VMware Workstation Plugin

An independent Windows MCP plugin for VMware Workstation with 93 tools for VM management, guest operations, file transfers, and direct headless VNC/RFB console control. It is not an official VMware or Broadcom product.

The plugin package lives in vmware-workstation/. Start with the configuration guide, native console setup, or complete tool reference.

Use in Codex

Register this GitHub marketplace and install the plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add mdaneri/vmware-workstation-mcp
codex plugin add vmware-workstation@vmware-local

For local development, clone the repository and register that directory instead:

codex plugin marketplace add .
codex plugin add vmware-workstation@vmware-local

Restart the desktop app after installation and open a fresh local chat with VMware Workstation enabled. Ask: "List my VMware Workstation VMs." Native console operations require the one-time per-VM console setup. The build itself does not install, enable, upload, or publish the plugin. These commands use the local/Git marketplace flow.

Requires Windows, Node.js 22.12 or newer on PATH, and a separately installed VMware Workstation. PowerShell 7 is needed for the console checks and setup/validation helpers. REST tools require vmrest and local credentials; guest OS operations require VMware Tools and guest credentials. Native console tools require neither a guest OS nor VMware Tools. A web/mobile-only chat cannot launch this local stdio process.

Related MCP server: vmware-mcp

Develop

npm ci
npm run build
npm test
npm run smoke
npm run validate
npm run package

src/workstation.mjs wraps vmrun with separate executable arguments and no shell. src/server.mjs registers the MCP tools using the official MCP SDK. src/console.mjs manages direct RFB sessions; rfb2 has no runtime dependencies, and pngjs encodes only VM framebuffer pixels. npm run build bundles runtime dependencies into the plugin so installation requires Node but no npm download. Rebuild after changing source.

The plugin implements all 47 installed vmrun commands and 28 installed REST operations, plus blank VM creation, backed-up VMX editing, six direct VNC/RFB console tools, convenience tools, and coverage discovery: 93 tools. All original 87 tool schemas/annotations are checked against a saved baseline. Setup, credentials, and runnable examples are in the practical guide, the console guide, and the operation reference.

Tests use a fake process runner, temporary VMX files, and a mock HTTP service. They do not change real VMs. The smoke script starts the actual bundled MCP process, discovers tools, and reads host status/inventory. If a running VM exists it reads selected hardware, snapshots, Tools state, and guest IP. It also reads host networks and checks the installed command coverage. It never powers VMs on/off or changes snapshots. npm run smoke:rest reads VM and network inventory from the real REST service after credentials are configured.

Packaging writes dist/vmware-workstation-0.2.0.zip and inspects its required entries. It includes one plugin and excludes source development dependencies, test VMs/credentials, and the repo marketplace.

Validation

On 2026-11-02, Workstation 26.0.1 build 25688693 was verified to expose native per-VM RFB 3.8 with VNC password authentication and a 127.0.0.1 listener. The opt-in live console test connected to new BIOS and UEFI VMs simultaneously, captured their firmware displays, and verified RFB keys changed both displays while a non-VMware app stayed foreground in all 142 observed samples. Click/type/scroll/status calls also completed. Test VMs were stopped, VNC disabled, and temporary credentials deleted. No host screenshot, mouse/keyboard injection, or window activation was used. An actual PXE server and OS installation ISO were not part of that run.

The automated suite adds RFB 3.3/3.7/3.8 authentication, framebuffer pixels, multi-VM isolation, key modifiers, resize handling, listener/credential rejection, and file ACL preparation checks to the original VM/REST tests. npm run validate checks the 93 tool schemas, the original 87-schema baseline, and Windows credential-file protection. All new console input/capture uses RFB; the read-only focus observer exists only in the opt-in live test.

The current automated suite has 52 passing tests and covers all 47 CLI argument contracts, all 28 REST request contracts, direct RFB sessions, and VM configuration. CI runs these tests and package validation on Windows without requiring VMware or accessing a real VM.

Live validation also exercised blank VM creation with a real sparse disk, memory/CPU/display-name edits, and snapshot create/revert/delete on an isolated powered-off VM. The opt-in scripts save machine-specific evidence under ignored test-vms/; local credentials, VM files, and screenshots are not published in this repository.

The real REST service and authenticated guest execution/file transfers still require configured credentials and a guest with running VMware Tools. Their request/execution contracts were tested with mocks, not claimed as live end-to-end validation. The blank test VM has no installed OS.

Contributing and license

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development and testing and SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting.

Original project code is available under the MIT license. Bundled dependencies retain their own third-party licenses. VMware executables, VM images, and installation media are not included; see NOTICE.md.