Using Model Context Protocol (MCP) Tools to Integrate With MPLAB® Code Configurator (MCC)
About MCP Tools
Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools are designed to integrate with MPLAB® Code Configurator (MCC). MCP tools enable interactions between a Large Language Model (LLM) and MCC in order to configure microcontroller peripherals, middleware and drivers in an automated way.
MCP tools expose MCC capabilities in a structured, machine-readable form so that they can be consumed by an LLM.
Before You Begin
Support is currently restricted to MPLAB Harmony v3.
Device support is limited to Arm® Cortex® 32-bit MCU devices.
Ensure you have these files downloaded before you begin installation:
Installing MCC VSIX
Launch MCC in VS Code®. Ensure that only one instance of VS Code is running.
Go to View > Extensions.
Click on the ellipses (3 dots) in the top right corner.
Select Install from VSIX.
Navigate to the downloaded files and select mplab-code-configurator-0.1.8.vsix.
Once installation is complete, a notification will appear.
When prompted, reload VS Code or restart the extension.
Important: When prompted by the MPLAB Extension Bootstrapper to update MPLAB Extensions, do not select Update.
Adding Backend Support Post-MCC Installation
Launch MCC manually one time to pull the latest files and folders.
Navigate to the Downloads folder and copy the Harmony3Library.jar file.
Navigate to the location where the .mcc folder exists. For example: C:\Users\Your_ID\.mcc\cores\5.9.0-tc.b.
Replace the existing Harmony3Library.jar file with the downloaded file.
Installing MCP Tools VSIX
Go to View > Extensions.
Click on the ellipses (three dots) in the top right corner.
Select Install from VSIX.
Navigate to the downloaded files and select mplab-mcp-tools-0.0.1.vsix.
Getting Started With MCP Tools
Open/Create MPLAB Project for Cortex MCU Devices
Press Ctrl + Shift + P.
Select MPLAB MCP TOOLS: Add Config Files.
This action will create these items at the project root:
- .claude/
- .continue/
- .mcp.json
Open your coding assistant of choice and follow the appropriate path:
| MPLAB AI Coding Assistant | Claude® |
|---|---|
1. Click the Build Tools/Configure Tools icon. | 1. In the Claude prompt, enter "/mcp".
|
2. Verify that these MCP servers are listed and shown in green (indicates tools are online and ready for use):
| 2. Confirm that these servers show a Connected status:
|
Final Steps
Upon following these steps in the outlined order, the MCP tools for MCC will be fully set up and ready to use.
Launch MCC configuration. The first launch may take some time.
Open your coding assistant of choice.
Prompt Examples
On the SAM D21 Xplained Pro board, configure the appropriate SERCOM instance in UART mode to transmit data through the EDBG interface.
Make sure the SERCOM's UART TX and RX pins are correctly mapped to the microcontroller pins connected to the EDBG USB-to-UART bridge. Set up common UART parameters (baud rate, data bits, etc.).
Configure RTC to give an interrupt every ~1 second.
- Use GCLK1 for RTC with ultra low power oscillator enabled.
Ensure the pins are configured properly for each peripheral and board configuration.
Once all these are done, generate the code from MCC.
On the application side, make sure to send 'a' every one second on the configured UART interface.
Implement these changes in main.c file.
Configure sercom1 to UART mode with interrupt enabled.
EVK: SAM D21 Xplained Pro
Use the ADC to sample multiple analog sensors:
- Temperature (NTC or analog sensor)
- Humidity (analog output)
- Battery voltage monitoring
Implement:
- ADC input scanning
- Oversampling and averaging
ADC conversions must be:
- Triggered by RTC or TC via Event System
- Transferred to RAM using DMAC (no CPU intervention)
The ADC result must be sent to the virtual COM port available in EVK.