Prompting on a MacBook Air, Executing on Windows: Building a Remote MCP Infrastructure for Cadence Allegro X

Description and use

On a MacBook Air M2, prompts are issued locally while Cadence Allegro X workloads run on a remote Windows workstation via MCP, freeing local resources.

Problem

Local MacBook Air M2 lacks sufficient disk space and RAM to run Cadence Allegro X for complex PCB routing.

Outcome

The remote MCP setup allows a MacBook Air to serve as a lightweight prompt interface while heavy Cadence workloads run on a powerful Windows machine, overcoming local hardware constraints.

Workflow

• Prepare Windows worker node: install winremote-mcp via pip and start server on 0.0.0.0:8090.
• Bind client layer on macOS: add remote server entry to mcp-config.json pointing to http://192.168.1.50:8090/sse.
• Submit design prompt from Antigravity on Mac.
• Antigravity parses prompt and sends JSON‑RPC payloads over SSE to Windows.
• Windows winremote‑mcp receives payloads, maps to shell tools or Cadence CLI, and executes on Core i9/RTX GPU.

Evidence

The official platform guidelines call for a minimum of 50 GB of free disk space and up to 64 GB of RAM for intense routing jobs.

Source

Open a PowerShell terminal on the Windows machine and install the remote coordination bridge: pip install winremote-mcp

Source

Locate your agent ecosystem definition layout (typically mcp-config.json or agent.json) on your MacBook Air and register the external server block

Source