OriginLab MCP Server

Use AI as your OriginLab assistant

Connect OriginLab data analysis and visualization to Antigravity, Claude, Cursor, and other AI clients through the Model Context Protocol.

Quick Start · Features · Examples · Client Configuration

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[!WARNING]

Early v0.2 release - this project is still under active development. Features and APIs may change. It is suitable for testing and feedback, but not recommended for production use yet.

What Is OriginLab MCP Server?

OriginLab MCP Server is a bridge between AI clients and OriginLab. It lets you import data, create plots, customize figures, run analysis, and export results through natural-language requests instead of manually operating the Origin UI.

User: Import experiment.csv from my desktop into Origin, use the first column as X
      and the second column as Y, create a scatter plot, run a Gaussian fit,
      then export the graph as PNG.
AI: Done.     Imported experiment.csv -> Sheet1 (200 rows x 5 columns)     Created scatter plot -> Graph1     Gaussian fit completed -> xc=2.35, w=0.82, A=156.3, R²=0.9987     Exported -> C:\Users\Desktop\Graph1.png

How It Works

AI Client (Antigravity / Claude / Cursor)
       ↓ MCP over stdio
OriginLab MCP Server (Python)
       ↓ originpro + COM
OriginLab

Requirements

| Requirement | Details | | :--- | :--- | | Operating system | Windows | | OriginLab | OriginLab 2021 or later with a valid license | | Python | 3.10+ |

Quick Start

For AI assistants or one-command local setup, run this from the repository root:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\install-and-open.ps1

The script installs uv if needed, runs uv sync, starts the local status panel, and opens http://127.0.0.1:8765/ automatically. From that page you can test Origin and write MCP client configs.

Choose one installation method.

irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex

cd C:\path\to\originlab-mcp
uv sync

uv run originlab-mcp

cd C:\path\to\originlab-mcp
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

pip install -e .

originlab-mcp

After startup, the server waits for MCP client requests over stdio. The first tool call automatically connects to the local OriginLab installation.

Optional: Local Status Panel

To check whether the MCP server can start, whether Origin can be reached, and whether common client config files exist, start the local UI:

uv run originlab-mcp-ui

Then open http://127.0.0.1:8765/. This page can start/stop a debug MCP server subprocess, test the Origin connection, and write the originlab MCP configuration for Antigravity / Gemini, Cursor, Codex, Trae, and Claude Desktop. For normal use, the AI client should still start the server automatically from its configuration.

When updating an existing config file, the UI creates a .bak-timestamp backup first. To prevent the browser from opening automatically:

$env:ORIGINLABMCPUINOBROWSER = "1"
uv run originlab-mcp-ui

Features

The server provides 65 tools covering the OriginLab data workflow.

Data Management (14 Tools)

| Category | Tools | | :--- | :--- | | Import | importcsv · importexcel · importdatafrom_text | | Inspect | listworksheets · getworksheetinfo · getworksheetdata · getcell_value | | Edit | setcolumndesignations · setcolumnlabels · setcolumnformula | | Manage | addworksheet · sortworksheet · clearworksheet · deletecolumns |

Plotting (11 Tools)

| Category | Tools | | :--- | :--- | | Create | createplot · createdoubleyplot | | Modify | addplottograph · removeplotfromgraph · changeplotdata · changeplottype | | Layers | addgraphlayer · group_plots | | Inspect | listgraphs · listgraphtemplates · getgraph_info |

Graph Customization (25 Tools)

| Category | Tools | | :--- | :--- | | Axes | setaxisrange · setaxisscale · setaxisstep · setaxistitle | | Lines | setplotlinestyle · setplotlinewidth | | Fonts and ticks | setgraphfont · settickstyle | | Colors | setplotcolor · setplotcolormap · setplottransparency | | Symbols | setplotsymbols · setsymbolsize · setsymbolinterior | | Group increments | setcolorincrement · setsymbolincrement | | Error bars | seterrorbar_style | | Fill | setfillarea | | Legend | set_legend | | Preset styling | applypublicationstyle | | Annotations | setgraphtitle · addtextlabel · addlinetograph · removegraph_label |

Analysis (3 Tools)

linearfit · nonlinearfit · listfitfunctions

Common Origin fit functions such as Gauss, Lorentz, ExpDec1, and Boltzmann are supported. You can provide initial parameters, fix parameters, and fit with error bars.

Export and Project Management (6 Tools)

exportgraph · exportallgraphs · exportworksheettocsv · saveproject · openproject · new_project

System Management (4 Tools)

getorigininfo · releaseorigin · reconnectorigin · close_origin

Advanced (2 Tools)

executelabtalk · getlabtalk_variable

executelabtalk is an escape hatch for operations not covered by standard tools. getlabtalk_variable safely reads LabTalk variable values.

Examples

| Request | Typical tool call | | :--- | :--- | | Import data.csv into Origin | import_csv | | Show worksheet columns and metadata | getworksheetinfo | | Set the first column as X and the next two columns as Y | setcolumndesignations | | Create a scatter plot | create_plot | | Add another curve from the third column | addplotto_graph | | Change the X-axis title and set the curve color to red | setaxistitle + setplotcolor | | Apply a publication-style preset | applypublicationstyle | | Apply publication styling to layer 2 with line width 3 and symbol size 12 | applypublicationstyle | | Run a Gaussian fit | nonlinear_fit | | Set the Y axis to logarithmic scale | setaxisscale | | Export a graph as PNG | export_graph | | Export all project graphs as SVG | exportallgraphs | | Release Origin so I can use it manually | release_origin |

applypublicationstyle supports layer_index, axis-title font size, tick-label font size, legend font size, major tick length, minor tick count, line width, symbol size, and other common publication-figure settings.

Typical workflow:

Import data -> inspect structure -> set column designations -> create plot -> customize graph -> run analysis -> export results

Client Configuration

[!NOTE]

You do not need to start the MCP server manually. Once configured, the AI client starts the server process when needed and communicates with it over stdin/stdout.

Replace paths with your actual project path.

You can also run uv run originlab-mcp-ui, choose a client in the local status panel, and let it write the config automatically. Manual examples are shown below.

Antigravity (Gemini) - Recommended

Create .gemini/settings.json in the project root.

Using uv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "originlab": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "C:\\path\\to\\originlab-mcp", "run", "originlab-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Using pip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "originlab": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\originlab-mcp\\.venv\\Scripts\\originlab-mcp.exe"
    }
  }
}

Testing

# uv
uv run python -m pytest tests/ -v
pip, after activating the virtual environment
pytest tests/ -v

The basic test suite does not require OriginLab to be installed.

Project Structure

originlab-mcp/
├── pyproject.toml                # Project configuration and dependencies
├── CHANGELOG.md                  # Release notes
├── scripts/
│   └── install-and-open.ps1      # One-command setup and UI launcher
├── src/originlab_mcp/
│   ├── server.py                 # MCP server entry point and dependency injection
│   ├── ui.py                     # Local status panel
│   ├── origin_manager.py         # Thread-safe Origin COM connection manager
│   ├── exceptions.py             # Custom exceptions
│   ├── types.py                  # Protocol type definitions
│   ├── tools/
│   │   ├── data.py               # Data import and worksheet management (14)
│   │   ├── plot.py               # Plot creation and graph management (11)
│   │   ├── customize.py          # Graph customization (25)
│   │   ├── analysis.py           # Linear and nonlinear fitting (3)
│   │   ├── export.py             # Export and project management (6)
│   │   ├── system.py             # System and connection management (4)
│   │   └── advanced.py           # LabTalk escape hatch (2)
│   └── utils/
│       ├── constants.py          # Enums, defaults, and fit-function metadata
│       ├── helpers.py            # Graph/sheet resolution and error handling helpers
│       └── validators.py         # Input validation and standard response builders
└── tests/
    ├── test_helpers.py           # Helper tests
    ├── test_phase3.py            # LabTalk safety and resolve-pattern tests
    ├── test_tools.py             # Tool registration and integration tests
    └── test_ui.py                # Local status panel config tests

FAQ

License

MIT © 2025 garethbeaumo