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Summer Engine MCP guide

# How to make games in LM Studio with Summer Engine

Use LM Studio as a free local MCP host: download a model, connect Summer Engine, and build playable games with no AI subscription. Summer Engine is the desktop game engine; LM Studio drives it through MCP with a model running on your own hardware.

$ npx -y summer-engine@latest setup lm-studio --yes

LM Studio runs the model free on your hardware. Summer Engine shows the game.

01

## Summer is free for MCP use

Download the desktop engine and connect it to your agent. The model runs on your own hardware, with no AI subscription and no per-message cost.

02

## Open LM Studio

Run a free local model on your own GPU. The setup writes the MCP config so {agentLabel} can drive the engine directly.

03

## Run a Summer game

The local model writes code. Summer Engine shows the Summer game, runs Play mode, and helps inspect errors. Export still requires the target templates and toolchains.

Install

## Connect Summer to LM Studio

1. 1  
### Install Summer Engine  
Downloads the desktop engine app, about 1 GB. Skip it if Summer Engine is already installed, or if you only need assets and video for a game built in another engine.  
$ npx -y summer-engine@latest install
2. 2  
### Sign in  
Opens your browser once. The CLI and the engine share the session.  
$ npx -y summer-engine@latest login
3. 3  
### Connect LM Studio  
Writes the summer-engine MCP config and installs the Summer game-dev skills.  
$ npx -y summer-engine@latest setup lm-studio --yes
4. 4  
### Restart and build  
Open LM Studio, toggle on the summer-engine MCP server in the Program tab, and raise the loaded model's context length to 32k or higher.

Local setup notes

## The 2026 specifics.

### LM Studio is the whole stack

LM Studio is both the model runtime and an MCP host. The setup command writes \~/.lmstudio/mcp.json; toggle the summer-engine server on in the Program tab, and every engine call shows a confirmation dialog you can review before it runs.

### Raise the context before you build

Models load with the context length baked into their metadata — often around 4k, which MCP tool schemas overflow silently. Set 32k or more when loading the model, and keep KV-cache quantization off for long agent sessions.

### Models that hold up

gpt-oss-20b is the safe default on 12–16 GB of VRAM; Qwen3-Coder-30B and Gemma 4 27B are the 24 GB picks. On Apple Silicon, prefer the MLX builds — faster and more memory-efficient in long agentic loops.

Why this matters

## LM Studio runs free on your hardware. Summer Engine shows the game.

A capable local model can operate a real engine through MCP. It opens scenes, places objects, runs the project and reads errors. Your GPU does the thinking, with no subscription and no per-token bill, and your prompts never leave your machine.

Other setup guides

## Start with LM Studio. Build inside Summer.

Install the desktop app for free, connect the MCP server, and make your first scene playable. No subscription required.

[Download](https://www.summerengine.com/download)

[Docs ](https://docs.summerengine.com/mcp/overview)

Source: https://www.summerengine.com/mcp/how-to-make-games-in-lm-studio

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