Compiler Explorer
About
Connects to Compiler Explorer API for listing programming languages, retrieving available compilers, and compiling source code with customizable options, enabling developers to compare compiler behaviors and explore language features without context switching.
Details
- Author
- torshepherd
- Repository
- torshepherd/compiler-explorer-mcp
- GitHub stars
- 11
- Downloads
- 3,148
- Categories
- Design, Developer Tools, AI, Frontend, Infrastructure, API
- Tags
- #web
Jump to
- "What is the earliest version of GCC that supports the #embed directive?"
- "Show me how different versions of Clang handle C++20 modules"
- "What optimization flags are available in Clang 12 that weren't in Clang 11?"
- "Can you demonstrate how MSVC and GCC handle C++20 coroutines differently?"
- "Which C++20 features are supported in the latest versions of GCC, Clang, and MSVC?"
- "Show me how different compilers implement std::optional's memory layout"
- "Compare how GCC and Clang handle C++20's constexpr virtual functions"
- "Demonstrate the differences in how Intel and GCC compilers auto-vectorize SIMD operations"
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
Compiler ExplorerCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)npxArguments-
Argument 1
-y -
Argument 2
@highlight/mcp-server
Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
-
Argument 1
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"compiler explorer": {
"env": {},
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}Linux
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}Macos
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}Windows
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"/c",
"npx",
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "cmd"
}Compiler Explorer MCP
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects LLMs to the Compiler Explorer API, enabling them to compile code, explore compiler features, and analyze optimizations across different compilers and languages.
Example Questions
Here are some interesting questions you can ask your LLM using this MCP:
Compiler Feature Exploration
- "What is the earliest version of GCC that supports the#embed directive?"
- "Show me how different versions of Clang handle C++20 modules"
- "What optimization flags are available in Clang 12 that weren't in Clang 11?"
- "Can you demonstrate how MSVC and GCC handle C++20 coroutines differently?"
Optimization Analysis
- "What's the assembly difference between-O2 and -O3 for a simple recursive Fibonacci function in GCC 13?"
- "How does Clang's vectorization compare to GCC's for a basic matrix multiplication?"
- "Show me how different optimization levels affect tail-call optimization in this recursive function"
- "What's the impact of -ffast-math on this floating-point heavy computation?"
Language Feature Support
- "Which C++20 features are supported in the latest versions of GCC, Clang, and MSVC?" - "Show me how different compilers implement std::optional's memory layout" - "Compare how GCC and Clang handle C++20's constexpr virtual functions" - "Demonstrate the differences in how Intel and GCC compilers auto-vectorize SIMD operations"Assembly Deep Dives
- "What's the most efficient way to implement a population count in x86 assembly across different CPU architectures?" - "Show me how different compilers optimize a simple string reverse function at -O3" - "Compare the assembly output of a virtual function call vs a normal function call" - "How do different compilers implement std::variant's type switching in assembly?"Cross-Language Comparison
- "Compare the generated assembly for the same algorithm in C++, Rust, and Go" - "How do exception handling mechanisms differ between C++ and Rust in terms of generated code?" - "Show me the overhead of Rust's bounds checking compared to unchecked C++ array access" - "Compare how C++ and D implement RAII in terms of generated assembly"Performance Investigation
- "What's the assembly-level difference between using std::sort and a hand-written quicksort?" - "Show me how different string concatenation methods compare in terms of generated instructions" - "Compare the efficiency of std::map vs std::unordered_map operations in assembly" - "How do different smart pointer implementations affect inlining and code size?"Sign in to leave a review
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