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

macOS	Windows

🚀 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)

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

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)

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

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

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.