mcp-desktop

macOS desktop automation for AI agents — screenshot any screen, switch apps and tabs, click, type, and scroll. Built as two separate MCP servers so you can install only the trust level you need.

Packages

Tip: Install only mcp-desktop-screenshot if you want an AI to observe your screen. Install mcp-desktop-control if you want it to act on your screen too — it includes all screenshot tools.

Related MCP server: macos-desktop-control

Requirements

• macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel)

• Node.js 18+

• Screen Recording permission for your terminal app (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording)

• Accessibility permission for your terminal app — only needed for mcp-desktop-control (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility)

Installation

Claude Code (CLI)

# Read-only: screenshots + app/tab switching
claude mcp add --scope user desktop-screenshot -- npx -y @rchavarria06/mcp-desktop-screenshot

# Full control (includes all screenshot tools)
claude mcp add --scope user desktop-control -- npx -y @rchavarria06/mcp-desktop-control

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-screenshot": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@rchavarria06/mcp-desktop-screenshot"],
      "env": {
        "BLOCKED_APPS": "1Password,Keychain"
      }
    }
  }
}

Other MCP clients

Any client that supports stdio MCP servers can run:

npx @rchavarria06/mcp-desktop-screenshot
# or
npx @rchavarria06/mcp-desktop-control

Privacy

Screenshots are ephemeral by default — they're returned as base64 image data in the AI's context and never written to disk. Pass a save_path to any screenshot tool if you want to persist it.

Set BLOCKED_APPS to a comma-separated list of app names the server will refuse to access:

"env": { "BLOCKED_APPS": "1Password,Keychain Access,Signal" }

Tools

mcp-desktop-screenshot

list_tabs supports: Brave Browser, Google Chrome, Chromium, Arc, Safari, iTerm2, Terminal

mcp-desktop-control

Includes all tools above, plus:

Pass verify_app to any control tool to abort with an error if the wrong app is frontmost — prevents accidental input to the wrong window.

Example workflows

AI attaches screenshots to a PR description

1. list_displays                                    → find which display has the terminal
2. screenshot_app("Terminal", display: 3)           → capture test output
3. switch_tab("Brave Browser", "localhost:3000")    → focus preview
4. take_screenshot(display: 2)                      → capture the UI
5. AI writes PR description with both images embedded

AI fills out a form

1. screenshot_app("Brave Browser")      → see current state
2. click(x, y)                          → focus the input
3. type_text("roberto@example.com")     → fill it in
4. key_press("tab")                     → next field
5. type_text("My message here")
6. key_press("return")                  → submit
7. take_screenshot(display: 1)          → confirm success

How it works

Both servers are built on macOS-native primitives — no third-party automation frameworks:

• Screenshots: screencapture CLI

• App switching / tab control: osascript (AppleScript)

• Mouse / keyboard: System Events via AppleScript

• Scroll: Swift + CoreGraphics.CGEvent

Contributing

PRs welcome. The monorepo uses npm workspaces:

git clone https://github.com/mocha06/mcp-desktop
cd mcp-desktop
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Packages live in packages/core (shared primitives), packages/mcp-screenshot, and packages/mcp-control.

Testing

Vitest covers pure logic: tab-list parsing and resolution, BLOCKED_APPS matching, AppleScript escaping, key-combo parsing, and the Swift scroll script construction. Side-effectful runners that call osascript, screencapture, or swift are exercised end-to-end on a real macOS machine — please smoke-test mouse/keyboard changes manually before opening a PR.

npm test           # one-shot
npm run test:watch # rerun on save

License

MIT