An R package that implements the Model Context Protocol, enabling R to function as an MCP server (allowing AI assistants to execute R code in your sessions) and as an MCP client (integrating third-party MCP servers with R applications).

Installation

CRAN

install.packages("mcptools")

Development version

pak::pak("posit-dev/mcptools")

Configuration

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "r-mcptools": {
      "command": "Rscript",
      "args": ["-e", "mcptools::mcp_server()"]
    }
  }
}

GitHub MCP Server Example

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Features

• R as MCP server - allows AI assistants to execute R code in your interactive R sessions
• R as MCP client - integrates third-party MCP servers with ellmer chats
• Compatible with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code GitHub Copilot, and Positron Assistant
• Session configuration with mcp_session() for connecting to specific R projects
• Integration with shinychat and querychat applications
• Uses Claude Desktop configuration file format for third-party MCP servers

Environment Variables

Optional

• GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN - GitHub personal access token for the GitHub MCP server example

Usage Examples

From what year is the earliest recorded sample in the `forested` data in my Positron session?

What issues are open on posit-dev/mcptools?

Notes

This package was previously named 'acquaint'. Users should migrate from acquaint::mcp_server() to btw::btw_mcp_server() and from acquaint::mcp_session() to btw::btw_mcp_session(). The package integrates well with the btw package for documentation and environment inspection tools. The configuration file for MCP clients is located at ~/.config/mcptools/config.json by default.