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title: jsbsim-mcp emoji: ✈️ colorFrom: blue colorTo: indigo sdk: docker app_port: 7860 app_file: app.py pinned: false license: apache-2.0 short_description: JSBSim flight-dynamics engine as a self-hosted MCP service

jsbsim-mcp — Self-Hosted MCP Service

JSBSim flight dynamics, exposed as an MCP service you run locally. Bring your own compute — pip install or docker run, plug into any MCP-aware agent.

This is the Self-Hosted distribution of jsbsim-mcp. It is not a hosted endpoint — you deploy it locally and bind it as an MCP stdio server to Claude Desktop / Claude Code / Cursor / Codex.

For the deployed hosted version, see the HF Space mirror (separate project).

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1. Install

Option A — pip (recommended for Claude Desktop / Cursor / Codex)

pip install -e .
# or:
# pip install git+https://github.com/flyintothesky/jsbsim-mcp.git

Requires Python ≥ 3.10 and jsbsim == 1.3.1.

Option B — Docker (recommended for sandboxing)

docker build -t jsbsim-mcp .
docker run --rm -it jsbsim-mcp stdio

Option C — From this repo

git clone https://github.com/flyintothesky/jsbsim-mcp
cd jsbsim-mcp
pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m scripts.slim_data    # optional, ~24 MB → saves MB
python run_stdio.py

2. Wire into Claude Desktop / Cursor / Codex

claude_desktop_config.json (or its equivalent for your client):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jsbsim-fdm-local": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/abs/path/to/jsbsim-mcp/run_stdio.py"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude. Tools list appears:

list_aircraft        create_session      close_session
set_initial_conditions    trim           step
get_property        set_property        get_telemetry
execute_script

3. (Optional) Run the bundled web dashboard

Want a browser UI for the simulation? Run the same code as an HTTP server:

python app.py      # → http://localhost:7860/

• Live PFD
• 3D attitude indicator
• Time-series charts (altitude / speed / alpha / thrust)
• WebSocket telemetry at ~20 Hz
• Browser-side MCP JSON-RPC console

Works inside Docker as well:

docker run --rm -p 7860:7860 jsbsim-mcp
# then visit http://localhost:7860/

4. Tool reference (10 tools)

Tool	Summary
list_aircraft	List 60+ bundled aircraft names
create_session	Spin up a session, return session_id
close_session	Tear it down
set_initial_conditions	Apply altitude / airspeed / heading etc.
trim	Iteratively balances elevator for level flight
step	Advance N simulated seconds
get_property	Read any JSBSim property by path
set_property	Write any JSBSim property
get_telemetry	One-shot 40+ scalar frame
execute_script	Load a <run> JSBSim script

Full schema: docs/API.md.

5. Architecture

src/engine/    JSBSim wrapper + session pool + telemetry
src/server/    MCP protocol adapter (FastMCP, stdio + HTTP)
src/dashboard/ FastAPI dashboard + WebSocket broadcaster
app.py         Combined ASGI dispatcher (HTTP + WS + MCP)
run_stdio.py   Stdio entry for local Claude clients

LGPL-2.1 boundary preserved (JSBSim is dynamically linked). See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

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Why Self-Hosted?

JSBSim's open-source license permits redistribution, but the model files (60 aircraft, ~30 MB) and C++ simulator itself are heavy. The practical way to consume this in agents is:

1. pip install once.
2. Run per-developer as an MCP server via stdio.
3. Optionally start the dashboard for human-in-the-loop.

This avoids round-tripping 60 aircraft over a public MCP endpoint and keeps your proprietary IC files local.

If you want a centrally hosted version for a team, see the self-hosted Docker recipe in docs/DEPLOY_MODELSCOPE.md — point your own HF Space / Render / Fly.io at the same source.

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License

• This project: Apache-2.0
• JSBSim dependency: LGPL-2.1

See LICENSE and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.