Electron MCP Server

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/utils/electron-logs.ts:18-44 (handler)

  Primary handler function implementing the read_electron_logs tool logic. Connects to Electron via DevTools Protocol for console logs or falls back to system process logs.

  export async function readElectronLogs(
    logType: LogType = 'all',
    lines: number = 100,
    follow: boolean = false,
  ): Promise<string> {
    try {
      logger.info('[MCP] Looking for running Electron applications for log access...');
  
      try {
        const target = await findElectronTarget();
  
        // Connect via WebSocket to get console logs
        if (logType === 'console' || logType === 'all') {
          return await getConsoleLogsViaDevTools(target, lines, follow);
        }
      } catch {
        logger.info('[MCP] No DevTools connection found, checking system logs...');
      }
  
      // Fallback to system logs if DevTools not available
      return await getSystemElectronLogs(lines);
    } catch (error) {
      throw new Error(
        `Failed to read logs: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
      );
    }
  }

• src/schemas.ts:49-56 (schema)

  Zod schema defining the input parameters (logType, lines, follow) for the read_electron_logs tool.

  export const ReadElectronLogsSchema = z.object({
    logType: z
      .enum(['console', 'main', 'renderer', 'all'])
      .optional()
      .describe('Type of logs to read'),
    lines: z.number().optional().describe('Number of recent lines to read (default: 100)'),
    follow: z.boolean().optional().describe('Whether to follow/tail the logs'),
  });

• src/tools.ts:63-68 (registration)

  Tool registration entry in the tools array, specifying name, description, and input schema for read_electron_logs.

  {
    name: ToolName.READ_ELECTRON_LOGS,
    description:
      'Read console logs and output from running Electron applications. Useful for debugging and monitoring app behavior.',
    inputSchema: zodToJsonSchema(ReadElectronLogsSchema) as ToolInput,
  },

• src/handlers.ts:155-180 (handler)

  Dispatch handler in the main tool switch statement that parses inputs, calls the readElectronLogs function, and formats the MCP response.

  case ToolName.READ_ELECTRON_LOGS: {
    const { logType, lines, follow } = ReadElectronLogsSchema.parse(args);
    const logs = await readElectronLogs(logType, lines);
  
    if (follow) {
      return {
        content: [
          {
            type: 'text',
            text: `Following logs (${logType}). This is a snapshot of recent logs:\n\n${logs}`,
          },
        ],
        isError: false,
      };
    }
  
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: 'text',
          text: `Electron logs (${logType}):\n\n${logs}`,
        },
      ],
      isError: false,
    };
  }

• src/utils/electron-logs.ts:49-92 (helper)

  Helper function to retrieve console logs via Chrome DevTools Protocol WebSocket connection.

  async function getConsoleLogsViaDevTools(
    target: any,
    lines: number,
    follow: boolean,
  ): Promise<string> {
    const logs: string[] = [];
  
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      (async () => {
        try {
          const ws = await connectForLogs(target, (log: string) => {
            logs.push(log);
            if (logs.length >= lines && !follow) {
              ws.close();
              resolve(logs.slice(-lines).join('\n'));
            }
          });
  
          // For non-follow mode, try to get console history first
          if (!follow) {
            // Request console API calls from Runtime
            ws.send(
              JSON.stringify({
                id: 99,
                method: 'Runtime.evaluate',
                params: {
                  expression: `console.log("Reading console history for MCP test"); "History checked"`,
                  includeCommandLineAPI: true,
                },
              }),
            );
  
            // Wait longer for logs to be captured and history to be available
            setTimeout(() => {
              ws.close();
              resolve(logs.length > 0 ? logs.slice(-lines).join('\n') : 'No console logs available');
            }, 7000); // Increased timeout to 7 seconds
          }
        } catch (error) {
          reject(error);
        }
      })();
    });
  }