MCP server

Hosted server

The hosted server lets an assistant read what you can see on pcbastudio.com: your account and plan, your workspaces, and the saved projects of paid workspaces with their reports and findings. It also answers questions about the rules and the finding format. It changes nothing, and it never receives or returns design files.

https://pcbastudio.com/mcp

To review a design folder, use a local server: Local servers

Connect your assistant

Every assistant uses the same URL. It registers itself, sends you to pcbastudio.com to sign in, and asks you to approve access.

Claude (web and desktop)

Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. Paste the URL, then Connect. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds the connector once under Organization settings, Connectors, and each member connects their own account.

Claude Code

Add the server, then run /mcp in Claude Code and choose Authenticate.

claude mcp add --transport http pcbastudio https://pcbastudio.com/mcp

ChatGPT

Settings, Apps, Advanced settings. Turn on Developer mode, then create an app with the URL and OAuth authentication.

Codex

Add the server, then sign in:

codex mcp add pcbastudio --url https://pcbastudio.com/mcp
codex mcp login pcbastudio

Cursor

Add the server to your Cursor MCP configuration:

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pcbastudio": { "url": "https://pcbastudio.com/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code

Add the server to the MCP configuration of your workspace:

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "pcbastudio": { "type": "http", "url": "https://pcbastudio.com/mcp" }
  }
}

Sign-in and consent

PCBA Studio shows an Authorize access screen with the app's name and the full address it will send you back to. Check that the address belongs to the assistant you started from, such as claude.ai, chatgpt.com or an app on this computer. PCBA Studio warns you when it does not recognise the address. Approve only apps you trust.

Tools

Every tool only reads. None needs a confirmation, because none changes, deletes or sends anything.

Safety model

• The app acts as you. Every query runs with your own permissions on pcbastudio.com, so it sees exactly the workspaces and saved projects you can open in the browser, and nothing of other customers.
• The tools only read. Saving, rerunning and deleting a project, inviting members and billing stay in the browser.
• Design files never pass through the hosted server. A saved project is described by the names and sizes of its files, never their contents. A design folder is reviewed by a local server.
• The token the app receives carries your account's permissions on pcbastudio.com, not only the MCP tools. Approve only apps you trust and revoke the ones you no longer use.
• Each tool call is logged with your account id, the app's client id and the tool name. Arguments and results are not logged.

Revoke access

Your account page lists every app you approved. Revoking one ends its sessions and refresh tokens at once, and the app has to ask you again to reconnect. Connected apps

Limits

• About 120 tool calls per minute for each account and app. A call over the limit returns an error that says how long to wait.
• Lists return at most 100 entries per call. Pass offset for the next page.
• get_report returns renderings up to 1,000,000 characters. Read larger reports with list_findings and get_finding.
• Access tokens are valid for one hour, and the app refreshes them while access stays approved.

Technical details

• Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless. Each request gets one JSON response. There is no event stream, so a GET answers 405.
• Authorization: OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration. Discovery: https://pcbastudio.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp.
• Protocol versions: 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18 and 2025-03-26.

Local servers

Schematics, CubeMX files and firmware are reviewed on your computer, and the command line and the VS Code extension send no design content anywhere. Their MCP servers are programs your assistant starts on your computer. Install pcba first and activate its virtual environment, or give the client the full path to the pcba program. Install

pcba mcpmacOS, Linux, Windows

Reviews a project folder: finds the schematic, the .ioc and the firmware, runs every rule, and returns findings with evidence and coverage. Tools: pcba_project_inspect, pcba_review_run, pcba_review_get_finding, pcba_altium_pinmap, pcba_cubemx_inspect, pcba_cubemx_validate.

.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pcba": { "command": "pcba", "args": ["mcp"] }
  }
}

pcba altium mcpWindows, with Altium Designer running

Creates and edits Altium projects with typed operations. Every write is planned and previewed, applied with the plan's hash after you approve it, and verified against the netlist.

.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pcba-altium": { "command": "pcba", "args": ["altium", "mcp"] }
  }
}

pcba-studioVS Code and Cursor

Comes with the VS Code extension. Reads one .SchDoc sheet (schdoc_* tools) and maintains the Markdown project tracker (tracker_* tools). Register it with the command "PCBA Studio: Set up MCP server for AI chat".

In Claude Code, add the review server like this:

claude mcp add pcba -- pcba mcp

Agent skills teach an assistant which pcba command to run and how to read the result. Download them on these pages: Altium, Fusion

Support

For questions or a connection that does not work, write to us. Never send an access token or design files. software@newmatik.com