Type

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/tools/interaction.ts:51-96 (registration)

  Registration of the 'pinchtab_type' tool on the MCP server, including its schema and handler.

  server.registerTool(
    "pinchtab_type",
    {
      description:
        "Type text into an input field by its ref ID. Uses human-like typing by default. Set clearFirst=true to click, select all, then type — required for React/Vue/Angular inputs where direct fill doesn't trigger state updates.",
      inputSchema: z.object({
        clearFirst: z
          .boolean()
          .optional()
          .describe(
            "Click the field, select all (Ctrl+A), then type. Required for React/Vue/Angular inputs.",
          ),
        fast: z
          .boolean()
          .optional()
          .describe(
            "Speed up humanType with shorter delays between keystrokes. Only applies when humanType=true.",
          ),
        humanType: z
          .boolean()
          .optional()
          .describe(
            "Use human-like keystroke simulation (default: true). Set to false for fast programmatic fill.",
          ),
        ref: z.string().describe("Element reference ID of the input field"),
        text: z.string().describe("Text to type into the field"),
      }),
      title: "Type",
    },
    async ({ ref, text, humanType, fast, clearFirst }) => {
      try {
        if (clearFirst) {
          await pinch("POST", "/action", { kind: "click", ref });
          await pinch("POST", "/action", { key: "Control+a", kind: "press", ref });
          await pinch("POST", "/action", { kind: "type", ref, text });
          return toolResult({ cleared: true, ref, typed: text });
        }
        const kind = humanType === false ? "fill" : "humanType";
        const body: Record<string, unknown> = { kind, ref, text };
        if (fast && kind === "humanType") body.fast = true;
        return toolResult(await pinch("POST", "/action", body));
      } catch (error) {
        return toolError(error);
      }
    },
  );

• src/tools/interaction.ts:56-77 (schema)

  Input schema (Zod) for the pinchtab_type tool, defining ref, text, humanType, fast, and clearFirst parameters.

  inputSchema: z.object({
    clearFirst: z
      .boolean()
      .optional()
      .describe(
        "Click the field, select all (Ctrl+A), then type. Required for React/Vue/Angular inputs.",
      ),
    fast: z
      .boolean()
      .optional()
      .describe(
        "Speed up humanType with shorter delays between keystrokes. Only applies when humanType=true.",
      ),
    humanType: z
      .boolean()
      .optional()
      .describe(
        "Use human-like keystroke simulation (default: true). Set to false for fast programmatic fill.",
      ),
    ref: z.string().describe("Element reference ID of the input field"),
    text: z.string().describe("Text to type into the field"),
  }),

• src/tools/interaction.ts:80-95 (handler)

  Handler function for pinchtab_type: dispatches /action HTTP calls to the PinchTab backend with kind 'humanType' (default), 'fill', or a clearFirst sequence (click, Ctrl+A, type).

  async ({ ref, text, humanType, fast, clearFirst }) => {
    try {
      if (clearFirst) {
        await pinch("POST", "/action", { kind: "click", ref });
        await pinch("POST", "/action", { key: "Control+a", kind: "press", ref });
        await pinch("POST", "/action", { kind: "type", ref, text });
        return toolResult({ cleared: true, ref, typed: text });
      }
      const kind = humanType === false ? "fill" : "humanType";
      const body: Record<string, unknown> = { kind, ref, text };
      if (fast && kind === "humanType") body.fast = true;
      return toolResult(await pinch("POST", "/action", body));
    } catch (error) {
      return toolError(error);
    }
  },

• src/pinchtab/client.ts:6-11 (helper)

  The 'pinch' helper function used by the handler to make HTTP requests to the PinchTab backend (POST /action).

  export async function pinch(
    method: string,
    path: string,
    body?: Record<string, unknown>,
  ): Promise<unknown> {
    if (!(await isPinchtabRunning())) {

• src/utils.ts:11-18 (helper)

  Helper functions toolResult and toolError used by the handler to format MCP responses.

  interface ToolResult {
    [key: string]: unknown;
    content: { text: string; type: "text" }[];
    isError?: boolean;
  }
  
  /** Wrap a tool handler with standardized error handling. */
  export function toolResult(data: unknown): ToolResult {