🚀 Enhanced iTerm MCP Server

Advanced iTerm2 automation with Python API integration - The ultimate terminal control solution for AI assistants.

⚡ Now with native Python API - Direct iTerm2 integration for maximum reliability and performance

⚡ Quick Start

1. Installation

Via NPM (Recommended) - Now Available!

npm install -g enhanced-iterm-mcp-server

🎉 Just Published! The package is now available on NPM registry for easy installation.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/2black0/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server.git
cd enhanced-iterm-mcp-server
npm install
./setup-python-api.sh
npm run build

2. Enable iTerm2 Python API

1. Open iTerm2 → Preferences (⌘,)

2. Go to General → Magic

3. Check "Enable Python API"

4. Restart iTerm2

3. Add to MCP Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "enhanced-iterm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server/dist/index-python-api.js"],
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

4. Test Setup

# If installed globally
enhanced-iterm-mcp test

# If installed from source
npm test

📦 Installation Methods

Global Installation (NPM)

# Install globally
npm install -g enhanced-iterm-mcp-server

# Use anywhere
enhanced-iterm-mcp --help

# Configuration path for Claude Desktop
# ~/.npm/lib/node_modules/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server/dist/index-python-api.js

✅ Package is now live on NPM! Install with npm install -g enhanced-iterm-mcp-server

Local Project Installation

# Install in project
npm install enhanced-iterm-mcp-server

# Use with npx
npx enhanced-iterm-mcp --help

# Configuration for Claude Desktop
# /path/to/project/node_modules/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server/dist/index-python-api.js

Direct Usage (NPX)

# Use without installation
npx enhanced-iterm-mcp-server --help

# Claude Desktop configuration
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "enhanced-iterm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["enhanced-iterm-mcp-server"],
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

🚀 Live on NPM Registry: https://www.npmjs.com/package/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server

🛠 Available Tools

Terminal Management

• open-terminal - Create new terminals with profiles and commands

• list-all-sessions - Complete overview of all iTerm2 windows/tabs/sessions

Advanced Pane Operations

• split-terminal-horizontal / split-terminal-vertical - Split panes with profile support

• execute-command-in-pane - Execute commands in specific panes

• broadcast-input - Send commands to multiple panes simultaneously

Real-time Information

• get-session-info - Basic session information and status

• get-session-details - Comprehensive session details with all variables

• monitor-session - Monitor session changes over time

Visual Customization

• set-tab-color - Set tab colors (named colors or hex codes)

Legacy Compatibility

• list-panes - List tracked panes

• get-terminal-state - Terminal state overview

🎯 Key Features

🐍 Python API Integration

• Direct access to iTerm2's native Python API

• Real-time session variable monitoring

• Robust error handling with automatic retries

• No AppleScript limitations

📊 Advanced Automation

• Multi-pane broadcasting for simultaneous commands

• Profile-based terminal creation with custom configurations

• Real-time session monitoring with 10+ variables

• Visual customization with tab coloring

🔧 Production Ready

• Comprehensive error handling and logging

• Timeout protection for all operations

• Virtual environment isolation

• Clean TypeScript implementation

📖 Usage Examples

Create and Split Terminals

// Open new terminal
await callTool("open-terminal", {
  command: "htop",
  workingDirectory: "/Users/username/projects"
})

// Split horizontally with profile
await callTool("split-terminal-horizontal", {
  profile: "Development",
  command: "npm run dev"
})

Multi-pane Operations

// Broadcast command to multiple panes
await callTool("broadcast-input", {
  paneIds: ["session-1", "session-2", "session-3"],
  command: "git status"
})

// Monitor session changes
await callTool("monitor-session", {
  paneId: "session-1",
  duration: 30
})

Real-time Information

// Get comprehensive session details
await callTool("get-session-details", {
  sessionId: "213D676B-19F7-42A4-9E34-B2B81D40105B"
})

// List all active sessions
await callTool("list-all-sessions", {})

🔧 Development

Build & Run

npm run build    # Build TypeScript
npm start        # Run production
npm run dev      # Development mode

Testing

npm test         # Test tool listing
npm run test-sessions  # Test session access

🚨 Troubleshooting

"Python API not enabled"

• Enable in iTerm2 Preferences → General → Magic → Python API

• Restart iTerm2 after enabling

"Connection error"

• Ensure iTerm2 is running

• Check Python virtual environment: source iterm_env/bin/activate

• Verify iterm2 package: pip list | grep iterm2

"Session not found"

• Use list-all-sessions to get valid session IDs

• Session IDs change when sessions are closed/reopened

📄 License

ISC License

🙏 Built With

• Model Context Protocol SDK

• iTerm2 Python API

• TypeScript + Node.js

🎯 The Ultimate iTerm2 Automation Solution for AI Assistants

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Quick Start for Contributors

git clone https://github.com/2black0/enhanced-iterm-mcp-server.git
cd enhanced-iterm-mcp-server
npm install
./setup-python-api.sh
npm run dev

📜 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Model Context Protocol by Anthropic

• iTerm2 Python API by George Nachman

• TypeScript community for excellent tooling

⭐ Support

If this project helps you, please consider:

• ⭐ Starring the repository

• 🐛 Reporting issues

• 🔧 Contributing improvements

• 📢 Sharing with others

Built with ❤️ for the AI automation community