# Native DevTools [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🖥️ OS Automation  
**Repository:** https://github.com/sh3ll3x3c/native-devtools-mcp  
**GitHub Stars:** 139  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 1214  
**Views:** 2  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/native-devtools

## Description
MCP server for desktop, browser (CDP), and Android automation. Screenshot, OCR, click, type.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **android_list_devices** — List all ADB-connected devices (always available)
- **android_connect** — Connect to a device by serial number (always available)
- **android_disconnect** — Disconnect from the current device
- **android_screenshot** — Capture the device screen
- **android_find_text** — Find UI elements by text (via uiautomator)
- **android_click** — Tap at screen coordinates
- **android_swipe** — Swipe between two points
- **android_type_text** — Type text on the device
- **android_press_key** — Press a key (e.g., `KEYCODE_HOME`, `KEYCODE_BACK`)
- **android_launch_app** — Launch an app by package name
- **android_list_apps** — List installed packages
- **android_get_display_info** — Get screen resolution and density
- **android_get_current_activity** — Get the current foreground activity

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

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

## Documentation

## What Native DevTools does

Native DevTools MCP server gives MCP clients local control over supported desktop, browser, Electron, and Android interfaces. It can capture screens, recognize text, locate accessibility or DOM elements, send clicks and keyboard input, manage windows, and interact with Android devices through ADB.

The server supports three main interaction paths. Visual automation uses screenshots, OCR, coordinate-based input, and image matching for applications that do not expose a useful accessibility tree. macOS accessibility dispatch targets native AppKit and SwiftUI elements directly. Chrome DevTools Protocol handles Chrome and Electron applications when remote debugging is enabled. Android operations use ADB and uiautomator for device discovery, screen capture, text lookup, input, and app management.

## How it works

The server runs locally and communicates with an MCP client over the client’s configured command. Screenshots and input remain on the machine. A typical workflow starts by selecting the interaction method for the target: visual tools for broad compatibility, accessibility dispatch for native macOS controls, CDP for web or Electron content, or ADB for Android.

For Android, `android_list_devices` discovers connected devices, while `android_connect` selects one by serial number. The Android tool set can then capture screens, find text, tap coordinates, swipe, type, press keys, launch packages, list installed apps, and inspect display or foreground-activity details.

## Setup and configuration

Run the Native DevTools MCP server without a global install using:

```bash
npx -y native-devtools-mcp
```

It requires Node.js 18 or later. A global npm installation is also supported, and the repository provides Rust build instructions for users who want to build from source. MCP clients can use the `npx` command with `-y native-devtools-mcp` as the server configuration.

Android automation additionally requires an ADB-connected device over USB or Wi-Fi.

## Tools and capabilities

The Native DevTools MCP server supports:

- Screen, window, or region screenshots with OCR on macOS and Windows.
- Mouse and keyboard simulation, including clicks, drags, scrolling, and text entry.
- macOS accessibility snapshots and element actions such as click, set value, and select.
- Chrome/Electron DOM actions, navigation, snapshots, filling, clicking, and JavaScript evaluation through CDP.
- Image-template matching for controls that OCR or accessibility data cannot identify.
- Window listing, focus, application launch and quit, and timestamped window recording.
- Android screenshots, text lookup, gestures, key presses, package operations, and device information.

## Limitations and notes

The Native DevTools MCP server supports macOS, Windows, Chrome, Electron, and Android, but not Linux or iOS. Browser automation is limited to Chrome and Electron through CDP; Firefox and WebKit are not supported. It is headed automation that depends on permissions and a real machine, not a headless CI test grid.

macOS accessibility dispatch is intended for native macOS applications and does not replace visual or CDP workflows for every target. CDP also requires Chrome or Electron to expose a remote debugging port. Android capabilities depend on ADB connectivity and the selected device. The server is local, so the applications and devices being controlled must be available to the host running it.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/native-devtools/readme_