Trace32

An MCP server that wraps Lauterbach TRACE32's public remote API (RCL) via the official lauterbach-trace32-rcl (PyRCL) package. It lets an AI agent (e.g. GitHub Copilot agent mode) drive TRACE32 PowerView for three MVP use cases:

• Debugging — read/write memory, registers and variables; run control (go / break / step); breakpoints
• Resource inspection — connection/run state, CPU, memory & register snapshots, PRACTICE function evaluation
• Script execution & flash — run PRACTICE .cmm scripts, including SW target flash

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+

• TRACE32 PowerView already running with the remote API (RCL) enabled. Add this to your config.t32 (blank line before/after each block):

  RCL=NETTCP
  PORT=20000
  

  Sanity-check it works before wiring up MCP:

  t32rem localhost PRINT VERSION.SOFTWARE()
  

Install

pip install -e .

Configuration (environment variables)

Variable	Default	Description
T32_NODE	localhost	PowerView host
T32_PORT	20000	RCL port
T32_PROTOCOL	TCP	TCP (recommended) or UDP
T32_PACKLEN	1024	UDP packet length (ignored for TCP)
T32_TIMEOUT	10	Connection/request timeout (s)
T32_ALLOW_WRITE	false	Enables t32_write_memory, t32_write_register, t32_run_command, t32_run_script
T32_ALLOW_FLASH	false	Enables t32_flash

Safety guards

All read and debug-control tools are always available. Destructive operations are OFF by default and must be explicitly enabled:

• T32_ALLOW_WRITE=true → memory/register writes, arbitrary command passthrough, script execution
• T32_ALLOW_FLASH=true → flash programming (independent of T32_ALLOW_WRITE)

When a guard is closed, the tool returns an error explaining which flag to set — it never silently touches the target.

Register with GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Workspace file .vscode/mcp.json is included. Adjust the env values (host/port, and the guard flags when you intend to write/flash), then start the server from the MCP view or the MCP: List Servers command. You can also run it standalone:

python -m trace32_mcp

Tools

Tool	Guard	Purpose
t32_status	—	Connection, run state, CPU, software build
t32_read_memory	—	Read N bytes → hex
t32_read_register / t32_list_registers	—	Read register(s)
t32_read_variable	—	Read an HLL variable/symbol
t32_eval	—	Evaluate a PRACTICE function expression
t32_go / t32_break / t32_step	—	Run control
t32_set_breakpoint / t32_clear_breakpoint / t32_list_breakpoints	—	Breakpoints
t32_write_memory / t32_write_register	ALLOW_WRITE	Write memory/register
t32_run_command	ALLOW_WRITE	Arbitrary TRACE32 command
t32_run_script	ALLOW_WRITE	Run a PRACTICE .cmm (DO)
t32_flash	ALLOW_FLASH	Program target flash via a flash .cmm

Tests

pytest

Unit tests mock PyRCL, so no running TRACE32 is required. For end-to-end checks, the TRACE32 Instruction Set Simulator can stand in for real hardware.

Roadmap (post-MVP)

Trace/CTS inspection, symbol/source browsing, multicore selection, call stack, peripheral register views, structured variable trees, multi-instance routing.