wemo-mcp-server 1.2.0

Model Context Protocol server for WeMo smart home device discovery and control

WeMo MCP Server

Control WeMo smart home devices through AI assistants using natural language.

mcp-name: io.github.apiarya/wemo

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Quick Start
• Connect
• MCP Tools
  • scan_network
  • list_devices
  • get_device_status
  • control_device
  • rename_device
  • get_homekit_code
• How It Works
• Feature Comparison
• Development
• Contributing
• License
• Acknowledgments

Overview

Seamlessly integrate WeMo smart home devices with AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol. Built on pywemo, this server enables natural language control of your WeMo devices with intelligent multi-phase discovery.

Example Usage

Control WeMo devices through Claude Desktop with natural language - just ask in plain English!

Key Features

• 🔍 Smart Discovery - Multi-phase scanning (UPnP/SSDP + network ports) with 100% reliability
• ⚡ Fast Scanning - Parallel probes with 60 concurrent workers (~23-30s for full subnet)
• 🎛️ Full Control - On/off/toggle/brightness control for all device types
• ✏️ Device Management - Rename devices and extract HomeKit setup codes
• 📊 Real-time Status - Query device state and brightness
• 💾 Smart Caching - Automatic device caching for instant access
• 🔌 Universal - Works with any MCP client (Claude, VS Code, Cursor, etc.)

---

Prerequisites

All configurations use uvx (from the uv Python package manager) to run the server. Install uv first:

# macOS/Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# macOS with Homebrew
brew install uv

# Windows
powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

After installation, restart your terminal and verify:

uvx --version

Quick Start

Get started in seconds with Claude Code CLI:

claude mcp add wemo -- uvx wemo-mcp-server

---

Connect

One-Click Installation

Click your client to install instantly:

Client	Install
Claude Desktop
Claude Code CLI	Run: claude mcp add wemo -- uvx wemo-mcp-server
VS Code
Cursor
Cline	Manual config (VS Code extension)
Windsurf	Manual config
Zed	Manual config
Continue	Manual config (VS Code extension)

Manual Configuration

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

VS Code

Edit ~/.vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "wemo": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["wemo-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Reload VS Code after saving.

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "wemo": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["wemo-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after saving.

Cline

Cline is a VS Code extension. Add to VS Code's settings.json:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "wemo": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["wemo-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Reload VS Code after saving.

Windsurf

Edit ~/.windsurf/mcp.json:

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

Restart Windsurf after saving.

Zed

Edit ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "wemo": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["wemo-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Zed after saving.

Continue

Continue is a VS Code extension. Edit ~/.continue/config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "wemo",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["wemo-mcp-server"]
    }
  ]
}

Reload VS Code after saving.

---

MCP Tools

1. scan_network

Discover WeMo devices on your network using intelligent multi-phase scanning.

Example Prompts:

• "Scan for WeMo devices on my network"
• "Find all WeMo devices"
• "Discover devices on 192.168.1.0/24"

Example Response:

Found 12 WeMo devices in 23.5 seconds:

1. Office Light (Dimmer) - 192.168.1.100 - OFF
2. Living Room (Switch) - 192.168.1.101 - ON
3. Bedroom Lamp (Dimmer) - 192.168.1.102 - OFF  
...

2. list_devices

List all devices cached from previous scans.

Example Prompts:

• "List all my WeMo devices"
• "Show me all devices"
• "What devices do you know about?"

Example Response:

12 devices in cache:

- Office Light (Dimmer) at 192.168.1.100
- Living Room (Switch) at 192.168.1.101
- Bedroom Lamp (Dimmer) at 192.168.1.102
...

3. get_device_status

Get current state and information for a specific device.

Example Prompts:

• "Is the office light on?"
• "What's the status of the bedroom lamp?"
• "Check the living room switch"
• "What's the brightness of office light?"

Example Response:

Office Light (Dimmer):
- State: OFF
- Brightness: 75%
- IP: 192.168.1.100
- Model: DimmerLongPress

4. control_device

Control a WeMo device (on/off/toggle/brightness).

Example Prompts:

• "Turn on the office light"
• "Turn off the living room"
• "Toggle the bedroom lamp"
• "Set office light to 75%"
• "Dim the bedroom lamp to 50%"

Example Response:

✓ Office Light turned ON
  Brightness set to 75%
  Current state: ON

5. rename_device

Rename a WeMo device (change its friendly name).

Example Prompts:

• "Rename Office Dimmer to Office Light"
• "Change the name of the bedroom device to Bedroom Lamp"
• "Call the living room switch 'Main Light'"

Example Response:

✓ Device renamed successfully
  'Office Dimmer' → 'Office Light'
  IP: 192.168.1.100
  
The new name will appear in the WeMo app and all control interfaces.

6. get_homekit_code

Get the HomeKit setup code for a WeMo device.

Example Prompts:

• "Get the HomeKit code for Office Light"
• "What's the HomeKit setup code for the bedroom lamp?"
• "Show me the HomeKit code for all devices"

Example Response:

HomeKit Setup Code for 'Office Light':
  123-45-678
  
Use this code to add the device to Apple Home.

Note: Not all WeMo devices support HomeKit. If a device doesn't support HomeKit, you'll get an error message.

How It Works

Multi-Phase Discovery

The server uses a three-phase discovery process optimized for reliability:

1. Phase 1 - UPnP/SSDP Discovery (Primary)

   • Multicast discovery finds all responsive devices (~12s)
   • Most reliable method, finds devices that don't respond to port probes
   • Uses pywemo's built-in discovery mechanism

2. Phase 2 - Network Port Scanning (Backup)

   • Parallel probing of WeMo ports (49152-49155) across subnet
   • 60 concurrent workers for fast scanning (~10s for 254 IPs)
   • Catches devices missed by UPnP

3. Phase 3 - Device Verification (Backup)

   • HTTP verification of active IPs via /setup.xml
   • Parallel verification with 60 workers
   • Validates and extracts device information

This approach achieves 100% device discovery reliability while maintaining fast scan times (23-30 seconds for complete networks).

Feature Comparison

MCP Server vs wemo-ops-center

Comparison of features between this MCP server and the main wemo-ops-center project:

Feature	wemo-ops-center	MCP Server	Notes
Device Discovery	✅ UPnP + Port Scan	✅ Implemented	Multi-phase discovery with 100% reliability
Device Control	✅ On/Off/Toggle	✅ Implemented	Includes brightness control for dimmers
Device Status	✅ Real-time	✅ Implemented	Query by name or IP address
Device Rename	✅ Friendly names	✅ Implemented	Updates device cache automatically
HomeKit Codes	✅ Extract codes	✅ Implemented	For HomeKit-compatible devices
Multi-subnet	✅ VLAN support	❌ Planned	Currently single subnet per scan
WiFi Provisioning	✅ Smart setup	❌ Not planned	Requires PC WiFi connection changes
Scheduling	✅ Time + Solar	❌ Not planned	Requires persistent daemon (incompatible with MCP model)
Maintenance Tools	✅ Resets	❌ Not planned	Factory reset, clear WiFi, clear data
Profile Management	✅ Save/Load	❌ Not planned	WiFi credential profiles for bulk setup
User Interface	✅ GUI + Web	❌ N/A	MCP uses AI assistant interface

Legend:

• ✅ Implemented - Feature is available
• ❌ Not planned - Feature conflicts with MCP architecture or use case
• ❌ Planned - Feature could be added in future

Why some features aren't planned for MCP:

• Scheduling: Requires 24/7 background daemon polling. MCP servers are typically invoked on-demand by AI assistants, not run as persistent services.
• WiFi Provisioning: Requires changing the host PC's WiFi connection to device setup networks, which is disruptive and platform-specific.
• Maintenance Tools: Destructive operations (factory reset, etc.) better suited for dedicated GUI with confirmation dialogs.

Current MCP Coverage: 5 of 11 core features (45%) - focused on device discovery, monitoring, and control use cases that fit the MCP model.

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/apiarya/wemo-mcp-server.git
cd wemo-mcp-server
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
uv sync --dev

Running Tests

# E2E tests (requires WeMo devices on network)
python tests/test_e2e.py

# Unit tests
pytest tests/test_server.py -v

Using Development Version

In your MCP client config, use:

{
  "command": "python",
  "args": ["-m", "wemo_mcp_server"],
  "env": {
    "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/mcp/src"
  }
}

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes with tests
4. Run the test suite (python tests/test_e2e.py)
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Model Context Protocol SDK
• Uses pywemo for WeMo device communication
• Related to the wemo-ops-center project (desktop and server applications)