Openroad MCP Server

The OpenROAD MCP server - interactive EDA sessions via Model Context Protocol

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What is the Openroad MCP server?

Connect Openroad to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. The OpenROAD MCP server - interactive EDA sessions via Model Context Protocol. The openroad mcp server is what makes that connection.

What the server does

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides tools for interacting with OpenROAD and ORFS (OpenROAD Flow Scripts).

  • Interactive OpenROAD sessions — - Execute commands in persistent OpenROAD sessions with PTY support
  • Session management — - Create, list, inspect, and terminate multiple sessions
  • Command history — - Access full command history for any session
  • Performance metrics — - Get comprehensive metrics across all sessions
  • Report visualization — - List and read report images from ORFS runs

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • interactive_openroad — Execute commands in an interactive OpenROAD session
  • create_interactive_session — Create a new OpenROAD session
  • list_interactive_sessions — List all active sessions
  • terminate_interactive_session — Terminate a session
  • inspect_interactive_session — Get detailed session information
  • get_session_history — View command history
  • get_session_metrics — Get performance metrics
  • list_report_images — List ORFS report directory images
  • read_report_image — Read a ORFS report image
  • Setup — The Setup tool exposed by this server
  • Testing — The Testing tool exposed by this server

Credentials and setup notes

  • OpenROAD installed and available in your PATH - Installation guide - OpenROAD-flow-scripts (ORFS) for complete RTL-to-GDS flows (optional but recommended) - ORFS installation guide - A runtime for one of the two distributions: - Node.js 22+ for the npx

Installation

The server ships on npm as openroad-mcp, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Where it fits

Plenty of file and storage access servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Openroad's toolset — interactive_openroad, create_interactive_session, list_interactive_sessions and 8 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by luarss; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • With 11 tools registered it takes up a noticeable share of the context window; turn it off in projects that never touch Openroad.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
interactive_openroadExecute commands in an interactive OpenROAD session
create_interactive_sessionCreate a new OpenROAD session
list_interactive_sessionsList all active sessions
terminate_interactive_sessionTerminate a session
inspect_interactive_sessionGet detailed session information
get_session_historyView command history
get_session_metricsGet performance metrics
list_report_imagesList ORFS report directory images
read_report_imageRead a ORFS report image
SetupThe Setup tool exposed by this server.
TestingThe Testing tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Openroad MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openroad-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "openroad-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

  • OpenROAD installed and available in your PATH - Installation guide - OpenROAD-flow-scripts (ORFS) for complete RTL-to-GDS flows (optional but recommended) - ORFS installation guide - A runtime for one of the two distributions: - Node.js 22+ for the npx

Example prompts to try

  • Use Openroad to interactive openroad.
  • Use Openroad to create interactive session.
  • Use Openroad to list interactive sessions.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Openroad to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 11 tools (interactive_openroad, create_interactive_session, list_interactive_sessions, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Openroad directly.