Tronbyt MCP server

tronbyt-mcp

Let your AI assistant put things on your LED sign.

If you have a Tidbyt or Tidbyt-style LED matrix display managed by a self-hosted tronbyt/server, this connects it to Claude (or any other AI tool that speaks MCP, the open standard for giving assistants access to tools). Once installed, your display becomes something you can just talk to your assistant about:

"Put BREAD'S DONE on the sign in amber."

"Dim the display to 20% and turn on night mode from 10pm to 7am."

"What apps are on the sign right now? Disable the stock ticker."

"Show the clock app for a bit."

The assistant handles the rest — rendering text into the display's pixel format, talking to your server, managing the app rotation. Everything runs on your own machine against your own server; nothing goes through any cloud service.

How it works

tronbyt-mcp is a small MCP server that wraps tronbyt/server's documented REST API. Your MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and friends) launches it locally and talks to it over stdio; it talks to your Tronbyt server over HTTP with a device API key.

Requirements

manages works — it doesn't need to have started life as a Tidbyt: Tidbyt Gen1/Gen2, Tronbyt S3 and S3 Wide kits, MatrixPortal S3 (including the Waveshare variant), Waveshare S3, Pixoticker, Raspberry Pi displays, and homebrew panels typed "other". Both standard 64×32 and wide 128×64 (2x) panels are supported.

• A display managed by a self-hosted tronbyt/server (v2.x). Any device the server

stdio servers.

• Node.js ≥ 20.9
• An MCP client: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or anything else that supports MCP

Installation

1. Get a device API key

In the Tronbyt web UI, open your device's settings and copy (or generate) its API key. Keys are scoped to a single device — one key, one display.

2. Add the server to your MCP client

Claude Code (one command):

claude mcp add tronbyt \
  -e TRONBYT_BASE_URL=http://tronbyt.local:8000 \
  -e TRONBYT_API_KEY=<your-device-key> \
  -- npx -y tronbyt-mcp

Claude Desktop: edit the config file — macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claudedesktopconfig.json, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claudedesktopconfig.json — and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tronbyt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "tronbyt-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TRONBYT_BASE_URL": "http://tronbyt.local:8000",
        "TRONBYT_API_KEY": "<your-device-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop.

Any other MCP client: configure a stdio server with command npx, args ["-y", "tronbyt-mcp"], and the two environment variables above.

From source (instead of npx):

git clone https://github.com/jonfishr/tronbyt-mcp.git
cd tronbyt-mcp
npm install && npm run build

Then use node /path/to/tronbyt-mcp/dist/index.js as the server command in your MCP client config (same environment variables).

Multiple displays? API keys are per-device, so add one entry per display (tronbyt-kitchen, tronbyt-office, …), each with its own key.

3. Check it works

Ask your assistant something like "List my Tronbyt devices." You should get back your display with its brightness, night mode, and app list. (In Claude Code, /mcp also shows the server and its tools.)

Configuration

Usage

You don't call these directly — your assistant picks the right tool from your request — but this is what it has to work with:

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.