Let an AI agent collect and query results from clinical and laboratory analyzers (hematology, clinical chemistry, immunoassay, urinalysis, coagulation) that upload results over the standard ASTM E1381 / E1394 host interface (CLSI LIS1-A / LIS2-A2). The server acts as a small, receive-only LIS endpoint: it acknowledges the analyzer's frames, validates checksums, reassembles messages and lets the agent look results up by sample, patient, test or time.

[!WARNING] Research and lab-operations use only. This is not a medical device and not a validated laboratory information system. It must not be used to report, release or interpret patient results, for diagnosis, or for any clinical decision-making. Results pass through an AI agent that can misread them; always rely on your laboratory's validated LIS/middleware and release process. Patient data is personal health information: patient name, birth date, address and phone are redacted by default; follow your institution's privacy rules before changing that.


Package	`labmcp-astm-lis`
Instruments	Analyzers whose host-interface manual specifies ASTM E1381/E1394 (CLSI LIS1-A/LIS2-A2) result upload, e.g. models from Sysmex, Roche (cobas), Abbott, Beckman Coulter, Mindray and others. Check your model's host-interface manual.
Interfaces	RS-232 (`serial://`), TCP/IP with the analyzer as server (`tcp://analyzer:port`), TCP/IP with the analyzer as client (`--option listen_port=5000`)
Protocol	ASTM E1381 low-level protocol (ENQ/ACK/NAK/EOT, framed text with modulo-8 frame numbers and checksums) + ASTM E1394 records H, P, O, R, C, Q, L. Implemented from the publicly available Beckman Coulter UniCel DxI / Access 2 LIS Vendor Information, C03112-AF (chapters 2–4); the ASTM/CLSI standards themselves are purchase-only. Receive-only.
Status	🧪 simulated: tested against a wire-level analyzer simulator and loopback TCP, not yet verified on an analyzer. Report a hardware test

Try it without hardware

uvx labmcp-astm-lis --simulate --check

The simulated analyzer uploads two messages right after start: a CBC with 5-part differential (with H/L flags and suspect-flag comments, one record long enough to need two frames, and one frame corrupted on the line that is NAKed and retransmitted) and a chemistry panel (high glucose and potassium with a hemolysis comment). All patient data in it is fictitious.

Connect your analyzer

On the analyzer, open the host / LIS / "online" communication settings:

Protocol: ASTM (may be called ASTM E1381/E1394, LIS1-A/LIS2-A2, CLSI or "ASTM host"). Keep the ASTM low-level protocol (ENQ/STX framing) enabled, also over TCP/IP.
Results: enable automatic result upload.
Queries and orders: this server does not answer host queries or download orders. Turn off "host query" / "order request" / bidirectional mode, otherwise the analyzer waits for (and times out on) an answer before running samples.
Link: pick one of
- RS-232: note the baud rate (commonly 9600), 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (fixed by E1381), and use a null-modem cable.
```
uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address /dev/ttyUSB0 --check                        # Linux
uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address serial://COM3?baudrate=19200 --check        # Windows, non-default baud
```
- TCP, analyzer is the server (it listens on a port): the LIS connects to it.
```
uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address tcp://192.168.1.80:5000 --check
```
- TCP, analyzer is the client (you enter the host IP/port on the analyzer): this server listens. Allow the port through the computer's firewall and restrict senders with allow_from.
```
uvx labmcp-astm-lis --option listen_port=5000 --option allow_from=192.168.1.80 --check
```
Optional: keep a local record of every message with --option store_path=~/lis/results.jsonl (the newest max_messages are reloaded when the server restarts; if the file cannot be written, messages are still kept in memory and get_connection_status reports store_write_errors).

The receiver starts as soon as the MCP server starts, so uploads are acknowledged even before the agent calls a tool. Received results stay in memory across reconnect (only clear_results or a server restart without store_path removes them), because the analyzer never re-sends a result it has been sent an ACK for.

Add to your MCP client

Claude Code

claude mcp add analyzer -- uvx labmcp-astm-lis --option listen_port=5000 --option store_path=~/lis/results.jsonl

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf (claude_desktop_config.json, .cursor/mcp.json, …)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "analyzer": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["labmcp-astm-lis", "--address", "/dev/ttyUSB0"]
    }
  }
}

Add --read-only to hide clear_results. For other clients, generate the snippet with uvx labmcp config astm-lis --address /dev/ttyUSB0 --client vscode (also cursor, codex, claude-code).

Tools

Tool	Kind	Description
`clear_results`	🎛 control	Delete all received messages and results from this server's memory (e.g. between runs).
`get_command_log`	👁 read	Return the most recent raw commands sent to / replies received from the instrument (newest last). Useful for debugging and for recording what was done.
`get_connection_info`	👁 read	Report which instrument is connected (identity, address, simulated or real), whether the server is read-only, and the active safety limits. Call this first.
`get_connection_status`	👁 read	Report the analyzer link state, the messages and results received, and link-layer error counters.
`get_result_detail`	👁 read	Show every decoded field of one result, with its comments, order and patient context, raw records and message header.
`get_results`	👁 read	Return received results, filtered by sample ID, patient ID, test code, time received or abnormal flag (newest last).
`list_received_messages`	👁 read	List the most recent ASTM messages received (newest last).
`reconnect`	🛑 safety	Close and re-open the connection to the instrument (e.g. after it was power cycled or a cable was re-plugged).

get_connection_info, get_command_log and reconnect are built into every LabMCP server.

Safety limits

This server is receive-only and never commands the analyzer (it only answers ACK/NAK), so it has no physical safety limits. Privacy settings:

Option	Default	Meaning
`redact_patient_info`	`true`	Masks P-record fields 6 (patient name), 7 (mother's maiden name), 8 (birth date), 11 (address) and 13 (telephone) as `REDACTED` before anything is stored, logged, written to `store_path` or returned by a tool
`allow_from`	(any)	In listen mode, only accept connections from these IP addresses (`;`- or space-separated)
`max_messages`	5000	Messages kept in memory; oldest are dropped first

Patient IDs, sex, attending physician and free-text comment records are not redacted (IDs are needed to filter results). If your analyzers put identifying text in comments, treat the output accordingly.

Example prompts

"Have any results come in from the hematology analyzer in the last hour? List the samples."
"Show me all flagged results for sample S26-000123, with units, reference ranges and the analyzer's comments."
"Export today's potassium results as a table of sample ID, value and flag."
"Is the analyzer link healthy? How many frames were NAKed today and why?"
"Compare the glucose results of samples S26-000124 and S26-000131."
"Clear the stored results before we start the next validation run."

Notes

Receive-only. No order download, no host-query responses and no result acknowledgements beyond the link-level ACK. Query (Q) messages from the analyzer are stored and reported (kind: "query") but not answered. Order download is planned future work.
Link layer (E1381). Every frame is checked: checksum (modulo-256 sum from the frame number to ETX/ETB, as two hex digits), frame number (first frame 1, then modulo 8; a repeat of the last accepted number is treated as a retransmission and ACKed without duplicating data) and framing. Defective frames get NAK and the analyzer retransmits them. Frames outside an ENQ … EOT session are ignored and counted in bytes_ignored, which usually means the analyzer is not using the ASTM low-level protocol (raw E1394 without framing is not supported). A session that goes silent for 30 s, or restarts with ENQ, has its incomplete message discarded, as E1381 requires; a message that ends with EOT but no terminator (L) record is kept and flagged complete: false.
Tolerances. Frames with more than 240 text characters and end frames that pack several records are accepted (and counted); a frame whose CR LF never arrives is NAKed after 10 s. Text is decoded as Latin-1 by default (--option encoding=...; an unknown encoding name is refused at start-up).
Records (E1394). Delimiters are taken from each header record (H|\^& by default). Escape sequences &F& &S& &R& &E& and the vendor form &|& are decoded; other escapes are kept verbatim. The test code is the first non-empty "local code" component of the Universal Test ID (^^^TSH, ^^^^WBC), falling back to the first component. The sample ID is the order's Specimen ID, or the first non-empty component of the Instrument Specimen ID. Values are returned exactly as sent ("<0.1", ">500", "Cancelled"); numeric_value is only set for plain numbers.
Flags and statuses are passed through as sent. Meanings are only attached for the abnormal flags defined by LIS2-A2 / E1394 (N L H LL HH < > A U D B W) and the result statuses documented in the vendor specification used (F X); anything else is analyzer-specific, so check your analyzer's host-interface manual.
Timestamps inside records (test started/completed, header time) are the analyzer's local time; received_at is when this server stored the message (UTC).
Listen mode serves one analyzer per port: a new connection replaces the previous one (analyzers often reconnect after a reboot without closing the old socket). Run one server entry (or port) per analyzer. There is no TLS; keep the port on the lab network and use allow_from.
Only tested against the simulator and loopback TCP. Differences between vendors' ASTM dialects are common; please report what works (or doesn't) with your analyzer.