How to Connect Nigel to a SystemLink MCP Server

Integrating NI SystemLink with Nigel via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows engineers to conversationally monitor test asset health, query system metadata, and interact with SystemLink resources directly within LabVIEW. This document details the end-to-end workflow to install the SystemLink Command Line Interface (systemlink-cli), authenticate your instance, and register the local SystemLink MCP server within Nigel’s client settings.

1. Download and install Python (Python 3.11+) for SystemLink CLI.
2. Download and install LabVIEW (version 2026 Q3 or later) for Nigel with MCP Server supported.
3. For demonstration purposes, pip will be used. If you are using another operating system or prefer another package manager, kindly refer to Getting Started — SystemLink CLI .
   • pip install systemlink-cli
4. Verify the installation is successful by using slcli in Command Prompt
   
5. By referring to the Authentication section of Getting Started — SystemLink CLI , create a default profile using slcli login.
   • Details instruction on getting an API key can refer to Using API Key in SystemLink HTTP API.
     
6. Register the MCP server everywhere at once by using slcli mcp install --target all.
   
7. Install another dependency required by starting the MCP server:
   
   • pip install "mcp>=2,<3"
8. Start the MCP server
   
   • slcli mcp serve
     
9. Launch Nigel by selecting Tools>>Chat with Nigel AI.
   
10. Ensure you have logged in to your NI account with the right entitlement to use Nigel. Refer to How to Activate and Access Nigel™ AI for more details.
11. Expand the sidebar.
12. Select More>>Settings>>Configure MCP Servers.
13. Click Add Server.
    
14. In the Edit MCP Server pop-up, insert the following value for each of the sections:
    • Name : slcli
    • Command : C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python314\Scripts\slcli.EXE
    • Arguments : mcp serve --transport stdio
      (Values for these parameters can be finalised by referring to mcp.json located at the user profile directory's .codex, .cursor or .vscode folders.)
15. Click Save.
    
16. Enable the MCP Server to list all the supported tools.
    

You can now prompt Nigel for information available to your SystemLink Server, such as:

Example 1: How many tags are available in my default workspace?

Example 2: How many tests were executed today, and how many failed in SystemLink?

Example 3: How many systems are currently online?