dsh-matlab-control
MATLAB/Simulink control-engineering assistant for DeepSeek Harness (DSH).
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This plugin does not implement a MATLAB/Simulink transport. It reuses the official
MathWorks MATLAB MCP Server as the bridge and the official Simulink Agentic Toolkit
tool registry for model tooling, then adds four agent skills that specialise the workflow for
Simulink simulation, App Designer, and control-system design.
- 14 model-facing tools: 5 MATLAB (
evaluate_matlab_code, run_matlab_file, check_matlab_code,
run_matlab_test_file, detect_matlab_toolboxes) + 9 Simulink
(model_overview, model_read, model_edit, model_check, model_query_params,
model_resolve_params, model_read_diagnostics, model_scan, model_test).
- All tools appear to the agent as
mcp__matlab__<tool>.
- Domain knowledge lives in skill files, not in a system prompt.
Features
| Area | What the agent does |
|---|
| Simulink simulation | Reads model structure (model_overview, model_read), validates connectivity and Edit-Time checks (model_check), runs simulations and reports signal/metric summaries instead of raw command output |
| App Designer / GUI | Generates modern uifigure/uiaxes/uidropdown/uibutton app classes, wires callbacks that call sim() and plot into uiaxes, and verifies them with check_matlab_code |
| Control engineering | Routes an intent to bode/nyquist/margin/allmargin, step/impulse/lsim, ss/tf/zpk, pidtune/pidTuner, robuststab/robgain, and returns gain/phase margin, overshoot, settling time, steady-state error and stability as a structured summary |
How it works
cordis.patch.yml is the entire runtime — two rows, no JavaScript:
| Row | Package | Purpose |
|---|
mcp-matlab | @deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client | Launches the MathWorks MATLAB MCP Server over stdio and registers its tools as mcp__matlab__* |
matlab-control-skills | @deepseek-ai/dsh-skill-filesystem | Registers skills/ as a skill source for every agent session |
The Simulink tool surface comes from the official
Simulink Agentic Toolkit registry, passed to
the same MCP server with --extension-file. Neither the toolkit nor the MCP server binary is
bundled in this repository; both are MathWorks deliverables and stay under their own terms.
Requirements
- MATLAB R2023a or later with Simulink (the toolkit requires R2023a+; tested with R2024b).
- MATLAB MCP Server binary, v0.13.0 or later. The MATLAB Agentic Toolkit installs it at
<user>\.matlab\agentic-toolkits\bin\matlab-mcp-server.exe on Windows.
- MATLAB MCP Server Toolbox, installed once per MATLAB release:
matlab-mcp-server.exe --setup-matlab.
- Optional products: Control System Toolbox (
pidtune, allmargin), Simulink Test
(model_test), Robust Control Toolbox (robuststab, robgain).
Installation
-
Get the official Simulink Agentic Toolkit into the plugin directory (not tracked here):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matlab/simulink-agentic-toolkit.git \
thirdparty/simulink-agentic-toolkit
-
Point the bundle at your machine. Edit these values in cordis.patch.yml:
| Field | Set it to |
|---|
command | absolute path of matlab-mcp-server.exe |
--matlab-root= | your MATLAB installation folder (the one that contains bin), no trailing \bin |
--extension-file= | <plugin dir>/thirdparty/simulink-agentic-toolkit/tools/tools.json |
customSkillDirs | <plugin dir>/skills |
-
Install the bundle into your DSH profile:
plugin_manager { action: "install_bundle", target: "<absolute path to this directory>" }
A local-directory install links the checkout instead of copying it, so the absolute paths from
step 2 stay valid as long as the directory does not move.
-
Start a new session; the mcp__matlab__* tools and the four skills are then available.
Session mode
The example configuration omits --matlab-session-mode, which selects the MathWorks default
auto: attach to a MATLAB session that ran shareMATLABSession(), otherwise start one. To bind
strictly to your desktop MATLAB session, add --matlab-session-mode=existing to args after
running shareMATLABSession() there.
Skills
| Skill | Triggers on | Does |
|---|
simulink-model-check | "check this model", "what's wrong with it" | model_overview → model_check → per-issue explanation and a verdict |
simulink-simulation-run | "run the simulation", "show the response" | Simulink.SimulationInput + sim() via evaluate_matlab_code, structured signal and metric summary |
app-designer-ui | "generate .mlapp code", "build a UI" | App class with modern UI components, sim() callback plotting into uiaxes, verified with check_matlab_code |
control-design | "tune a PID", "Bode plot", "state space", "robustness" | Intent routing to the right analysis functions, structured closed-loop metrics |
Each skill body names the official SKILL.md to read before acting; see
reference/official-skills-index.md. The toolkit's own
skills are not copied into this repository — read them from your clone.
Example prompts
Check this Simulink model and tell me what is wrong with it: <path>.slx
Run demo_plant for 10 s and summarise overshoot, settling time and final value.
Generate a small App Designer app that runs a model and plots the result in a uiaxes.
Tune a PID for tf(1,[1 1]) and verify the closed loop in Simulink.
Repository layout
dsh-matlab-control/
├── cordis.patch.yml # the whole bridge + skill registration
├── package.json # bundle manifest (dsh.bundle.patch)
├── icon.svg, locale/{en,zh}.json # plugin-list title, description, icon
├── skills/<name>/SKILL.md # four specialisation skills
├── reference/official-skills-index.md
├── README.md, README.zh.md
└── LICENSE
thirdparty/ (your toolkit clone) and local test artifacts are ignored by git.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause / fix |
|---|
| First tool call takes 1–3 minutes | The MCP server is starting MATLAB. Later calls are fast. |
model_* tools report "function not found" | The toolkit is not on the MATLAB path for this session. Run addpath(genpath('<plugin>/thirdparty/simulink-agentic-toolkit')) in MATLAB (evaluate_matlab_code also works). |
pidtune / robuststab undefined | Missing Control System / Robust Control Toolbox. Check with detect_matlab_toolboxes. |
No mcp__matlab__* tools after install | The MATLAB MCP Server binary path in cordis.patch.yml is wrong, or the MCP Server Toolbox is not installed for that MATLAB release. |
application: restart-required after install | DSH hot-applies the rows; restart once to clear the flag and load the bundle through the normal plugin list. |
Status and roadmap
Tested on MATLAB R2024b with Simulink and Control System Toolbox. This is a minimal first version:
model search/batch processing, report export and multi-session MATLAB pooling are intentionally not
included yet.
License
MIT — see LICENSE. The MATLAB MCP Server, the MathWorks MATLAB MCP Server Toolbox and the
Simulink Agentic Toolkit are MathWorks software and are not covered by this license; they are
distributed under their own terms and are not bundled here.
