native-devtools-mcp

An MCP server for computer use on native desktop and mobile apps — macOS, Windows, Android, and Chrome/Electron via CDP.

Add to your client in one click:

Claude Code: claude mcp add native-devtools -- npx -y native-devtools-mcp

native-devtools-mcp gives AI agents and MCP clients direct control over native desktop apps, Chrome/Electron browsers, and Android devices — screenshots, OCR, accessibility-first element lookup, input simulation, window management, Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP), and ADB — all in one local server. Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients.

Quickstart

npx -y native-devtools-mcp

🚀 Features

• 👀 Computer Vision: Screenshots of screens, windows, or regions with built-in OCR (Vision on macOS, Windows Media OCR on Windows).
• 🖱️ Input Simulation: Click, drag, scroll, type — global coordinates, window-relative, and screenshot-relative targeting.
• 🎯 Element-Precise AX Dispatch (macOS): take_ax_snapshot → ax_click / ax_set_value / ax_select — dispatch against Accessibility-tree elements without moving the mouse or stealing focus. The preferred path for native macOS apps.
• 🌐 Browser Automation (CDP): Chrome DevTools Protocol for Chrome and Electron apps (Signal, Discord, VS Code, Slack) — DOM-level click, fill, navigate, and JS evaluation without a separate Node.js server.
• 📱 Android (ADB): Screenshots, uiautomator-based text lookup, input, and app management over USB or Wi-Fi.
• 🧩 Template Matching: load_image + find_image for icons, toggles, and custom controls OCR can't identify.
• 🪟 Window Management: List, focus, launch, and quit apps; record windows as timestamped JPEG frames.
• 🔍 Hover Tracking: Observe user navigation patterns with dwell-filtered hover events — designed for LLMs watching a user work.
• 🔒 Local & Private: 100% local execution. Screenshots and input never leave your machine.

🧭 Three Approaches to Interaction

Pick the approach that matches your target app.

For macOS native apps, AX Dispatch is the preferred path — it's element-precise, doesn't move the mouse, and doesn't steal focus. See the Native App AX Dispatch recipe.

There's also a fourth, niche path: AppDebugKit (app_connect / app_query / app_click) for apps instrumented with the AppDebugKit library. Mostly useful for developers testing their own apps.

🆚 How it compares

The most honest peers are other MCP servers for computer use. This table compares native-devtools-mcp against the leading MCP servers and two widely used non-MCP libraries.

Where native-devtools-mcp stands out: one local MCP server covering macOS + Windows + Chrome/Electron (CDP) + Android in the same session, plus element-precise macOS AX dispatch that doesn't move the cursor or steal focus.

Honest limits:

• No Linux (contributions welcome — see Linux Desktop MCP for an AT-SPI2-based alternative in the meantime)
• Browser automation is Chrome / Electron only via CDP — no Firefox, no WebKit (for those, use Playwright MCP)
• Headed only — depends on real-machine permissions; not a headless CI test grid
• No iOS

If you need just web automation, Playwright MCP is more mature. If you need just mobile (iOS + Android + deep device features), Appium is more mature. This server is for the cross-cutting native-desktop + Chrome/Electron + Android case.

📦 Installation

The install steps are identical on macOS and Windows.

Option 1: Run with npx (no install needed)

npx -y native-devtools-mcp

Option 2: Global install

npm install -g native-devtools-mcp

Option 3: Build from source (Rust)

Using the build script (clones, builds, and runs setup):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sh3ll3x3c/native-devtools-mcp/master/scripts/build-from-source.sh | bash

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/sh3ll3x3c/native-devtools-mcp
cd native-devtools-mcp
cargo build --release
# Binary: ./target/release/native-devtools-mcp

Manual configuration (without the setup wizard)

macOS — Claude Desktop

Config file: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "native-devtools": {
      "command": "/Applications/NativeDevtools.app/Contents/MacOS/native-devtools-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windows — Claude Desktop

Config file: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP clients

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "native-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "native-devtools-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Requires Node.js 18+.

macOS permissions: the server needs Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions. The setup wizard opens the right System Settings panes for you. Without both, clicks silently fail and screenshots return a black rectangle.

Linux is not supported yet. The server uses platform-specific APIs (Core Graphics + Accessibility on macOS, Win32 + UI Automation on Windows) that don't exist on Linux. Contributions welcome — X11/Wayland screenshot, input, and AT-SPI paths would be a good first issue.

🏁 Getting Started

After installing, run the setup wizard:

npx native-devtools-mcp setup

This will:

1. Check permissions (macOS) — verifies Accessibility and Screen Recording, opens System Settings if needed.
2. Detect your MCP clients — finds Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor.
3. Write the configuration — generates the correct JSON config and offers to write it for you.

Then restart your MCP client and you're ready to go.

Claude Desktop on macOS requires the signed app bundle (Gatekeeper blocks npx). Download NativeDevtools-X.X.X.dmg from [GitHub Releases](https://github.co