QGIS
Connects Claude AI to QGIS through the Model Context Protocol, allowing Claude to directly interact with and control QGIS for tasks like project creation, layer manipulation, and code execution.
What is QGIS?
QGIS is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to connects claude ai to qgis through the model context protocol, allowing claude to directly interact with and control qgis for tasks like project creation, layer manipulation, and code execution.
Connects Claude AI to QGIS through the Model Context Protocol, allowing Claude to directly interact with and control QGIS for tasks like project creation, layer manipulation, and code execution.
This server falls under the Developer Tools category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Connects Claude AI to QGIS through the Model Context Protoco
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx qgis-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use QGIS
QGIS MCP Server connects Claude AI to QGIS through the Model Context Protocol, enabling natural language control of the full QGIS geospatial desktop application. It exposes tools for creating and saving projects, adding vector and raster layers, querying features, running processing algorithms from the QGIS toolbox, styling layers, rendering maps to images, and executing arbitrary PyQGIS code. GIS analysts and spatial data scientists use it to automate repetitive cartography tasks, run multi-step spatial analyses, and produce styled map outputs through conversational prompts instead of manual GUI interaction.
Prerequisites
- QGIS 3.x installed on your machine (the MCP plugin runs inside QGIS)
- Python 3.9+ and the uv tool installed for running the MCP server
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
- The qgis_mcp repository cloned to a known local path
- QGIS Python scripting enabled (default in standard QGIS installations)
Clone the repository
Download the QGIS MCP server source to your machine.
git clone https://github.com/jjsantos01/qgis_mcp.gitInstall the QGIS plugin
Copy the plugin directory into your QGIS user plugins folder, then enable it from the QGIS Plugins menu. The plugin starts a local socket server inside QGIS that the MCP server connects to.
Configure Claude Desktop
Add the MCP server to claude_desktop_config.json. The server script is qgis_mcp_server.py inside the cloned directory. Update the path to match your local clone location.
{
"mcpServers": {
"qgis": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"/absolute/path/to/qgis_mcp",
"qgis_mcp_server.py"
]
}
}
}Start QGIS with the plugin enabled
Open QGIS and confirm the MCP plugin is active. The plugin must be running before Claude Desktop attempts to connect. Look for a status indicator in the QGIS toolbar or console output confirming the socket server is listening.
Verify the connection with a ping
In Claude Desktop, ask Claude to ping QGIS to confirm the MCP server and plugin are communicating correctly.
Load a project and start working
Open or create a QGIS project through Claude and begin adding layers and running analyses.
QGIS Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop config block for QGIS MCP using uv to run the Python server script.
{
"mcpServers": {
"qgis": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"/absolute/path/to/qgis_mcp",
"qgis_mcp_server.py"
]
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts for controlling QGIS geospatial operations through Claude.
- "Create a new QGIS project and load the shapefile at /data/boundaries.shp as a vector layer"
- "Run the centroids processing algorithm on the municipalities layer"
- "Apply a quantile classification choropleth style with 5 classes using the Spectral color ramp to the population layer"
- "Render the current map view to a PNG image"
- "Get all features from the roads layer within the current map extent"Troubleshooting QGIS
MCP server cannot connect to QGIS — socket connection refused
The QGIS MCP plugin must be enabled and QGIS must be running before Claude Desktop starts the MCP server. Open QGIS first, confirm the plugin is active (check the Plugins menu), then restart Claude Desktop to trigger a fresh connection attempt.
Processing algorithms fail with 'algorithm not found' errors
Confirm the processing algorithm name is exact. Use the execute_processing tool with the full qualified name such as 'qgis:centroids'. You can list available algorithms by asking Claude to run a processing toolbox query or by checking the QGIS Processing Toolbox panel.
uv command not found when Claude Desktop tries to start the server
Install uv with 'pip install uv' or via the official installer at docs.astral.sh/uv. Confirm 'which uv' returns a path and that the path is accessible from the shell environment Claude Desktop uses (it may differ from your interactive shell).
Frequently Asked Questions about QGIS
What is QGIS?
QGIS is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects claude ai to qgis through the model context protocol, allowing claude to directly interact with and control qgis for tasks like project creation, layer manipulation, and code execution. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install QGIS?
Follow the installation instructions on the QGIS GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with QGIS?
QGIS works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is QGIS free to use?
Yes, QGIS is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up QGIS in Your Editor
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Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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