romdev MCP server

romdev

romdev is a tool server that lets a coding agent (or you) build, run, debug, reverse-engineer and recompile retro console games. It covers 19 consoles and computers from the Atari 2600 to the Dreamcast, plus PICO-8 and two native WebAssembly game runtimes. Every compiler, emulator core and analysis engine ships as WebAssembly through npm, so there is nothing else to install.

npx romdevtools

That starts the server on http://127.0.0.1:7331. It works the same on Linux, Windows and macOS (Node 24 or newer). The output is a standard ROM (.nes, .gb, .md, .sfc, .gba, ...) that runs in other emulators, on flash carts and on real hardware.

What it does

romdev exposes 38 tools over MCP and plain HTTP. Each tool is a verb with an operation axis, such as memory({op:'search'}) or disasm({target:'cfg'}).

• Building. Per-platform toolchains (cc65, SDCC, RGBDS, asar, gcc and binutils for m68k/ARM/MIPS/SH, SGDK, PVSnesLib, libtonc and more) compiled to WebAssembly. Fork a working example game with examples({op:'fork'}), then build({output:'run'}) builds, loads, runs and screenshots it in one call. Output ROMs get the checksums and headers real hardware needs.
• Assets. encodeArt turns PNGs into tiles, tilemaps and palettes; importArt reads Aseprite/LibreSprite, Tiled, GIF and TexturePacker files; sprites({op:'capture'}) lifts a multi-sprite character from a running game; encodeAudio produces SNES BRR, Genesis XGM2, GBA maxmod soundbanks, NES FamiTone2 data and note tables for the other sound chips.
• Running and inspecting. libretro emulator cores as WebAssembly: step frames, take screenshots, drive input, read and write memory, inspect sprites, palettes, tilemaps, CPU and sound-chip state, save and restore states. frame({op:'verify'}) reports whether a game is rendering without needing to look at the picture.
• Reverse engineering. Value search, write/read/execution breakpoints, single-stepping, coverage traces, byte-exact rebuildable disassembly (disasm({target:'project'}) and build({output:'reassemble'})), a bundled cheat database as a labeled RAM map, ROM patching with re-injection of compressed assets, custom-font text tools, and a romhacking playbook.
• Analysis and decompilation. Rizin and Ghidra compiled to WebAssembly: function detection, control-flow graphs, cross-references, reachable-block sets and C pseudocode on 18 platforms, including the MIPS and SH-4 3D consoles. breakpoint({on:'jumptable'}) resolves computed-jump dispatchers by running the game.
• Static recompilation. disasm({target:'recompile', emit:'wasmcart'}) recompiles a whole NES, SNES (including its coprocessor carts), Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA, Master System, Game Gear or Genesis ROM into a wasmcart. frame({op:'verifyRecompile'}) checks the result against the reference emulator core frame by frame (pixels, memory, audio, must-fail controls); findDiverge, fuzzRecompile and traceInstructions locate differences down to the instruction. A Genesis ROM can also be built as a native cart for the sync32 console.
• Matching decompilation. decomp({op}) drives a splat-based N64 or PlayStation decomp project: generate candidate C with m2c, compile it with the project's original compiler, compare per instruction, search with the permuter, and integrate with a full-ROM byte check. Everything runs as JavaScript and WebAssembly in process; no Python, make or host compiler. IDO, SGI's compiler, is proprietary and not distributed; build it once with packages/romdevtools/scripts/build-ido.sh from this repository or point ROMDEV_IDO_DIR at your own build. KMC gcc 2.7.2, EGCS 1.1.2, PS1 gcc 2.6.3 and mips-linux-gnu gcc 14 ship as WebAssembly.
• Native runtimes. wasmcart (.wasc, WebAssembly games written in any language, with GL and WebGPU rendering) and jsgame (JavaScript canvas and WebGL games) run through the same load, step, screenshot and input loop, with cart introspection through wasm({op}).
• Measuring. frame({op:'timing'}) reports per-frame wall, CPU and GPU time over a span of frames in one call (WebGPU timestamp queries, GL timer queries, the cart's own pass timers, A/B variants, and the contention and the GPU that did the work). frame({op:'flash'}) checks a range of frames for photosensitive flashing with a strobe control that must fail; frame({op:'record'}) captures the range to one file.
• Active Bezels. .ab companion packages that read a game's memory every frame and draw a composite scene (maps, HUDs). romdev returns the composite and the raw core frame for the same frame so a bezel can be checked against the game.
• A human in the loop. playtest() opens an SDL window with gamepad support on the running game while the agent keeps working; host({op:'play'}) shows a session on the /livestream page.

your agent <--MCP / HTTP--> romdev server <-> WASM libretro core <-> your game
                                 |
                                 +-> WASM toolchains, Rizin/Ghidra, recompiler

The tools work just as well called by hand or from scripts.

Supported systems

Build is writing a new game; Hack is modifying an existing one. Ratings describe how much friction to expect with romdev's current examples and libraries, not the hardware in the abstract. A dash means there is no romhack tooling beyond code analysis for that system yet.

System	Year	Languages (toolkit)	Build	Hack	Notes
Atari 2600	1977	6502 asm (dasm)	Hardest	Hard	No framebuffer, 128 bytes of RAM, every scanline cycle-counted.
Commodore 64	1982	C / 6502 asm (cc65)	Easy	-	Forgiving hardware and decades of documentation. Boots on the MEGA65 Open ROMs.
MSX / MSX2	1983	C / Z80 asm (SDCC)	Easy	-	Z80 with the TMS9918/V9938 VDP family. Runs on the open C-BIOS.
NES / Famicom	1983	C / 6502 asm (cc65)	Hard	Medium	The PPU is unforgiving (OAM/NMI timing, CHR-RAM). Many games store data plainly; the disassembler is mapper-aware.
Master System	1985	C / Z80 asm (SDCC)	Easy	Medium	Simple Z80 and VDP; near twin of the Game Gear.
Atari 7800	1986	C / 6502 asm (cc65)	Hard	Hard	MARIA display-list graphics with sparse documentation.
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16	1987	C / HuC6280 asm (cc65)	Medium	-	romdev ships a direct-register helper library; HuCards need no BIOS.
Genesis / Mega Drive	1988	C (SGDK) / 68000 asm (Motorola syntax, GNU as)	Medium	Easy	Flat 68000 addressing and no bank switching make it the easiest to hack.
Game Boy	1989	C / SM83 asm (SDCC, RGBDS)	Easy	Easy	The recommended starting point.
Atari Lynx	1989	C / 6502 asm (cc65)	Medium	-	Suzy/Mikey sprite engine with few references.
Game Gear	1990	C / Z80 asm (SDCC)	Easy	Medium	Master System VDP with a smaller window and 12-bit colour.
Super Nintendo	1990	C (PVSnesLib) / 65816 asm (asar)	Medium	Medium	PVSnesLib has "renders nothing" traps; the mental model lists them.
Game Boy Color	1998	C / SM83 asm (SDCC, RGBDS)	Easy	Easy	The Game Boy toolchain plus CGB colour.
Game Boy Advance	2001	C (libtonc, libgba)	Medium	-	32-bit ARM with a large hardware surface.
GameTank	2024	C / 6502 asm (cc65)	Medium	-	An open-hardware W65C02S console: a 128x128 framebuffer drawn by a blitter, and a second 65C02 for audio.
sync32	2026	C (arm-none-eabi, Cortex-M33)	Easy	-	An open RP2350-based console: a flat framebuffer and a function-pointer ABI, no PPU, tilemap or banking.
Nintendo 64	1996	C (mips-elf-gcc, libdragon)	Hard	-	Rendered on the GPU through parallel-n64's glide64.
PlayStation	1994	C (mips-elf-gcc, PSn00bSDK)	Hard	-	Rendered on the GPU through Beetle PSX HW; boots OpenBIOS, no Sony firmware.
Dreamcast	1998	C (sh-elf-gcc)	Hard	-	Rendered on the GPU through Flycast with its reios HLE BIOS; bare-metal C.
PICO-8	2015	Lua (FAKE-08)	Easiest	Easy	Carts are Lua source, so building is packaging and hacking is editing.
wasmcart	2026	Any language that targets WebAssembly	Easy	-	You bring the compiler; romdev runs, inspects and packs the cart. Carts need wasmcart ABI v4.
jsgame	2024	JavaScript (canvas, WebGL2)	Easy	-	JavaScript games run like carts, with V8 introspection.

The Rizin/Ghidra analysis engine works on all 19 systems except sync32, whatever the Hack rating; the rating is about editing data, not analysing code. Decompiler output is most readable on ARM (GBA) and 68000 (Genesis), good on Z80 and the MIPS/SH-4 consoles, and rough on the 6502 family. Byte-exact rebuildable disassembly covers the 15 classic 2D systems.

To ship something quickly, start with Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Master System, Game Gear, C64 or PICO-8. To modify an existing game, Genesis and Game Boy are the gentlest.

Examples, sound and docs per platform

Every classic platform ships starter projects, a sound API, a music demo on that platform's usual engine, and five genre examples (shmup, platformer, puzzle, sports, racing); the Atari 2600 has four (no puzzle). GameTank, sync32, PICO-8, N64, PlayStation and Dreamcast ship genre examples too. Fork one with examples({op:'fork', example:'nes/platformer', name, path}). The platformer side-scrolls with a hardware camera on every platform except NES and the Atari 2600. Each platform has a mental model and troubleshooting guide readable in session with platform({op:'doc', platform, name}).

Platform	Core	Compiler / SDK	Music engine
NES	fceumm	cc65	FamiTone2
Game Boy / Color	gambatte	SDCC, RGBDS	hUGEDriver
SNES	snes9x (bsnes as an alternate)	PVSnesLib, asar	SPC700 driver
Genesis	genesis_plus_gx	SGDK (m68k gcc), 68000 asm (m68k GNU as)	XGM2
Master System / Game Gear	genesis_plus_gx	SDCC	PSG tracker
C64	VICE x64	cc65	SID sequencer
GBA	mGBA	libtonc, libgba (arm gcc)	maxmod
Atari Lynx	handy	cc65	Lynx audio
Atari 2600	stella2014	dasm	2-voice TIA
Atari 7800	prosystem	cc65	2-voice TIA tracker
PC Engine	geargrafx	cc65	HuC6280 PSG
MSX / MSX2	blueMSX	SDCC	AY-3-8910 PSG
GameTank	GameTank core	cc65	ACP audio coprocessor
sync32	s32core	arm-none-eabi gcc	game-side software synth
Nintendo 64	parallel-n64 (glide64, GPU)	mips gcc	-
PlayStation	Beetle PSX HW (GPU)	mips gcc, PSn00bSDK	-
Dreamcast	Flycast (GPU)	sh gcc	-
PICO-8	FAKE-08	Lua	built in
wasmcart	wasmcart host (no emulator)	your own	48 kHz PCM ring
jsgame	rungame (no emulator)	your own	WebAudio

The 3D consoles render on the GPU through native-gles (headless OpenGL ES, no browser).

Packages

The package you install is romdevtools. It depends on romdev-* packages that carry the WebAssembly binaries, so each one can be versioned and reused separately. A platform's binaries load the first time you use that platform.

Package group	Packages
Server	romdevtools: the tool server (MCP, HTTP, Agent Skill), examples, libraries, docs. Bins: romdevtools, romdevtools-cli, romdev-mcp (alias).
Emulator cores (15)	romdev-core-fceumm, -gambatte, -gpgx, -vice, -handy, -prosystem, -geargrafx, -bluemsx, -gametank, -bsnes, -fake08, -s32core, -parallel-n64, -beetle-psx-hw, -flycast
Core runtime (2)	romdev-core-host (the libretro host, usable without the server) and romdev-core-runner (an SDL window over it)
Platform bundles (4)	romdev-platform-snes, -gba, -atari2600, -sync32: a core and compiler used by no other platform
Toolchains (7)	romdev-toolchain-cc65, -sdcc, -rgbds, -m68k-gcc, -mips-gcc (also armips and mips-linux-gnu binutils), -sh-gcc, -decomp-gcc (KMC, EGCS and PS1 gcc for decomp projects)
Analysis (2)	romdev-analysis (Rizin), romdev-analysis-decompiler (Ghidra decompiler and SLEIGH specs)
Decomp tools (6)	romdev-splat, romdev-spimdisasm, romdev-rabbitizer, romdev-m2c, romdev-permuter, romdev-pycparser: JavaScript and WebAssembly ports of the community decomp tools
Audio (4)	romdev-famitone, romdev-maxmod, romdev-xgm2, romdev-audio-resampler
Data (1)	romdev_game_codes: the cheat database used as a labeled RAM and code map, loaded one platform at a time

romdev-toolchain-ido is private and never published; see "Matching decompilation" above.

The WebAssembly binaries are build outputs shipped through npm; this repository holds the sources, build scripts, patches and version pins. packages/romdevtools/scripts/BUILD_MAP.md maps each binary to the script that builds it.

Connect

npx romdevtools      # MCP on http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp

The first run downloads the packages; later runs start from the npm cache. PORT and HOST change the bind address; ROMDEV_GPU=<PCI address> keeps all GPU work on one GPU on a machine with two. Each session's emulator runs in its own process (ROMDEV_HOST_WORKERS=0 turns that off). http://127.0.0.1:7331/livestream shows tool calls and running sessions live for a human watching.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http romdev http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp

opencode

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "romdev": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

codex mcp add romdev --url http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp

or in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.romdev]
url = "http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp"

Other MCP clients and plain HTTP

Any streamable-HTTP MCP client can use http://127.0.0.1:7331/mcp. Both the session-based protocol (an initialize handshake and Mcp-Session-Id) and the stateless 2026-07-28 revision are served on that endpoint; on the stateless revision, pass one stable session argument on every call so your calls reach the same emulator.

Without MCP, every tool is an HTTP route: POST /tool/{name} with a JSON body and an x-romdev-session header. GET /openapi.json describes them, GET /documentation is a browsable console, and GET /skills/romdev/SKILL.md is an Agent Skill generated from the running server.

Then describe what you want:

> Make me a tiny NES game where a sprite moves around the screen.

[agent: examples({op:"fork", example:"nes/platformer", name:"mygame", path:"/path/to/mygame"})]
[agent: build({output:"run", platform:"nes", path:"/path/to/mygame"}) -> builds, loads, runs, screenshots]
[agent looks at the result and iterates]

romdevtools-cli play game.gba also works as a plain emulator: an SDL window with hot-plugged controllers and live fps in the title bar.

Development

An npm-workspaces monorepo (Node 24 or newer):

git clone https://github.com/monteslu/romdev.git
cd romdev
npm install
npm test

The WebAssembly binaries are built from pinned upstream sources in a reproducible Emscripten container; see BUILD_MAP.md. You only rebuild them when bumping an upstream or adding a platform. docs/decomp-throughput.md describes the measured decompilation workflow, bounded permuter search and Z80 IR export.

License

romdev's own code is MIT (LICENSE). The third-party components it bundles keep their own licences, listed in NOTICE.

Games you build with romdev are yours, including to sell; the bundled runtime libraries they link are permissively licensed (see NOTICE).

Recompiled carts are different: a cart made by the static recompiler contains code ported from the reference emulator (GPL, MPL or non-commercial terms depending on the platform) as well as the original game's code. Each recompiled cart carries a licence entry naming those components, and NOTICE explains the terms.