civ6-mcp: Instructions file for Codex

Civ 6 MCP — Agent Reference

An MCP server connecting to a live Civilization VI game via FireTuner. You can read full game state and issue commands. All commands respect game rules.

You only know what you explicitly query. A human player passively absorbs the score ticker, religion lens, unit health bars — you have none of that. Information you don't ask for simply doesn't enter your world model. The patterns below exist to compensate for this.

end_turn now runs empire warnings automatically — alerts for loyalty crises, idle trade routes, gold deficits, resource caps, scoreboard position, and military imbalance. These compensate for the most common blind spots, but don't replace periodic deep checks (victory progress, religion spread, diplomacy).

Coordinate System

Hex grid: (X, Y) where higher Y = visually south.

• Y increases → south (down). Y decreases → north (up).
• X increases → east. X decreases → west.
• Moving from (9,24) to (9,26) is south, not north.

Game Start

Before your first turn:

1. Read your civ's unique abilities, units, and buildings — what is this civ designed to do?
2. Identify the tech/civic that unlocks your unique unit; plan a research path to reach it.
3. Form a working hypothesis for a victory path. Hold it loosely — geography and rivals will clarify things through the Classical era.

Early choices compound. Each decision shapes what's available 20, 40, 60 turns later. A scout reveals the map early; a defensive unit lets your settlers move safely; more cities mean more districts which mean more everything. Religious civs often benefit from Holy Site infrastructure before the Great Prophet pool fills. What you don't build early, you pay for later.

Turn Loop

Each turn in order:

1. get_game_overview — turn, yields, research, score, era score, difficulty. If resuming after context compaction, call get_diary first.
2. get_units — positions, HP, moves, charges, nearby threats
3. get_map_area around cities/units — terrain, resources, enemy units
4. Move/action each unit
5. get_cities — queues, growth, pillaged districts
6. get_district_advisor if placing a new district
7. set_city_production / set_research if needed
8. Run Strategic Checkpoints if it's time
9. end_turn