Hobart Warewash MCP Server

Hobart Warewash MCP

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A Hobart dishwasher MCP server for Hobart commercial dishwashers (warewashers) connected to Hobart SmartConnect. It gives AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT structured access to your machines through the Hobart Cloud-to-Cloud (C2C) API, Visiotronic 1.5:

• the machines registered on your account, and when each last reported
• active errors
• wash tank and rinse temperatures, last program run
• daily water, energy, detergent and rinse-aid consumption
• the hygiene protocol: one entry per wash cycle, with its program
• optional: register a machine, change dosage, density and autostart times, only if you enable it, and only after you confirm

It is read-only by default. Write tools do not even exist unless you set HOBART_ALLOW_WRITE=true.

Unofficial. Independent personal project, not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Hobart or ITW Food Equipment Group. You need your own Hobart Cloud-to-Cloud API credentials.

Status: early release (0.1.0). Validated against the real Hobart C2C API on Hobart AMXXS-B-SEF machines. Feedback and machine reports are welcome.

Why this project?

A connected Hobart dishwasher records useful data (temperatures, errors, consumption, every wash cycle), but it sits in the Hobart SmartConnect app, where you can look at it, not ask questions about it.

This server is a small bridge between the Hobart C2C API and any Model Context Protocol client. Ask in plain language, "Did the dishwasher in the main kitchen reach its rinse temperature today?", and the assistant calls a precise tool and answers from your machine's data instead of guessing.

As of November 2026 there was no other public MCP server, plugin or SDK for the Hobart C2C / SmartConnect API (searched: MCP registries, GitHub, npm, PyPI).

Features

• 6 read tools, designed for questions people actually ask, including a one-call health check (hobart_machine_overview).
• Respects Hobart's polling limits (errors 30 s, temperatures 60 s): answers are cached, and every answer says when it was fetched and whether it came from the cache, so the assistant never confuses an old reading with a live one.
• Read-only by default, opt-in write tools with explicit confirmation.
• Works locally (stdio) and remotely (Streamable HTTP), so it plugs into Claude Code, Claude Desktop, claude.ai and ChatGPT.
• Claude Code plugin + Agent Skill (hobart-dishwashers): teaches the model the traps: stale data from offline machines, daily data that only refreshes overnight, undocumented parameter codes.
• Token caching and refresh for the Hobart OAuth2 login; clear, actionable errors (NOT_FOUND, NOT_BIDIRECTIONAL, AUTH_FAILED, …).

Quick start

1. Store your Hobart credentials

Create ~/.config/hobart-warewash-mcp/.env (on Windows %USERPROFILE%\.config\hobart-warewash-mcp\.env):

HOBART_USERNAME=you@example.com
HOBART_PASSWORD=your-password
# HOBART_ALLOW_WRITE=true   # only if you want the write tools

Environment variables, when set, always win over this file.

2. Connect your AI assistant

Claude Code: plugin (MCP server + skill)

claude plugin marketplace add christophe77/hobart-warewash-mcp
claude plugin install hobart-warewash@hobart-warewash-mcp

Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline… (local stdio)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hobart-warewash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "hobart-warewash-mcp@0.1.0"]
    }
  }
}

For the skill in Claude Desktop / claude.ai, zip plugins/hobart-warewash/skills/hobart-dishwashers and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

From source

git clone https://github.com/christophe77/hobart-warewash-mcp.git
cd hobart-warewash-mcp
npm install
npm run build
cp .env.example .env    # fill HOBART_USERNAME and HOBART_PASSWORD
node scripts/smoke.mjs  # calls every read tool against the real API

A clone reads .env from the current folder, then the user file above, then its own folder.

ChatGPT and claude.ai (remote connector)

Web and mobile assistants only accept remote MCP servers over HTTPS. Run the HTTP mode and expose it, for example with a tunnel:

npx -y hobart-warewash-mcp@0.1.0 --http         # http://127.0.0.1:3333/mcp
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:3333  # or: ngrok http 3333

Connector URL: https://<your-host>/mcp/<MCP_HTTP_SECRET>. ChatGPT and claude.ai cannot send custom headers, so the secret travels in the path; Authorization: Bearer <secret> works for clients that can. Without MCP_HTTP_SECRET the server only answers on localhost.

• ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode → Create; paste the URL; authentication "No authentication". Paste plugins/hobart-warewash/skills/hobart-dishwashers/SKILL.md into a project's instructions for the same domain knowledge.
• claude.ai: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector; paste the URL.

Example questions

• "List my Hobart dishwashers and tell me which ones haven't reported for a week."
• "Is the dishwasher 867237207 OK right now?"
• "What were the wash and rinse temperatures on the last cycle?"
• "How much water and energy did each machine use yesterday?"
• "Show me today's hygiene protocol: how many cycles, which programs?"
• "Any active errors on any machine?"
• With write mode: "Set autostart slot 1 to 06:30 on 867237207". The assistant reads the current value, shows old → new, and waits for your yes.

Available MCP tools

Settings map to Hobart parameter codes: A133 / A134 (dosage), A104 / A105 (density), S078 (autostart), A180–A186 (autostart time slots, HH:MM). Machines without bidirectional communication refuse settings changes (NOT_BIDIRECTIONAL, HTTP 409).

Configuration

FAQ

Is there an official Hobart MCP server or API for AI assistants? Not that we could find. Hobart exposes a Cloud-to-Cloud REST API for partners; this project wraps it as an MCP server. It is unofficial.

Which Hobart machines are supported? Any machine your Hobart C2C account can see, i.e. Hobart dishwashers connected through SmartConnect. Tested on AMXXS-B-SEF.

Does it work with ChatGPT? Yes, as a remote connector (developer mode), through the HTTP mode. It also works with Claude (Desktop, Code, claude.ai) and any MCP client.

Can the AI change my machine's settings by itself? No. Write tools are off by default; when enabled, the tool descriptions and the skill require showing the change and getting your explicit agreement first. Clients like Claude also ask before calling a destructive tool.

Is the data live? Errors and temperatures are near-live (within Hobart's 30 s / 60 s limits). Daily data refreshes only after power-off or shortly before midnight. If a machine is offline, its last contact time in the machine list tells you how old everything is.

Can it help with HACCP or hygiene records? It exposes the hygiene protocol (one entry per wash cycle with its program) and temperatures, which an assistant can summarise. It does not replace your official HACCP records.

Privacy & security

• Runs on your machine (or your own server); talks only to Hobart's official endpoints. No telemetry.
• Credentials stay in your .env or environment, never in tool output.
• One shared Hobart account: whoever can reach an HTTP deployment acts as that account. The path secret is fine for personal use; a multi-user deployment needs OAuth in front.

Limitations

• The API returns no units for daily consumption figures, and most A0xx / C0xx codes are undocumented: the server returns them as-is and the skill tells the model not to invent meanings.
• The default token scope is Machines.Read; whether settings writes are accepted depends on your account and machine.

License

Apache-2.0

Disclaimer

This is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Hobart or ITW Food Equipment Group. "Hobart" and "SmartConnect" are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe compatibility. Use at your own risk; food safety must never depend on an AI assistant.