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Getting Started

SimConnect MCP is a Model Context Protocol server for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS 2020/2024), Prepar3D, and FSX. It operates in two modes:

  • Docs mode — serves SimConnect SDK reference documentation to MCP clients. Cross-platform, no simulator required.
  • SimConnect mode — reads real-time simulator data via the SimConnect SDK. Windows only, requires a running simulator.

Prerequisites

All modes

  • Go 1.25 or later

SimConnect mode only

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11
  • Windows SDK with SimConnect SDK headers and libraries
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, running with SimConnect enabled

Installation

Download the latest release for your platform from the GitHub Releases page.

Extract the archive and place the simconnect-mcp binary in a directory on your PATH.

Option 2 — Install binary

Install the latest released binary directly from the module proxy:

go install github.com/mrlm-net/simconnect-mcp/cmd/simconnect-mcp@latest

Option 3 — Build from source

Clone the repository and build locally:

git clone git@github.com:mrlm-net/simconnect-mcp.git
cd simconnect-mcp
go mod download
go build ./cmd/simconnect-mcp/

The resulting binary is placed in the current directory as simconnect-mcp (or simconnect-mcp.exe on Windows).

Run in Docs Mode (cross-platform)

Docs mode scrapes and serves the SimConnect SDK reference to MCP clients. It runs on any operating system and does not require a simulator or Windows SDK.

MCP_MODE=docs simconnect-mcp

Verify the server is running:

curl http://localhost:8080/health
# {"status":"ok","mode":"docs"}

The server listens on port 8080 by default. See Configuration to change the port or MSFS version used for documentation.

Run in SimConnect Mode (Windows only)

SimConnect mode connects to a running instance of MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024 and streams live simulator data to MCP clients. SimConnect must be enabled in the simulator’s settings.

MCP_MODE=simconnect simconnect-mcp

Or using go run with the required build tag:

go run -tags windows ./cmd/simconnect-mcp/

Verify the server is running and connected:

curl http://localhost:8080/health
# {"status":"ok","mode":"simconnect","connected":true}

If the simulator is not running or SimConnect is disabled, the connected field will be false and the server will return errors for data requests until a connection is established.

MCP Client Setup

Point your MCP client at http://localhost:8080. The server implements the MCP protocol over HTTP with Server-Sent Events (SSE) for streaming responses.

See Claude Desktop Setup for a complete configuration example including how to register SimConnect MCP as a local MCP server in Claude Desktop.