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macos-control-mcp

Give AI agents eyes and hands on macOS.

npm license macOS

What is this?

An MCP server that lets AI agents see your screen, read text on it, and interact — click, type, scroll — just like a human sitting at the keyboard. Unlike blind script runners, this MCP gives agents state awareness: they screenshot the screen, OCR it to get text with pixel coordinates, then click exactly where they need to.

Related MCP server: Daimon

The See-Think-Act Loop

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                 │
│   1. SEE        screenshot / screen_ocr         │
│      ↓          "What's on the screen?"         │
│                                                 │
│   2. THINK      AI reasons about the content    │
│      ↓          "I need to click the Save btn"  │
│                                                 │
│   3. ACT        click_at / type_text / press_key│
│                 "Click at (425, 300)"           │
│                                                 │
│      ↻ repeat                                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

This is what makes it powerful: the agent sees the result of every action and can course-correct, retry, or move on — just like you would.

Quick Start

No install needed — run directly with npx:

npx -y macos-control-mcp

On first run, a Python virtual environment is automatically created at ~/.macos-control-mcp/.venv with the required Apple Vision and Quartz frameworks. This takes ~60 seconds once and persists across updates.

Video Showcasing the MCP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aswlsElHV5o

Configure Your AI Client

All clients use the same command: npx -y macos-control-mcp

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "macos-control": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "macos-control-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

claude mcp add macos-control -- npx -y macos-control-mcp

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "macos-control": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "macos-control-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "macos-control": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "macos-control-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Open Cline extension settings → MCP Servers → Add:

{
  "macos-control": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "macos-control-mcp"]
  }
}

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "macos-control": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "macos-control-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Permissions

macOS requires two permissions for full functionality:

  1. Screen Recording — for screenshots and OCR

  2. Accessibility — for clicking, typing, and reading UI elements

Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and add your terminal app (Terminal, iTerm2, VS Code, etc.) to both lists. You'll be prompted on first use.

Tools (19)

See the screen

Tool

Description

screenshot

Capture full screen or app window as JPEG

screen_ocr

OCR the screen — returns text elements with pixel coordinates

find_text_on_screen

Find specific text and get clickable x,y coordinates

Interact with the screen

Tool

Description

click_at

Click at x,y coordinates (returns screenshot)

double_click_at

Double-click at x,y (returns screenshot)

type_text

Type text into the frontmost app

press_key

Press key combos (Cmd+S, Ctrl+C, etc.)

scroll

Scroll up/down/left/right

App management

Tool

Description

launch_app

Open or focus an application

list_running_apps

List visible running apps

Accessibility tree

Tool

Description

get_ui_elements

Get accessibility tree of an app window

click_element

Click a named UI element (returns screenshot)

Browser automation

Tool

Description

execute_javascript

Run JavaScript in the active browser tab

get_page_text

Get all visible text from the page (faster than OCR)

click_web_element

Click element by CSS selector (instant, precise)

fill_form_field

Fill a form field by CSS selector

Utilities

Tool

Description

open_url

Open URL in Safari or Chrome

get_clipboard

Read clipboard contents

set_clipboard

Write to clipboard

Example Workflows

Fill out a web form

You: "Go to example.com/signup and fill in my details"

Agent:
1. open_url("https://example.com/signup")
2. screenshot() → sees the form
3. screen_ocr() → finds "Email" field at (300, 250)
4. click_at(300, 250) → clicks the email field
5. type_text("user@example.com")
6. find_text_on_screen("Submit") → gets button coordinates
7. click_at(350, 500) → submits the form
8. screenshot() → confirms success

Navigate an unfamiliar app

You: "Change the font size to 16 in TextEdit"

Agent:
1. launch_app("TextEdit")
2. screenshot() → sees the app
3. get_ui_elements("TextEdit") → finds menu items
4. press_key("t", ["command"]) → opens Fonts panel
5. screenshot() → sees the font panel
6. find_text_on_screen("Size") → locates the size field
7. click_at(x, y) → clicks size field
8. type_text("16")
9. press_key("return")

Extract info from an email

You: "Copy the tracking number from the shipping email in Mail"

Agent:
1. launch_app("Mail")
2. screenshot() → sees the inbox
3. find_text_on_screen("Your order has shipped") → locates the email
4. click_at(x, y) → opens the email
5. screenshot() → sees the email content
6. screen_ocr() → extracts all text including tracking number
7. set_clipboard("1Z999AA10123456784") → copies to clipboard

Take a screenshot and describe what's on screen

You: "What do I have open right now?"

Agent:
1. screenshot() → captures the full screen
2. Describes what it sees: apps, windows, content
3. list_running_apps() → ["Safari", "Slack", "VS Code", "Spotify"]
4. "You have Safari open on Twitter, Slack with 3 unread messages, and VS Code editing index.ts"

Debug a UI issue

You: "The submit button on this page isn't working, can you check what's happening?"

Agent:
1. screenshot() → sees the page
2. find_text_on_screen("Submit") → locates button at (500, 600)
3. get_ui_elements("Safari") → inspects accessibility tree
4. "The button has aria-disabled=true. There's a required field 'Phone' that's empty."
5. find_text_on_screen("Phone") → locates the field
6. click_at(x, y) → clicks the field
7. type_text("+1 555-0123")
8. click_at(500, 600) → clicks Submit again
9. screenshot() → confirms it worked

Control Spotify

You: "Pause the music and turn the volume down"

Agent:
1. launch_app("Spotify")
2. screenshot() → sees Spotify is playing
3. find_text_on_screen("Pause") → locates pause button
4. click_at(x, y) → pauses playback
5. find_text_on_screen("Volume") → locates volume slider area
6. click_at(x, y) → adjusts volume
7. screenshot() → confirms paused and volume lowered

Work with Finder

You: "Create a new folder on my Desktop called 'Project Assets' and move it to Documents"

Agent:
1. launch_app("Finder")
2. press_key("d", ["command", "shift"]) → opens Desktop
3. screenshot() → sees Desktop in Finder
4. press_key("n", ["command", "shift"]) → creates new folder
5. type_text("Project Assets")
6. press_key("return")
7. screenshot() → confirms folder created

Send a message in Slack

You: "Send 'build is green, ready to deploy' in the #engineering channel on Slack"

Agent:
1. launch_app("Slack")
2. screenshot() → sees Slack
3. press_key("k", ["command"]) → opens Quick Switcher
4. type_text("engineering")
5. press_key("return") → opens #engineering
6. screenshot() → confirms channel is open
7. click_at(x, y) → clicks message input
8. type_text("build is green, ready to deploy")
9. press_key("return") → sends message
10. screenshot() → confirms sent

Research and copy data from a website

You: "Look up the current price of AAPL on Google Finance and copy it"

Agent:
1. open_url("https://google.com/finance/quote/AAPL:NASDAQ")
2. screenshot() → sees the page loading
3. screen_ocr() → reads all text on the page
4. Finds the price: "$187.42"
5. set_clipboard("$187.42")
6. "Copied AAPL price $187.42 to your clipboard"

Multi-app workflow

You: "Take what's in my clipboard, search for it in Safari, and screenshot the results"

Agent:
1. get_clipboard() → "best mechanical keyboards 2025"
2. launch_app("Safari")
3. press_key("l", ["command"]) → focuses address bar
4. type_text("best mechanical keyboards 2025")
5. press_key("return") → searches
6. screenshot() → captures the search results
7. "Here are the search results for 'best mechanical keyboards 2025'"

Navigate System Settings

You: "Turn on Dark Mode"

Agent:
1. launch_app("System Settings")
2. screenshot() → sees System Settings
3. find_text_on_screen("Appearance") → locates the option
4. click_at(x, y) → opens Appearance settings
5. screenshot() → sees Light/Dark/Auto options
6. find_text_on_screen("Dark") → locates Dark mode option
7. click_at(x, y) → enables Dark Mode
8. screenshot() → confirms Dark Mode is on

Requirements

  • macOS 13+ (Ventura or later)

  • Node.js 18+

  • Python 3.9+ (pre-installed on macOS — needed for OCR and mouse control)

How It Works

  • Screenshots — native screencapture CLI

  • OCR — Apple Vision framework (VNRecognizeTextRequest) via Python bridge, returns text with bounding box coordinates

  • Mouse — Quartz Core Graphics events via Python bridge for precise pixel-level control

  • Keyboard & Apps — AppleScript via osascript for key presses, app launching, and UI element interaction

  • Python env — auto-managed venv at ~/.macos-control-mcp/.venv/ with only two packages (pyobjc-framework-Vision, pyobjc-framework-Quartz)

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied" or blank screenshots → Add your terminal to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording

Clicks don't work → Add your terminal to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility

Python setup fails → Ensure python3 is in your PATH. Run python3 --version to check. Non-Python tools (keyboard, apps, clipboard) still work without it.

OCR returns empty results → Make sure Screen Recording permission is granted. Try a full-screen OCR first (without the app parameter).

"App not found" errors → Use the exact app name as shown in Activity Monitor (e.g., "Google Chrome" not "Chrome").

License

MIT

Available Tools

22 tools
batch_actionsA

PREFERRED: Always use this tool instead of calling individual action tools (click_at, type_text, press_key, launch_app, etc.) one at a time. Combine multiple steps into a single batch call — this is dramatically faster. Returns a single screenshot by default (disable with return_screenshot=false). Only use individual tools when you need to read the result of one action before deciding the next. Stops on first error. Max 20 actions per call.

Example — open Notes and write text (1 call instead of 6): [{ "action": "launch_app", "name": "Notes" }, { "action": "key", "key": "n", "modifiers": ["command"] }, { "action": "set_clipboard", "text": "Hello\nWorld" }, { "action": "key", "key": "v", "modifiers": ["command"] }]

Inputs: actions (required), delay_between_ms, return_screenshot.

click_atA

Click at x,y screen coordinates. Returns a screenshot by default (disable with return_screenshot=false). Use screenshot + screen_ocr to find coordinates first. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: x (required), y (required), return_screenshot.

click_by_textA

Click a button, link, tab, radio, or checkbox by its visible text. Much more reliable than coordinate clicking. Scrolls element into view before clicking.

Inputs: text (required), element_type, index, browser.

click_elementA

Click a named UI element in an app window. Returns a screenshot by default (disable with return_screenshot=false). Use get_ui_elements to discover element names. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: app (required), name (required), return_screenshot.

double_click_atA

Double-click at x,y screen coordinates. Returns a screenshot by default (disable with return_screenshot=false). Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: x (required), y (required), return_screenshot.

execute_javascriptB

Run JavaScript in the active browser tab. Much faster than screenshot+OCR for web pages. Returns the result.

Inputs: code (required), browser.

fill_by_labelA

Fill a form field by its label text. Finds the input/textarea associated with the label and fills it. Works with React/Vue/Angular apps. On failure, lists available field labels for debugging.

Inputs: label (required), value (required), browser.

find_text_on_screenA

Find specific text on screen and get its clickable coordinates. Like Ctrl+F for the entire screen. Returns matches with centerX/centerY for use with click_at.

Inputs: text (required), app.

get_clipboardA

Read the current text contents of the macOS clipboard.

Inputs: no named parameters.

get_page_elementsA

Get all interactive elements (buttons, inputs, selects, radios, checkboxes, links) from the current browser page. Returns structured text showing each element's type, label, value, and state. Use this instead of screenshot+OCR to understand web page content. Then use click_by_text or fill_by_label to interact.

Inputs: browser.

get_page_textA

Get all visible text from the current browser page. Faster than OCR for web content.

Inputs: browser.

get_ui_elementsA

Get the accessibility tree of an app window. Returns UI element roles, names, and positions.

Inputs: app (required).

launch_appA

Open or focus a macOS application by name. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: name (required).

list_running_appsA

List all visible running macOS applications.

Inputs: no named parameters.

open_urlB

Open a URL in Safari or Chrome.

Inputs: url (required), browser.

press_keyA

Press a key combo (e.g. press 's' with ['command'] for Cmd+S). Supports a-z, 0-9, return, tab, space, delete, escape, arrows, f1-f12. If app is specified, focuses that app first. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: key (required), modifiers, app.

screen_ocrA

OCR the screen using Apple Vision. Returns every text element with pixel coordinates (x, y, centerX, centerY). Use centerX/centerY with click_at to click on any text.

Inputs: app, min_confidence, max_elements, compact, +1 more.

screenshotA

Capture a screenshot of the entire screen or a specific app window. Returns a PNG image.

Inputs: app.

scrollA

Scroll in the frontmost application. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: direction (required), amount.

select_optionA

Select a dropdown option by the dropdown's label and the option text. On failure, lists available options for debugging.

Inputs: label (required), option (required), browser.

set_clipboardC

Write text to the macOS clipboard.

Inputs: text (required).

type_textA

Type text using keyboard input. If app is specified, focuses that app first to ensure keystrokes go to the right place. Without app, types into the frontmost app. Prefer batch_actions when combining with other actions.

Inputs: text (required), app.

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Loading tool schema changelog…

    TDQS

    A3.7/5.0

    Scored across 22 tools

    Disambiguation4/5

    Tools are mostly distinct; many clicking variants (click_at, click_by_text, click_element) and text-finding tools (screen_ocr, find_text_on_screen) have clear descriptions but could cause minor confusion. Overall, the boundaries are well-defined.

    Naming Consistency4/5

    Names follow a consistent verb_noun pattern in snake_case, e.g., click_at, get_clipboard, press_key. The exception is batch_actions, which is a noun phrase, slightly breaking the pattern.

    Tool Count5/5

    With 22 tools covering a broad range of macOS automation tasks (clicking, typing, OCR, app management, web interaction), the count is well-scoped and each tool serves a clear purpose without being excessive.

    Completeness4/5

    The set covers common automation needs comprehensively, including clicking, typing, clipboard, app launching, and web page element retrieval. Minor gaps like drag-and-drop or gesture actions exist, but core workflows are well-supported.

    Maintenance

    ActivityNo data
    ResponsivenessOutdated data

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