The iTerm MCP Server enables a model to interact with and control your iTerm terminal session through these capabilities:
Run Commands: Write text or execute commands in the active terminal using
write_to_terminalRead Output: Read a specified number of lines from terminal output using
read_terminal_outputSend Control Characters: Send signals like
Control-CorControl-Zusingsend_control_characterREPL Interaction: Work with interactive programming environments or shell sessions
Efficient Integration: Focus on relevant output by reading only necessary lines, minimizing token usage
Task Management: Delegate and monitor tasks executed directly in your terminal environment
Provides access to the user's iTerm terminal session, allowing the model to read terminal output, write commands to the terminal, and send control characters for full terminal control.
iterm-mcp
A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to your iTerm session.
Features
Efficient Token Use: iterm-mcp gives the model the ability to inspect only the output that the model is interested in. The model typically only wants to see the last few lines of output even for long running commands.
Natural Integration: You share iTerm with the model. You can ask questions about what's on the screen, or delegate a task to the model and watch as it performs each step.
Full Terminal Control and REPL support: The model can start and interact with REPL's as well as send control characters like ctrl-c, ctrl-z, etc.
Easy on the Dependencies: iterm-mcp is built with minimal dependencies and is runnable via npx. It's designed to be easy to add to Claude Desktop and other MCP clients. It should just work.
Safety Considerations
The user is responsible for using the tool safely.
No built-in restrictions: iterm-mcp makes no attempt to evaluate the safety of commands that are executed.
Models can behave in unexpected ways. The user is expected to monitor activity and abort when appropriate.
For multi-step tasks, you may need to interrupt the model if it goes off track. Start with smaller, focused tasks until you're familiar with how the model behaves.
Tools
write_to_terminal- Writes to the active iTerm terminal, often used to run a command. Returns the number of lines of output produced by the command.read_terminal_output- Reads the requested number of lines from the active iTerm terminal.send_control_character- Sends a control character to the active iTerm terminal.
Requirements
iTerm2 must be running
Node version 18 or greater
Related MCP server: Calculator MCP Server
Installation
To use with Claude Desktop, add the server config:
On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Installing via Smithery
To install iTerm for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:
Development
Install dependencies:
Build the server:
For development with auto-rebuild:
Debugging
Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. We recommend using the MCP Inspector, which is available as a package script:
The Inspector will provide a URL to access debugging tools in your browser.