Setup Cloud MCP For Your 3D Printer

We are over the moon to announce the world’s first MCP server for 3D printing! This guide will walk you through setting up MCP for your 3D printing using Claud Desktop, VS Code, OpenAI’s Playground, and more.

Our 3D printer MCP server enables AI chatbots, agents, and workflows to:

• Retrieve live and detailed printer status and print job information.
• Retrieve live webcam snapshot images.
• Enable 3D printer control, including pause, cancel, and resume.
• With a secure and private cloud connection via OctoEverywhere.

OctoEverywhere’s MCP server works with any 3D printer using standard software like OctoPrint, Klipper, Moonraker, Mainsail, and Fluidd. We also support any 3D printer made by Bambu Lab, Creality, Prusa, Elegoo, QIDI, Anycubic, and more.

Connect To OctoEverywhere

The first step is to connect your 3D printer to OctoEverywhere with the OctoEverywhere plugin. We have designed the plugin setup process to be very easy; on most 3D printers, it only takes 20 seconds!

MCP Server URL & Access Token

Our MCP server for 3D printing supports any MCP implementation, including cloud-based workflows, cloud AI chatbots, and local MCP clients. For all AI tools, you will need our MCP server URL and your Access Token.

3D Printing MCP URL:

https://octoeverywhere.com/api/mcp

Your Private Access Token:

The Access Token is used in different ways on different platforms. Some platforms will simply have a text box where you can enter your Access Token. Other platforms will allow you to set headers, in which case you want to use a named “Authorization” with the value of your Access Token.

The rest of the blog post will guide you through setting up our 3D printing MCP server in a few commonly used clients.

Claude Desktop Setup

Setting up the Claude desktop app to use our MCP server for 3D printing is easy. Follow these steps:

Download and install the Claude Desktop app.

Once installed, open the app and go to the settings.

Go to the developer tab, enable developer mode, and click “Edit Config”

The button will open the file explorer. In the folder, there will be a file named claude_desktop_config.json open it.

Add the following config to the file. Replace your Access Token with the text <Your Access Token>.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octoeverywhere": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://octoeverywhere.com/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_TOKEN": "<Your Access Token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file and restart the Claude desktop app. (Make sure you exit Claude from the system tray.) After restarting the app, OctoEverywhere will now become a tool provider!

Now you can talk to Claude as usual, but it has access to information and control of your 3D printers! Neat!

Visual Studio Code Setup

Setting up Visual Studio Code & GitHub Copilot to use our MCP server for 3D printing is easy. Follow these steps:

• Open VS Code and ensure the GitHub Copilot extension is installed.
• Open the Copilot chat window by opening the command palette and enter:
  • > Chat: Open Chat.
• In the Copilot chat window, change ask to agent at the bottom of the chat window.
• Open the command palette again, and enter:
  • > MCP: Add Server...
  • For the server type, select HTTP
  • For the MCP server URL, enter:
    • https://octoeverywhere.com/api/mcp
  • Name the server whatever you want.
• Press Enter, and VS will open a json text file showing the MCP server config. You must add your Access Token, so the resulting MCP server configuration should look like the following.

    "mcp": {
        "servers": {
            "octoeverywhere": {
                "url": "https://octoeverywhere.com/api/mcp",
                "headers": { 
                    "Authorization" : "<You Access Token>"
                }
            }
        }
    },

That’s it! Go back to the GitHub Copilot chat window, and you will see a little function stack icon next to the Agent mode toggle. If you click it, you will see OctoEverywhere listed as an MCP server, and a list of functions GitHub Copilot can use.

Other MCP Clients

For any other MCP client, use the information above to get the 3D-printing MCP server URL and your Access Token to use with the MCP client. The OctoEverywhere MCP server acts like any other MCP server, so you can follow any guide for your MCP client.

We would love to add more guides to this list for more clients. Please join our Discord server and let us know what clients you need help with or want to be added to this guide. We have a fantastic community of talented people who would love to help you!