Two Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to automate Intel Quartus FPGA builds and DE10-Nano board management.

FPGA build automation for Intel Quartus projects.

IMPORTANT: ALWAYS USE ASYNC MODE FOR BUILDS

Quartus FPGA builds take 20-45 minutes. Always use quartus_build_async to avoid blocking. The synchronous quartus_build will block Claude for the entire build duration - don't use it.

Async workflow:

1. quartus_build_async() - Start build, get task_id, continue working
2. quartus_task_status() - Check if done (poll periodically)
3. quartus_task_wait() - Block until complete (when you need the result)
4. quartus_task_cancel() - Abort if needed

Features:

• Auto-configures PATH and QSYS_ROOTDIR for Quartus 24.1
• 1-hour build timeout
• Parses build logs for errors
• Returns structured results with RBF path and size
• Async builds: Run builds in background without blocking Claude
• Single build enforcement: Only one build at a time per machine (via ~/.quartus-mcp/state.json)
• Build history: Keeps last 10 completed builds with results

Board management and deployment for DE10-Nano (Cyclone V SoC).

Features:

• Uses paramiko for SSH (proper timeout handling)
• Uses pyserial for serial (never hangs like shell commands)
• fpga_deploy polls for board online after reboot (90s timeout)
• fpga_recover auto-calculates hex file size for U-Boot fatwrite

Default board settings (hardcoded in de10nano_mcp/server.py):

Default Quartus settings (in quartus_mcp/server.py):

cd ~/Documents/dvp/mcp-servers

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv

# Install both servers (editable mode)
.venv/bin/pip install -e quartus-mcp -e de10nano-mcp

Add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "quartus": {
      "command": "/home/abb/Documents/dvp/mcp-servers/.venv/bin/quartus-mcp"
    },
    "de10nano": {
      "command": "/home/abb/Documents/dvp/mcp-servers/.venv/bin/de10nano-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code to load the servers.

# Start build in background (returns immediately)
quartus_build_async(project_path="/home/abb/de10-nanon/hdl-phase/projects/cn0579/de10nano")

# Do other work while build runs...

# Check status periodically
quartus_task_status()

# Or wait for completion when you need the result
quartus_task_wait()

Use fpga_deploy with rbf_path="/home/abb/de10-nanon/hdl-phase/projects/cn0579/de10nano/cn0579_de10nano.rbf"

Use sw_sync with local_dir="/home/abb/de10-nanon/hdl-phase/sw"

This syncs the entire sw/ folder to ~/sw/ on the board. Then run scripts as:

sudo python3 ~/sw/pll_tuner.py monitor

Use board_status (no arguments)

If the board is stuck at U-Boot prompt after a bad bitstream:

Use fpga_recover (no arguments)

This will:

1. Connect via serial
2. Load backup RBF from SD card
3. Calculate file size and write to main RBF
4. Reboot and verify

FPGA builds take 20-45 minutes. ALWAYS use async mode to avoid blocking Claude.

1. START BUILD (returns immediately):
   quartus_build_async(project_path="/path/to/project")
   -> Returns: task_id (e.g., "build-20240122-153000")
   -> Claude can now do other work!

2. CHECK PROGRESS (non-blocking):
   quartus_task_status()
   -> Returns: RUNNING + elapsed time, or SUCCESS/FAILED + results

3. WAIT FOR COMPLETION (when you need the result):
   quartus_task_wait(timeout=3600)
   -> Blocks until build finishes, returns full result
   -> Use this when you're ready to deploy

4. CANCEL IF NEEDED:
   quartus_task_cancel()
   -> Kills the running build process

5. VIEW HISTORY:
   quartus_task_list()
   -> Shows current task + last 10 completed builds

Why async matters: Synchronous builds block Claude for 20-45 minutes, wasting context and preventing any other work. Async lets Claude start a build, do other tasks (edit code, run tests, answer questions), then check back when the build completes.

Run tests with mock mode (no real Quartus needed):

cd ~/Documents/dvp/mcp-servers-async
QUARTUS_MCP_MOCK=3 .venv/bin/python quartus-mcp/tests/test_quartus_mcp.py

Mock mode environment variable:

• QUARTUS_MCP_MOCK=1 - Enable mock with 10s builds
• QUARTUS_MCP_MOCK=<N> - Enable mock with N-second builds

• Python >= 3.10
• mcp >= 1.0.0 (MCP Python SDK)
• paramiko >= 3.4.0 (SSH)
• pyserial >= 3.5 (Serial)

MIT