Chiplab — Claude Code MCP server: firmware on virtual chips
A hosted MCP server: your agent builds an ELF, uploads it to a virtual board and reads the UART output back. Useful when no hardware is at hand.
claude mcp add --transport http chiplab https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcpWhat Chiplab does
Chiplab runs as an HTTP MCP server at https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcp. The agent compiles firmware into an ELF, uploads it, executes it on an emulated instance of a real microcontroller and gets captured UART output in return. Runs are synchronous and capped at a fixed slice of virtual time.
The repo carries runnable examples per supported board, split by framework: bare-metal (Rust with the vendor HAL), embassy-rust, zephyr-os (C), freertos (C) and threadx (C). Build steps sit in each framework's README.md for people and in AGENTS.md for agents. You can build by hand, yet the upload and run still go through the agent.
A free veecle.ai account is required, and the client opens a browser to sign in the first time. Right now the service executes Hello world! on STM32 and Nordic boards; a chip outside that set will not run. New chip support is added server-side, so the way to ask is an issue. The author points people at the stm32f4-discovery example first.
What it helps with
- Run firmware when there is no physical board
- See what comes out of UART right after boot
- Build an ELF for STM32 and execute it on a virtual chip
- Try a Zephyr or FreeRTOS example before buying hardware
Example prompts for the agent
- Set up Chiplab and run the
stm32f4-discoveryexample. - Build this project into an ELF for a supported board, run it on Chiplab and show me the UART output.
- Call Chiplab's help tool with no arguments and list what it can do.
How to install Chiplab
Platform CLI: remote server
claude mcp add --transport http chiplab https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcpPlatform CLI: remote server
codex mcp add chiplab --url https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcpConfig file
{
"mcpServers": {
"chiplab": {
"url": "https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcp"
}
}
}Config file
{
"servers": {
"chiplab": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcp"
}
}
}Platform CLI: remote server
gemini mcp add -t http chiplab https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcpStep by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Chiplab
How do I install Chiplab in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add --transport http chiplab https://chiplab.veecle.ai/mcp. If you cloned the repo, .mcp.json already lists the server and Claude asks you to trust it.
What does Chiplab do?
It takes an ELF, executes it on a virtual copy of a real microcontroller and hands back the captured UART output. Your agent handles the build and the upload.
Do I need an account?
Yes, a free one at veecle.ai with no credit card. On first use the client opens a browser for sign-in.
