MCP Server for Segger RTT via J-Link

An MCP server that provides access to Segger RTT (Real Time Transfer) through a J-Link debugger. This allows an LLM (like Claude) to interact with embedded devices by reading and writing RTT data.

Features

RTT Read: Read output from embedded devices through RTT up-buffer
RTT Write: Send commands to embedded devices through RTT down-buffer
J-Link Management: Connect/disconnect J-Link debuggers, list available devices
Real-time Display: RTT data is continuously printed to terminal while monitoring
Ring Buffer: Recent RTT data is accumulated for reading by the LLM

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+
SEGGER J-Link Software installed (provides JLinkARM.dll/libjlinkarm.so)
A J-Link compatible debugger
Target device running SEGGER RTT

Installation

# Clone or navigate to this directory
cd mcp-rtt-server

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

Usage

Step 1: 安装

cd mcp-rtt-server
pip install -e .

Step 2: 启动 MCP Inspector（调试/测试用）

终端 A — 启动 MCP 服务器：

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python -m mcp_rtt_server.server

启动后会输出一个本地网址（如 http://localhost:6274/?...），在浏览器打开。

终端 B — 实时查看 RTT 数据：

# PowerShell
Get-Content .\rtt_output.log -Wait

# Git Bash / WSL
tail -f ./rtt_output.log

Step 3: 使用工具

在浏览器 Inspector 中按顺序调用：

jlink_connect — 连接 J-Link 和目标设备，启动 RTT 监控
rtt_read — 读取设备发送的 RTT 数据
rtt_write — 向设备发送数据（需固件支持接收）
jlink_status — 查看连接状态和缓冲区信息
jlink_disconnect — 断开连接

Claude Code 集成

在项目 .claude/settings.json 中添加：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rtt": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "mcp_rtt_server.server"],
      "cwd": "."
    }
  }
}

注意：将 python 替换为你的 Python 解释器实际路径（如 C:\Python313\python.exe）。

重启 Claude Code 会话后，可直接用自然语言与设备交互，例如：

"连接 RTT 读取设备数据"
"查看设备状态"

Claude Desktop 集成

编辑 %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rtt": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "mcp_rtt_server.server"],
      "cwd": "."
    }
  }
}

注意：cwd 需要改为本项目的实际绝对路径，因为 Claude Desktop 不会自动定位到项目目录。

Available Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | jlink_connect | Connect to J-Link and start RTT monitoring | | jlink_disconnect | Disconnect from J-Link | | jlink_status | Get connection status and buffer info | | rtt_list_devices | List available J-Link devices | | rtt_read | Read accumulated RTT data | | rtt_write | Write data to RTT down-buffer | | rtt_clear | Clear the RTT ring buffer |

Example Session

> jlink_connect(device="HC32L19x")
Connected to J-Link device 'HC32L19x' (serial: 12345678, speed: 4000 kHz)
RTT monitoring started on channel 0

> rtt_read()
[OSAL] HC32L19x OSAL starting...
[RTT] SEGGER RTT initialized
[OSAL] Registering tasks...
[OSAL] Starting scheduler...

> rtt_write(channel=0, data="status\r\n")
Wrote 7 bytes to RTT channel 0

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     stdio (JSON-RPC)     ┌─────────────────┐
│   Claude /      │ ◄──────────────────────►  │  MCP RTT Server │
│   MCP Client    │                          │    (Python)     │
└─────────────────┘                          └────────┬────────┘
                                                      │
                                             pylink   │
                                                      ▼
                                            ┌─────────────────┐
                                            │  JLinkARM.dll   │
                                            └────────┬────────┘
                                                      │ USB
                                                      ▼
                                            ┌─────────────────┐
                                            │   J-Link Probe  │
                                            └────────┬────────┘
                                                      │ SWD/JTAG
                                                      ▼
                                            ┌─────────────────┐
                                            │  Target Device  │
                                            │  (HC32L19x)     │
                                            │  SEGGER RTT     │
                                            └─────────────────┘

Environment Variables

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | JLINK_SERIAL | (none) | J-Link serial number | | JLINK_DEVICE | HC32L19x | Target device name | | JLINK_SPEED | 4000 | SWD speed in kHz | | RTT_CHANNEL | 0 | Default RTT channel | | RTT_RING_BUFFER_SIZE | 100 | Ring buffer entries | | RTT_POLL_INTERVAL_MS | 10 | Poll interval in ms |

Troubleshooting

"J-Link not found"

Make sure J-Link software is installed
Check that J-Link is connected via USB
Try running as administrator/root

"Device not supported"

Check if the device name is correct
Try using rtt_list_devices to see available probes
Verify the target is connected and powered

"RTT not initialized"

Make sure the target firmware calls SEGGER_RTT_Init()
Check that RTT buffers are configured in SEGGER_RTT_Conf.h

License

MIT

MCP Servers