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macOS Defaults MCP Server

macOS Defaults MCP Server

by g0t4
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Python
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mcp-server-macos-defaults MCP server

MCP server for reading/writing macOS defaults (settings)

Components

Tools

  • list-domains:

    • equivalent to running defaults domains

  • find:

    • equivalent to running defaults find <word>

  • defaults-read:

    • equivalent to running defaults read <domain> <key>

    • if key is not provided, the entire domain is read

  • defaults-write:

    • equivalent to running defaults write <domain> <key> <value>

Related MCP server: macOS Defaults MCP Server

Quickstart

Install

Claude Desktop

On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Development

Building and Publishing

To prepare the package for distribution:

  1. Sync dependencies and update lockfile:

uv sync

  1. Build package distributions:

uv build

This will create source and wheel distributions in the dist/ directory.

  1. Publish to PyPI:

uv publish

Note: You'll need to set PyPI credentials via environment variables or command flags:

  • Token: --token or UV_PUBLISH_TOKEN

  • Or username/password: --username/UV_PUBLISH_USERNAME and --password/UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD

Debugging

Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using the MCP Inspector.

You can launch the MCP Inspector via npm with this command:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults run mcp-server-macos-defaults

Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can access in your browser to begin debugging.

Available Tools

4 tools
defaults-readD

use the defaults read <domain> <key> command

Inputs: domain (required), key.

defaults-writeC

use the defaults write <domain> <key> <value> command

Inputs: domain (required), key (required), value (required).

findC

Find entries container given word

Inputs: word.

list-domainsB

List all available macOS domains, same as defaults domains

Inputs: no named parameters.

Tool Schema Changelog

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

Loading tool schema changelog…

    Deploy Server
    One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

    TDQS

    C2.8/5.0

    Scored across 4 tools

    Disambiguation5/5

    Each tool has a clearly distinct purpose: defaults-read and defaults-write handle reading and writing specific key-value pairs, find searches for entries containing a word, and list-domains enumerates available domains. There is no overlap or ambiguity between these functions.

    Naming Consistency3/5

    The naming is mixed: defaults-read and defaults-write follow a consistent verb-object pattern with hyphens, but find and list-domains use different conventions (single verb vs. verb-noun with hyphen). While readable, this lacks a uniform pattern across all tools.

    Tool Count4/5

    With 4 tools, the count is reasonable for a macOS defaults management server, covering core operations like read, write, search, and domain listing. It is slightly thin but functional, as additional tools like delete or reset might be useful but are not essential for basic workflows.

    Completeness4/5

    The toolset covers essential CRUD-like operations for macOS defaults: read and write handle key-value management, find enables searching, and list-domains provides discovery. A minor gap exists with no explicit delete or update tool, but agents can work around this using defaults-write or other methods.

    Maintenance

    ActivityInactive
    ResponsivenessNo recent community issues

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