bnr-mcp-server

BnR-MCP-Server

Unified MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for B&R Automation Studio — build projects, connect to PLCs, read/write variables, trend data, generate charts, and query a local variable database, all from Claude or any MCP-compatible AI assistant.

38 tools | TypeScript + C# companion | SQLite variable index | MIT License

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Features

Category	Tools	Description
Build	4	Build AS6 projects, transfer to target, parse build logs
Connect	5	ANSL/TCP connection to PLC or ARSim, auto-detect, ping, switch target
Variables	4	Read/write scalars, structs, arrays, batch operations
Variable DB	3	SQLite-backed variable index — fast query without PLC round-trip
Watch	6	Poll variables, list sessions, export CSV, live web dashboard
Fast Trend	3	High-frequency monitoring (10-100ms) via C# companion + PNG charts
PLC Info	4	CPU info, task list, module list, error logbook
Modules	3	Upload/download/compare .br module files
Control	3	Coldstart, warmstart, diagnostics mode (with safety confirmation)
Workflow	2	One-shot deploy workflow, full health report

Prerequisites

Required

Dependency	Version	Purpose
B&R Automation Studio 6	AS6	Provides BR.AS.Build.exe and PVITransfer.exe
B&R PVI 6	PVI 6.x	PLC communication runtime (installed with AS6)
Node.js	18+	MCP server runtime
npm	9+	Package manager

Optional (for high-frequency trending)

Dependency	Version	Purpose
.NET Framework 4.8.1	x86	Required by BR.AN.PviServices.dll
MSBuild / dotnet CLI	.NET SDK 8.0+	Building the C# companion
Windows	10/11	PVIServices is Windows-only (x86)

Important: BR.AN.PviServices.dll is a PE32 (x86) .NET Framework assembly. It does not work under .NET 8.0 x64. The companion must target net481 with PlatformTarget=x86.

Auto-Detected Paths

The server auto-detects B&R installation paths. Override with environment variables if needed:

Component	Default Locations
BR.AS.Build.exe	C:\Program Files (x86)\BrAutomation\AS6\bin-en\BR.AS.Build.exe
PVITransfer.exe	C:\Program Files (x86)\BrAutomation\PVI6\PVI\Tools\PVITransfer\PVITransfer.exe
PviCompanion.exe	companion\bin\Release\net481\PviCompanion.exe (relative to project)

Installation

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/your-username/BnR-MCP-Server.git
cd BnR-MCP-Server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

# (Optional) Build C# companion for high-frequency trending
npm run build:companion
# or manually:
dotnet build companion/PviCompanion.csproj -c Release

Configuration

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your MCP settings (claude_desktop_config.json or Claude Code settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bnr": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/BnR-MCP-Server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PVI_PLC_IP": "192.168.0.10",
        "BR_PROJECTS_ROOT": "C:/Users/you/projects"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

All configuration is optional — sensible defaults are provided.

Variable	Default	Description
BR_BUILD_EXE	(auto-detect)	Path to BR.AS.Build.exe
BR_PROJECTS_ROOT	Current directory	Root directory for project scanning
BR_BUILD_TIMEOUT_MS	300000 (5 min)	Build timeout in milliseconds
BR_EXCLUDED_DIRS	node_modules,Temp,Binaries,.git	Directories to skip when scanning
PVI_TRANSFER_EXE	(auto-detect)	Path to PVITransfer.exe
PVI_PLC_IP	192.168.0.10	Default PLC IP address
PVI_WAIT_TIME	30	Connection timeout in seconds
PVI_TEMP_DIR	%TEMP%/pvi-mcp	Temp directory for PIL scripts
PVI_WATCH_MAX_SAMPLES	3600	Max samples per watch session
PVI_COMPANION_EXE	(auto-detect)	Path to PviCompanion.exe
BNR_DB_PATH	%TEMP%/pvi-mcp/bnr-mcp.db	SQLite database path

Total Workflow

The complete development-to-debugging cycle using BnR-MCP-Server: