QGIS MCP

What is QGIS MCP about?

QGIS MCP provides a two‑way communication channel between Claude AI and QGIS, exposing a set of tools that let the LLM create, edit, and render GIS projects programmatically.

How to use QGIS MCP?

1. Install the required prerequisites (QGIS 3.X, Python 3.10+, uv package manager).
2. Clone the repository and copy the qgis_mcp_plugin folder into QGIS’s user‐profile python/plugins directory.
3. Activate the plugin in QGIS via Plugins → Installing and Managing Plugins → QGIS MCP and click Start Server.
4. Add the MCP server entry to Claude’s claude_desktop_config.json (see configuration below).
5. Once the server is running, Claude displays a hammer icon with the available QGIS tools; invoke them through natural language prompts.

Key features of QGIS MCP

• Two‑way socket communication between Claude and QGIS.
• Project manipulation: create, load, save, and query QGIS projects.
• Layer handling: add/remove vector & raster layers, list layers, zoom to layer, fetch features.
• Processing execution: run any algorithm from QGIS’s Processing Toolbox with custom parameters.
• Arbitrary code execution: run PyQGIS snippets directly (powerful but requires caution).
• Map rendering: export the current map view to an image file.

Use cases of QGIS MCP

• Automating repetitive GIS workflows (e.g., batch loading datasets, applying standard symbology).
• Guiding non‑technical users through spatial analysis via conversational AI.
• Rapid prototyping of geoprocessing pipelines where the LLM suggests and executes steps.
• Generating visual map outputs for reports without manual UI interaction.

FAQ from the QGIS MCP

Q: Which versions of QGIS are supported? A: Tested on QGIS 3.22; other 3.X versions should work but are not officially verified.

Q: Do I need an internet connection? A: Only for downloading dependencies (uv, Python packages). The socket communication runs locally.

Q: Is executing arbitrary code safe? A: It gives full access to the QGIS Python environment, so only enable this when you trust the LLM’s output or run in a sandbox.

Q: How do I stop the server? A: Use the plugin’s UI in QGIS to stop the socket server, or close QGIS entirely.

Q: Can I use a different LLM than Claude? A: Any client that implements the Model Context Protocol can connect, provided it points to the same MCP server configuration.

QGISMCP - QGIS Model Context Protocol Integration

QGISMCP connects QGIS to Claude AI through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing Claude to directly interact with and control QGIS. This integration enables prompt assisted project creation, layer loading, code execution and more.

This project is strongly based on the BlenderMCP project by Siddharth Ahuja

Features

• Two-way communication: Connect Claude AI to QGIS through a socket-based server.
• Project manipulation: Create, load and save projects in QGIS.
• Layer manipulation: Add and remove vector or raster layers to a project.
• Execute processing: Execute processing algorithms (Processing Toolbox).
• Code execution: Run arbitrary Python code in QGIS from Claude. Very powerful, but also be very cautious using this tool.

Components

The system consists of two main components:

1. QGIS plugin: A QGIS plugin that creates a socket server within QGIS to receive and execute commands.
2. MCP Server: A Python server that implements the Model Context Protocol and connects to the QGIS plugin.

Installation

Prerequisites

• QGIS 3.X (only tested on 3.22)
• Cloud desktop
• Python 3.10 or newer
• uv package manager:

If you're on Mac, please install uv as

brew install uv

On Windows Powershell

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Otherwise installation instructions are on their website: Install uv

⚠️ Do not proceed before installing UV

Download code

Download this repo to your computer. You can clone it with:

git clone git@github.com:jjsantos01/qgis_mcp.git

QGIS plugin

You need to copy the folder qgis_mcp_plugin and its content on your QGIS profile plugins folder.

You can get your profile folder in QGIS going to menu Settings -> User profiles -> Open active profile folder Then, go to Python/plugins and paste the folder qgis_mcp_plugin.

On a Windows machine the plugins folder is usually located at: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\QGIS\QGIS3\profiles\default\python\plugins and on MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins

Then close QGIS and open it again. Go to the menu option Plugins -> Installing and Managing Plugins, select the All tab and search for "QGIS MCP", then mark the QGIS MCP checkbox.

Claude for Desktop Integration

Go to Claude > Settings > Developer > Edit Config > claude_desktop_config.json to include the following:

If you cann't find the "Developers tab" or the claude_desktop_config.json look at this documentation.

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "qgis": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/PARENT/REPO/FOLDER/qgis_mcp/src/qgis_mcp",
                "run",
                "qgis_mcp_server.py"
            ]
        }

    }
}

Usage

Starting the Connection

1. In QGIS, go to plugins -> QGIS MCP-> QGIS MCP
2. Click "Start Server"

Using with Claude

Once the config file has been set on Claude, and the server is running on QGIS, you will see a hammer icon with tools for the QGIS MCP.

Tools

• ping - Simple ping command to check server connectivity
• get_qgis_info - Get QGIS information about the current installation
• load_project - Load a QGIS project from the specified path
• create_new_project - Create a new project and save it
• get_project_info - Get current project information
• add_vector_layer - Add a vector layer to the project
• add_raster_layer - Add a raster layer to the project
• get_layers - Retrieve all layers in the current project
• remove_layer - Remove a layer from the project by its ID
• zoom_to_layer - Zoom to the extent of a specified layer
• get_layer_features - Retrieve features from a vector layer with an optional limit
• execute_processing - Execute a processing algorithm with the given parameters
• save_project - Save the current project to the given path
• render_map - Render the current map view to an image file
• execute_code - Execute arbitrary PyQGIS code provided as a string

Example Commands

This is the example I used for the demo:

You have access to the tools to work with QGIS. You will do the following:
	1. Ping to check the connection. If it works, continue with the following steps.
	2. Create a new project and save it at: "C:/Users/USER/GitHub/qgis_mcp/data/cdmx.qgz"
	3. Load the vector layer: ""C:/Users/USER/GitHub/qgis_mcp/data/cdmx/mgpc_2019.shp" and name it "Colonias".
	4. Load the raster layer: "C:/Users/USER/GitHub/qgis_mcp/data/09014.tif" and name it "BJ"
	5. Zoom to the "BJ" layer.
	6. Execute the centroid algorithm on the "Colonias" layer. Skip the geometry check. Save the output to "colonias_centroids.geojson".
	7. Execute code to create a choropleth map using the "POB2010" field in the "Colonias" layer. Use the quantile classification method with 5 classes and the Spectral color ramp.
	8. Render the map to "C:/Users/USER/GitHub/qgis_mcp/data/cdmx.png"
	9. Save the project.