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Desktopinsights MCP

by andrewschreiber

Searches Desktop Insights for app technology stacks, SDK usage, dependencies, and comparisons across macOS and Windows apps.

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Install Desktopinsights MCP

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "andrewschreiber-desktopinsights-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "desktopinsights-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_URL": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Values are written into the snippet above so you can paste it as is. They never leave your browser.

Install not yet sandbox-tested— we haven't run this command through our automated sandbox yet. Not a red flag; we're working through the catalog.

Overview

andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp MCP server connects an MCP-compatible client to the Desktop Insights API for researching technologies used by more than 12,000 macOS and Windows desktop applications. It provides tools to inspect an individual app, find apps by SDK or platform criteria, compare application stacks, and browse tracked SDK categories. Use it when you need desktop software technology research through an AI assistant. The server runs through npx and requires a Desktop Insights API key.

Use cases

  • Investigate the SDKs used by a desktop application
  • Find apps that adopt a specific SDK
  • Compare the technology stacks of two desktop apps
  • Discover available SDK categories and filter values

Key features

  • Look up app SDKs and dependencies
  • Search apps by SDK usage
  • Filter by runtime, platform, or developer
  • Compare two application technology stacks
  • List 11 tracked SDK categories

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 2d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

18/18 checks healthy over the last 78d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 10d ago via OSV.dev · desktopinsights-mcp (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars3Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads3.8kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit6mo agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Directory activity3 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Desktopinsights MCP works

What the andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp MCP server does

andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp MCP server exposes Desktop Insights data through the Model Context Protocol. Desktop Insights catalogs SDKs, frameworks, and dependencies associated with more than 12,000 desktop applications on macOS and Windows.

The server is intended for questions about application technology stacks. You can investigate the dependencies of a named product, identify applications using a particular SDK, filter results by runtime or platform, and compare the technologies used by two applications. It can also list the tracked SDK categories and example values, which helps identify available search dimensions before running a more specific query.

Typical research questions include which applications use Sentry, whether Electron apps use Stripe, what SDKs Figma uses, or how the stacks of Slack and Discord differ.

How it works

The process runs as an MCP server and communicates with an MCP client over the command launched by npx -y desktopinsights-mcp. Requests are sent to Desktop Insights using the configured API key. The API base URL defaults to https://desktopinsights.com, but it can be changed through configuration.

The available operations are organized around four tools:

  • lookup_app retrieves SDK and dependency information for a specific application.
  • search_apps finds applications using SDKs or other supported filters, including runtime, platform, or developer.
  • compare_apps returns a side-by-side technology stack comparison for two applications.
  • list_sdk_categories shows the 11 tracked SDK categories and example values for discovery.

This makes the andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp MCP server suitable for technology research, stack comparison, and SDK adoption analysis rather than local desktop control or application automation.

Setup and configuration

Create an API key at the Desktop Insights API settings page before starting the server. Set it as DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY; this variable is required. DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_URL is optional and uses https://desktopinsights.com when omitted.

Claude Code can register the server with:

Terminal
claude mcp add desktopinsights -e DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY=your-api-key -- npx -y desktopinsights-mcp

For Claude Desktop, add a desktopinsights entry to claude_desktop_config.json with npx as the command, -y and desktopinsights-mcp as arguments, and the API key in the env object. Cursor uses the same command and environment layout in .cursor/mcp.json.

For local development, install the npm dependencies, build the project, and run node build/index.js with DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY set.

Tools and capabilities

The andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp MCP server supports four focused capabilities. App lookup answers questions about one product's SDKs and dependencies. App search supports discovery based on technology adoption, runtime, platform, or publisher. Comparison is designed for evaluating two named applications side by side. Category listing provides the available SDK taxonomy and example filter values.

These tools can support competitive technology research, dependency investigation, and finding desktop applications that share a runtime or third-party SDK. The material does not describe write operations or changes to Desktop Insights data.

Limitations and notes

An API key is needed to use the service. The documented dataset covers macOS and Windows desktop applications, so the server should not be assumed to provide mobile, web, or other software coverage. Search filters are limited to the dimensions exposed by Desktop Insights; the README specifically documents SDK usage, runtime, platform, and developer filters. No client-specific setup is described beyond Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

Reviews

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Frequently Asked Questions about Desktopinsights MCP

andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp is an MCP server that connects AI clients to the Desktop Insights API. Its main tools look up an app’s SDKs and dependencies, search applications by technology or metadata, compare two app stacks, and list tracked SDK categories for macOS and Windows desktop software.

Install it through the MCP client configuration by running `npx -y desktopinsights-mcp` and setting `DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY`. The README provides registration examples for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor. You must first create an API key from the Desktop Insights settings page.

Yes, andrewschreiber/desktopinsights-mcp works with Cursor. Add it to `.cursor/mcp.json` with `npx` as the command, `-y` and `desktopinsights-mcp` as arguments, and `DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY` in the environment configuration.

It requires `DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_KEY` to authenticate with Desktop Insights. `DESKTOPINSIGHTS_API_URL` is optional and defaults to `https://desktopinsights.com`, allowing the API base URL to be changed when needed.

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