

get_udts(l5x_path)

List all User Defined Type names.

get_udt(l5x_path, udt_name?)

Get UDT definition(s) with member details — name, data type, dimension, description.

get_routines(l5x_path, program?)

List routines with type (RLL/ST/FBD/SFC) and size info. Filter by program name.

get_routine(l5x_path, program, routine_name)

Get routine logic. Ladder routines return compact NeutralText with rung comments. Structured Text routines return raw code.

get_routine("/path/to/project.l5x", "MainProgram", "MainRoutine")

get_aois(l5x_path)

List all Add-On Instructions with name, description, and revision.

get_aoi(l5x_path, aoi_name)

Get an AOI definition with parameters (name, data type, usage), local tags, vendor info, and internal routine logic.

list_modules(l5x_path)

List all I/O modules with catalog numbers, slot assignments, and descriptions.

search_logic(l5x_path, pattern)

Search for a tag, AOI, or regex pattern across all routines and AOIs. Returns every rung/line that references matching symbols with full context.

search_logic("/path/to/project.l5x", "Motor_1")
search_logic("/path/to/project.l5x", "Motor_\\d")

Returns:

[
  {
    "symbol": "Motor_1",
    "program": "MainProgram",
    "routine": "MainRoutine",
    "rung": 1,
    "context": "Motor_Control(Motor1_AOI,SystemRunning,...)"
  },
  {
    "symbol": "Motor_1.Faulted",
    "program": "MainProgram",
    "routine": "FaultHandler",
    "line": 1,
    "context": "IF Motor_1.Faulted THEN"
  }
]

get_routine response example

{
  "program": "MainProgram",
  "name": "MainRoutine",
  "type": "RLL",
  "rungs": [
    {
      "number": 0,
      "comment": "System start/stop - start seals in, stop breaks circuit",
      "text": "[XIC(StartPB) ,XIC(SystemRunning) ][XIO(StopPB) XIO(EmergencyStop) OTE(SystemRunning) ];"
    }
  ]
}

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Example Conversation

You: Load the conveyor project and tell me what it does.

Agent calls: load_project("/projects/conveyor.l5x")

Agent: This is a CompactLogix 1769-L33ER project with 2 programs
(MainProgram and MotorProgram), 7 controller tags, and 2 UDTs.

You: What does MainRoutine do?

Agent calls: get_routine("/projects/conveyor.l5x", "MainProgram", "MainRoutine")

Agent: MainRoutine has 7 rungs:
- Rung 0: System start/stop latch (StartPB seals in, StopPB or E-stop breaks)
- Rung 1: Motor 1 control via Motor_Control AOI
- Rung 2: Fault detection — any motor fault sets FaultActive
- Rung 3: Fault counter increments on FaultActive rising edge
- Rungs 4-5: 1-second heartbeat timer
- Rung 6: Sets line speed to 60.0 when system running

You: Show me all Motor_UDT tags.

Agent calls: get_tags("/projects/conveyor.l5x", data_type="Motor_UDT")

Agent: There are 2 Motor_UDT tags:
- Motor_1 (controller scope) — Conveyor 1 drive motor
- Motor_2 (controller scope) — Conveyor 2 drive motor

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Roadmap

v0.1 — Core L5X Parsing ✅

• L5X XML parser with LRU caching
• Controller-scoped and program-scoped tag extraction
• UDT definitions with member details
• Ladder logic as NeutralText + rung comments (smart chunking)
• Structured Text routines returned as-is
• Program and task structure
• Structured error handling on all tools
• 48 tests

v0.2 — AOIs & Modules ✅

• Add-On Instruction definitions with parameters, local tags, and internal logic
• I/O module tree (catalog numbers, slot assignments)
• 66 tests

v0.3 — Cross-Reference Engine ✅

• search_logic(pattern) — find all routines/rungs referencing a tag, AOI, or pattern
• Tag→usage index built on first parse for instant queries
• 79 tests

v0.4 — Cross-Platform Intelligence ✅

• Cross-reference Ignition tags with Studio 5000 L5X PLC logic via bridge-mcp-server
• "This alarm fires when tag X goes true — here's the PLC logic that drives X"

Maintenance

• FBD and SFC detailed parsing (contributions welcome)
• PyPI publication (pip install studio5000-mcp-server)
• New Studio 5000 / L5X schema versions as they come out
• Bug fixes and edge cases from real exports — issues welcome

This connector is feature-complete for its scope: single-export L5X comprehension. Development beyond that scope happens in Nexus.

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This Connector vs. Nexus

The connector is the access layer. Nexus is the intelligence that sits on top of it — and of every other connector — as one system.

Capability	This connector	Nexus
Parse L5X exports (tags, UDTs, routines, AOIs, modules)	✅	✅
Cross-reference search within one project	✅	✅
Live controller connection (read tags, program currency checks)	—	✅
Cross-vendor: Siemens, CODESYS family (500+ brands), Ignition, OPC UA	—	✅
Live fault diagnosis on the running line (root-cause, cited)	—	✅
Knowledge layer: your manuals, SFS/DOO docs, fault history — searchable, linked to logic	—	✅
Persistent memory of the operation across sessions	—	✅
Ladder/ST code generation	—	✅
Fleet scale: auto-discovery, whole-plant inventory, monitoring, alarming	—	✅
Local LLM / air-gapped deployment	—	✅

If you're evaluating this connector for anything beyond a single L5X export, talk to us about Nexus.

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Development

git clone https://github.com/nodeblue-ai/studio5000-mcp-server.git
cd studio5000-mcp-server
pip install -e .
python -m pytest tests/ -v

Project Structure

src/studio5000_mcp_server/
├── __init__.py
├── __main__.py          # CLI entry point (stdio/SSE)
├── server.py            # FastMCP server with 12 tool definitions
├── l5x_parser.py        # Core L5X XML parser (LRU-cached)
└── parsers/
    ├── tags.py          # Controller + program-scoped tags
    ├── udts.py          # UDT definitions with members
    ├── routines.py      # Ladder NeutralText + ST code
    ├── programs.py      # Program/task structure
    ├── aois.py          # Add-On Instruction definitions
    ├── modules.py       # I/O module tree
    └── xref.py          # Cross-reference index (tag→usage)

tests/
├── test_server.py       # 85 tests — parsers, tools, error handling
└── fixtures/
    └── sample.l5x       # Synthetic L5X with all resource types

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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Built by Nodeblue. Early community tooling behind Nexus — the industrial intelligence system that reads your operation and answers, cited to the source.