MCP server · Node 18+ · MIT

Give your AI agent a shell on every Pi.

raspberry-pi-connect-mcp lets Claude Code, Claude Desktop or any MCP client run commands on your Raspberry Pi devices through the Raspberry Pi Connect remote shell. If the Pi shows up in Connect, the agent can use it.

Get started → Read the source

SSH
port forwarding
VPN
public IP

works
behind
NAT!

claude — rpi-connect

> check disk space on lab-pi and restart the sensor service

● rpi-connect · list_devices
  lab-pi    online   shell ✓
  kiosk     online   shell ✓
  garage    offline

● rpi-connect · run_command(lab-pi, "df -h /")
  Filesystem  Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
  /dev/root    29G   11G   17G  40% /
  exitCode 0

● rpi-connect · run_command(lab-pi, "sudo systemctl restart sensord")
  exitCode 0

✦ lab-pi has 17G free (40% used). sensord restarted cleanly.

first call ≈ 10–30 s · then it's quick

how it worksConnect has no shell API. So it uses the web one.

The server drives the Connect web UI with a headless Chrome: it opens the device's remote-shell page, hooks the xterm.js terminal, types your agent's commands and reads the output back.

Sign in once

A Chrome window opens, you log in to Connect by hand, and the session cookies are saved to your machine.

Register the server

Add it to Claude Code, Claude Desktop or any MCP client with one command or a few lines of JSON.

Ask for things

The agent lists your devices and runs commands on them, getting back the output and the exit code.

featuresSmall server, real shell.

Everything you'd expect from sitting at the Pi, minus the sitting.

fleetEvery device on your accountOnline status, and whether remote shell and screen sharing are allowed.

exit codesOutput you can trustUnique begin and end markers per call, so the agent gets clean output and the real exit code.

sessionsPersistent per deviceWorking directory, environment variables and background jobs survive between calls.

interactiveRaw keys when neededSend Ctrl-C, arrows and Enter to interactive programs, then read the screen.

allow-listLimit what it touchesRPI_CONNECT_ALLOW restricts the agent to the devices you name.

parallelMany Pis at onceOne agent can work across several devices in parallel.

setupThree commands from npm.

You need Node.js 18+, a Raspberry Pi Connect account with remote shell enabled on your devices, and Chrome for Testing (installed below, no sudo).

quick start · npm

# 1. a Chrome the server can drive
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable --path ~/.cache/rpi-connect-mcp
# 2. sign in by hand in the window that opens
npx -p raspberry-pi-connect-mcp raspberry-pi-connect-mcp-login
# 3. register it with Claude Code
claude mcp add rpi-connect -- npx -y raspberry-pi-connect-mcp

from source

git clone https://github.com/kritzerenkrieg/raspberry-pi-connect-mcp.git
cd raspberry-pi-connect-mcp
npm install
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable --path ~/.cache/rpi-connect-mcp
npm run login

other MCP clients · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rpi-connect": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "raspberry-pi-connect-mcp"],
      "env": { "RPI_CONNECT_ALLOW": "lab-pi,kiosk" }
    }
  }
}

Login saves the session to ~/.config/rpi-connect-mcp/session.json (mode 600). Connect cookies are session-only, so sign in again when the tools say the session expired.

toolsFive tools. That's the API.

device can be the exact name, a unique part of the name, or the device UUID.

list_devices

Devices on the account: id, name, client version, last seen, online, and whether remote shell and screen sharing are allowed.

run_command(device, command, timeout_sec=60)

Runs a bash command line and returns { device, exitCode, output }. Still running at the timeout? You get timedOut: true and the output so far.

send_keys(device, keys)

Sends raw keystrokes (\n, \t, \x03 Ctrl-C, \x04 Ctrl-D, \x1b[A Up…) and returns the screen.

read_screen(device, lines=0)

The current terminal screen plus a little scrollback.

close_session(device)

Closes the shell session for a device.

configurationEnvironment variables.

All optional.

Variable	What it does
RPI_CONNECT_ALLOW	Comma-separated name substrings. Only matching devices can be used.
RPI_CONNECT_HEADED=1	Show the browser window, for debugging.
RPI_CONNECT_CHROME	Path to a Chrome binary.
RPI_CONNECT_SESSION	Path to the saved session file.
RPI_CONNECT_PROFILE	Chrome profile directory used by the login step.

read this bitIt's a real shell. Treat it like one.

This hands an AI agent a shell on your devices with the privileges of the Connect user, which often includes passwordless sudo.

Use RPI_CONNECT_ALLOW to limit which devices the agent can use, and keep your MCP client's per-call approval prompts on.
Keep session.json private. Anyone holding it can use your Connect account until the session expires.
Commands that wait for input (sudo passwords, editors, [Y/n]) will time out in run_command. Use send_keys and read_screen, or pass -y style flags.
The server doesn't try to get around bot detection. If Cloudflare challenges the session, sign in again by hand.