📸 MCP ACS Screenshot Server

Give AI agents visual superpowers to see, analyze, and document your applications like senior UX designers.

This enterprise-grade MCP server transforms AI from code-only assistants into visual experts capable of UI analysis, accessibility auditing, documentation generation, and responsive design testing.

🔗 Repository

This package is now maintained in its own repository: https://github.com/Digital-Defiance/mcp-screenshot

This repository is part of the AI Capabilitites Suite on GitHub.

🤔 Why Do AI Agents Need Visual Capabilities?

AI agents today are powerful but visually blind:

• ❌ Can read HTML/CSS but can't see actual layouts
• ❌ Can suggest UI improvements without seeing the real user experience
• ❌ Can't detect accessibility issues like poor contrast or spacing
• ❌ Can't create visual documentation or bug reports
• ❌ Can't analyze responsive design across different screen sizes

Result: You're stuck manually creating screenshots, documentation, and visual analysis that AI should handle.

🎯 Revolutionary Use Cases

📚 "AI, create professional documentation"

You: "Document the checkout process with screenshots"
AI: *Captures each step, analyzes UI flow*
AI: "Generated complete user guide with 6 annotated screenshots, highlighting key interactions and error states..."

🔍 "AI, audit this page for accessibility"

You: "Check if this form meets WCAG guidelines"
AI: *Captures form, analyzes visual elements*
AI: "Found 4 accessibility issues: contrast ratio 2.1:1 (needs 4.5:1), missing focus indicators, touch targets too small..."

🐛 "AI, create a detailed bug report"

You: "The mobile navigation is broken"
AI: *Captures different viewport sizes*
AI: "Created bug report with before/after screenshots, exact breakpoint where it fails, and CSS fix suggestions..."

🎨 "AI, compare these design variations"

You: "Which hero section design works better?"
AI: *Captures both versions, analyzes visual hierarchy*
AI: "Version B has 28% better visual flow—CTA more prominent, text hierarchy clearer, better use of whitespace..."

📱 "AI, test responsive design"

You: "How does this look on different screen sizes?"
AI: *Captures multiple viewport sizes*
AI: "Layout breaks at 768px—sidebar overlaps content. Here's the media query fix with visual proof..."

✨ What This Changes

Before: AI worked blind, relying on code descriptions

• ❌ "The button looks wrong" → AI guesses the issue
• ❌ "Create documentation" → AI writes generic text
• ❌ "Check accessibility" → AI only reviews code
• ❌ "Test responsive design" → AI can't see actual breakpoints

After: AI sees and analyzes your actual user interface

• ✅ Visual debugging - AI identifies exact pixel-level issues
• ✅ Smart documentation - AI creates guides with real screenshots and annotations
• ✅ Accessibility audits - AI measures actual contrast ratios and spacing
• ✅ Responsive testing - AI captures and compares different screen sizes
• ✅ Design analysis - AI evaluates visual hierarchy and user experience
• ✅ Professional reports - AI creates detailed visual evidence for bugs and improvements

🚀 Features

• Multi-format Support: PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP with configurable quality
• Flexible Capture: Full screen, specific windows, or custom regions
• Privacy Protection: PII masking with OCR-based detection for emails, phone numbers, and credit cards
• Security Controls: Path validation, rate limiting, audit logging, and configurable policies
• Cross-platform: Linux (X11/Wayland), macOS, Windows with native APIs
• Multi-monitor Support: Capture from specific displays in multi-monitor setups
• Enterprise Security: Window exclusion, audit logging, rate limiting
• AI-Optimized: Structured responses perfect for AI agent workflows

Installation

NPM Installation

npm install @ai-capabilities-suite/mcp-screenshot

System Requirements

Linux:

• X11: imagemagick package (provides import command)
• Wayland: grim package

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install imagemagick grim

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ImageMagick grim

# Arch
sudo pacman -S imagemagick grim

macOS:

• Built-in screencapture command (no additional dependencies)
• Screen Recording permission required (System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Screen Recording)

Windows:

• No additional dependencies required

MCP Configuration

Add to your MCP settings file (e.g., ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json or .kiro/settings/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "screenshot": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp-screenshot/dist/cli.js"],
      "env": {
        "SCREENSHOT_ALLOWED_DIRS": "/home/user/screenshots,/tmp",
        "SCREENSHOT_MAX_CAPTURES_PER_MIN": "60",
        "SCREENSHOT_ENABLE_AUDIT_LOG": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ 5 Professional MCP Tools

Purpose-built for AI agents to capture, analyze, and work with visual information:

The server exposes 5 comprehensive MCP tools that enable AI agents to see and understand your applications:

1. screenshot_capture_full

Capture full screen or specific display.

Parameters:

• display (string, optional): Display ID to capture (defaults to primary display)
• format (string, optional): Image format - png, jpeg, webp, or bmp (default: png)
• quality (number, optional): Compression quality 1-100 for lossy formats (default: 90)
• savePath (string, optional): File path to save screenshot (returns base64 if not provided)
• enablePIIMasking (boolean, optional): Enable PII detection and masking (default: false)

Example:

{
  "name": "screenshot_capture_full",
  "arguments": {
    "format": "png",
    "savePath": "/home/user/screenshots/desktop.png",
    "enablePIIMasking": true
  }
}

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "filePath": "/home/user/screenshots/desktop.png",
  "metadata": {
    "width": 1920,
    "height": 1080,
    "format": "png",
    "fileSize": 245678,
    "timestamp": "2024-12-01T10:30:00.000Z",
    "display": {
      "id": "0",
      "name": "Primary Display",
      "resolution": { "width": 1920, "height": 1080 },
      "position": { "x": 0, "y": 0 },
      "isPrimary": true
    },
    "piiMasking": {
      "emailsRedacted": 2,
      "phonesRedacted": 1,
      "creditCardsRedacted": 0,
      "customPatternsRedacted": 0
    }
  }
}

2. screenshot_capture_window

Capture specific application window by ID or title pattern.

Parameters:

• windowId (string, optional): Window identifier (use windowId or windowTitle)
• windowTitle (string, optional): Window title pattern to match (use windowId or windowTitle)
• includeFrame (boolean, optional): Include window frame and title bar (default: false)
• format (string, optional): Image format (default: png)
• quality (number, optional): Compression quality 1-100 (default: 90)
• savePath (string, optional): File path to save screenshot

Example:

{
  "name": "screenshot_capture_window",
  "arguments": {
    "windowTitle": "Chrome",
    "includeFrame": false,
    "format": "jpeg",
    "quality": 85
  }
}

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA...",
  "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
  "metadata": {
    "width": 1280,
    "height": 720,
    "format": "jpeg",
    "fileSize": 89234,
    "timestamp": "2024-12-01T10:31:00.000Z",
    "window": {
      "id": "12345",
      "title": "Google Chrome",
      "processName": "chrome",
      "pid": 5678,
      "bounds": { "x": 100, "y": 100, "width": 1280, "height": 720 }
    }
  }
}

3. screenshot_capture_region

Capture specific rectangular region of the screen.

Parameters:

• x (number, required): X coordinate of top-left corner
• y (number, required): Y coordinate of top-left corner
• width (number, required): Width of region in pixels
• height (number, required): Height of region in pixels
• format (string, optional): Image format (default: png)
• quality (number, optional): Compression quality 1-100 (default: 90)
• savePath (string, optional): File path to save screenshot

Example:

{
  "name": "screenshot_capture_region",
  "arguments": {
    "x": 100,
    "y": 100,
    "width": 800,
    "height": 600,
    "format": "png"
  }
}

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA...",
  "mimeType": "image/png",
  "metadata": {
    "width": 800,
    "height": 600,
    "format": "png",
    "fileSize": 123456,
    "timestamp": "2024-12-01T10:32:00.000Z",
    "region": {
      "x": 100,
      "y": 100,
      "width": 800,
      "height": 600
    }
  }
}

4. screenshot_list_displays

List all connected displays with resolution and position information.

Parameters: None

Example:

{
  "name": "screenshot_list_displays",
  "arguments": {}
}

Response: