Isaac Sim MCP Server

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.whats2000/isaacsim-mcp-server -->

> Natural language control for NVIDIA Isaac Sim through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Connect any MCP-compatible IDE (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code, Windsurf, JetBrains) to a running Isaac Sim instance and control it with plain-English prompts -- create robots, build scenes, run simulations, and debug physics all from your editor.

---

Highlights

- 42 tools across 9 categories -- scene, objects, lighting, robots, sensors, materials, assets, simulation, graphs
- 107+ robots auto-discovered from the Isaac Sim asset library (Franka, UR, Unitree, Boston Dynamics, and more)
- Step-and-observe debugging -- step the simulation and inspect prim positions, joint states, and physics in one call
- Hot-reload -- iterate on Python controllers without restarting Isaac Sim
- Multi-instance -- run multiple Isaac Sim sessions side by side on different ports
- Built for Isaac Sim 5.1.0 with a modular adapter layer for version isolation

---

Installation

Option A: pip install (recommended)

pip install isaacsim-mcp-server

This installs the MCP server and the isaacsim-mcp-server CLI. You still need the Isaac Sim extension from the repo (see Launching Isaac Sim below).

Option B: From source

git clone https://github.com/whats2000/isaacsim-mcp-server
cd isaacsim-mcp-server
./scripts/setup_python_env.sh

Requirements

| Requirement | Version |
|-------------|---------|
| NVIDIA Isaac Sim | 5.1.0 |
| Python | 3.10+ |
| uv | latest (for source install) |
| Platform | Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+) |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Currently only Linux is supported. Windows support is planned.
> macOS is not supported because NVIDIA Isaac Sim does not run on macOS.

> [!NOTE]
> We are welcoming contributions to support other Isaac Sim versions.
> The adapter layer is designed for easy version isolation.

---

Quick Start

1. Set up the environment

If you installed from source:

./scripts/setup_python_env.sh

2. Launch Isaac Sim with the extension

./scripts/run_isaac_sim.sh

You should see in the logs:

Registered 41 command handlers
Isaac Sim MCP server started on localhost:8766

<details>
<summary>Optional: Beaver3D / NVIDIA API keys for 3D generation</summary>

export BEAVER3D_MODEL="<your beaver3d model name>"
export ARK_API_KEY="<your beaver3d api key>"
export NVIDIA_API_KEY="<your nvidia api key>"

</details>

3. Connect your IDE

Add the MCP server to your editor. Replace the path with your actual repo location.

<details>
<summary><strong>Claude Code (CLI)</strong></summary>

claude mcp add isaac-sim /path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh

Or edit ~/.claude.json / .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details>
<summary><strong>VS Code</strong></summary>

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details>
<summary><strong>Cursor</strong></summary>

Open Cursor Settings > MCP, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details>
<summary><strong>Claude Desktop</strong></summary>

Edit the config file for your platform:

- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
- Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details>
<summary><strong>Windsurf</strong></summary>

Open Windsurf Settings > MCP or edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isaac-sim": {
      "command": "/path/to/isaacsim-mcp-server/scripts/run_mcp_server.sh"
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details>
<summary><strong>JetBrains IDEs</strong></summary>

Go to Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP Servers and add the server. See the JetBrains MCP docs for details.

</details>

4. Start prompting

Check the connection with get_scene_info.
If the scene is empty, create a physics scene.
Add a Franka robot at the origin and a Go1 quadruped at [2, 0, 0].

---

Architecture

MCP Client (IDE)
      |
      v
isaacsim-mcp-server          (PyPI package / CLI)
      |
      v  TCP socket (localhost:8766)
      |
isaac.sim.mcp_extension      (Omniverse extension)
      |
      v
Handlers -> Adapter -> Isaac Sim 5.1.0 APIs

---

Tools

42 tools across 9 categories:

| Category | Count | What you can do |
|----------|------:|-----------------|
| Scene | 7 | Inspect scenes, create physics, list/load environments, browse prims |
| Objects | 4 | Create, delete, transform, and clone primitives |
| Lighting | 2 | Create and tune lights |
| Robots | 6 | Spawn 107+ robots, inspect joints, set positions, refresh library |
| Sensors | 4 | Create cameras/LiDAR, capture images, get point clouds |
| Materials | 2 | Create and apply materials |
| Assets | 4 | Import URDF, load/search USD, generate 3D models |
| Graphs | 2 | Build and edit Action Graphs (OnPlaybackTick, ScriptNode, script file attachment) |
| Simulation | 11 | Play/pause/stop/step, execute Python, inspect physics, hot-reload |

<details>
<summary>Full tool list</summary>

Scene: get_scene_info create_physics_scene clear_scene list_prims get_prim_info list_environments load_environment

Objects: create_object delete_object transform_object clone_object

Lighting: create_light modify_light

Robots: create_robot list_available_robots refresh_robot_library get_robot_info set_joint_positions get_joint_positions

Sensors: create_camera capture_image create_lidar get_lidar_point_cloud

Materials: create_material apply_material

Assets: import_urdf load_usd search_usd generate_3d

Graphs: create_action_graph edit_action_graph

Simulation: play_simulation pause_simulation stop_simulation step_simulation set_physics_params get_isaac_logs get_simulation_state get_physics_state get_joint_config execute_script reload_script

</details>

---

Example Prompts

Scene bootstrap

Check the connection with get_scene_info. If the scene is empty, create a physics scene.

Add stronger lighting and place a camera that looks at the workspace.

Robot layout

Create three Franka robots in a row at [0,0,0], [2,0,0], and [4,0,0].

Then add a Go1 robot at [1, 3, 0].

…