A side-by-side look at the Oswright and Plonk MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Oswright for os automation work as a local process; choose Plonk for os automation as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
screenshot, get_screen_info, find_text_on_screen.get_state, save_workspace, launch_workspace.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | OS Automation | OS Automation |
| Quality signal | 59/100 · Good | 64/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 4 | 17 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 43 | 22 |
| Full listing | View Oswright | View Plonk |
screenshot
Take a screenshot of the screen or a region.
Returns the image as native MCP image content.
Optionally saves to a file path.
Args:
save_path: Optional file path to save the screenshot.
region_left: Left coordinate for a sub-region capture.
region_top: Top coordinate for a sub-region capture.
region_width: Width of the sub-region.
region_height: Height of the sub-region.
monitor: Monitor index (0 = all monitors, 1 = primary, etc.).
get_screen_info
Get screen dimensions and monitor count.
Args:
monitor: Monitor index (0 = all monitors combined).
find_text_on_screen
Find all occurrences of text on screen using OCR.
Returns a list of matches with coordinates and confidence. Coordinates are
absolute screen coordinates, ready to pass straight to mouse_click.
Args:
text: The text to search for on screen.
exact: If True, requires exact match. If False, substring match.
region_left: Optional left bound to restrict search area.
region_top: Optional top bound to restrict search area.
region_width: Optional width to restrict search area.
region_height: Optional height to restrict search area.
monitor: Monitor index.
read_screen_text
Read ALL visible text on the screen using OCR.
Returns every detected text element with its position, in absolute
screen coordinates that are ready to click.
Args:
region_left: Optional left bound to restrict OCR area.
region_top: Optional top bound to restrict OCR area.
region_width: Optional width to restrict OCR area.
region_height: Optional height to restrict OCR area.
monitor: Monitor index.
find_image_on_screen
Find all occurrences of a template image on screen.
Coordinates are absolute screen coordinates, ready to pass to mouse_click.
Args:
template_path: Absolute path to the template image file to find.
threshold: Minimum match confidence (0.0-1.0, default 0.8).
monitor: Monitor index.
mouse_click
Click the mouse at coordinates or current position.
Returns action result and a screenshot of current screen state.
Args:
x: X screen coordinate. If not provided, clicks at current position.
y: Y screen coordinate. If not provided, clicks at current position.
button: Mouse button - 'left', 'right', or 'middle'.
clicks: Number of clicks (2 for double-click).
mouse_double_click
Double-click at coordinates or current position.
Returns action result and a screenshot of current screen state.
Args:
x: X screen coordinate.
y: Y screen coordinate.
mouse_move
Move the mouse cursor to screen coordinates.
Args:
x: X screen coordinate.
y: Y screen coordinate.
mouse_scroll
Scroll the mouse wheel.
Returns action result and a screenshot of current screen state.
Args:
amount: Scroll amount. Positive = up, negative = down.
x: Optional X coordinate to scroll at.
y: Optional Y coordinate to scroll at.
mouse_drag
Drag from one point to another.
Returns action result and a screenshot of current screen state.
Args:
start_x: Starting X coordinate.
start_y: Starting Y coordinate.
end_x: Ending X coordinate.
end_y: Ending Y coordinate.
button: Mouse button to hold ('left' or 'right').
duration: Duration of the drag in seconds.
get_mouse_positionGet the current mouse cursor position.type_text
Type text using the keyboard (character by character).
Returns action result and a screenshot of current screen state.
Args:
text: The text to type.
delay: Delay in seconds between each character.
get_stateGet the current desktop state: all screens/monitors (index, frame, visible area — coordinates have origin at top-left of the primary screen, y grows down), all open windows (app name, title, which screen it is on, absolute frame, and 'fraction' — its position as fractions 0..1 of that screen's visible area), 'zone_sets' (every set by name, each zone as {x,y,w,h} with a 'name' where the set gives it one), 'screen_zone_sets' (which set each monitor wears), saved layout names, 'app_rules' (where each app's new windows open, see set_app_rule), 'place_new_windows' and 'auto_fill_zones', whether a keep-awake session is holding, and 'disabled_features': the modules the user switched off in Plonk (zones, workspaces, shot, ruler, awake and so on). A tool belonging to one of those fails with an error saying so until the user switches it back on. ALWAYS call this first before applying a layout, to see which apps are running and how many monitors there are.save_workspaceSave a workspace: the apps of a desktop setup, where each window goes, and what each app should open. Pass 'items' to describe the arrangement, or omit them to snapshot the windows exactly as they are on screen right now. Saving over an existing name replaces it. Saved workspaces are listed in get_state, with their full contents.launch_workspaceLaunch a saved workspace: opens every app that is not running, waits for its windows, and moves them into the saved positions. Each window returns to the monitor it was captured on, so a workspace spanning several displays comes back spanning them. macOS cannot open an app straight into a position, so windows appear first and jump into place. Returns per-app success, and reports apps that never opened a window. Takes up to a minute for a large workspace.delete_workspaceDelete a saved workspace by name. Use this to clean up workspaces you created that are no longer wanted.apply_layoutMove and resize windows to build a layout. Each item places one window: 'app' is the app name (fuzzy matched), optional 'title' filters windows of that app by title substring, optional 'screen' is the monitor index from get_state (each monitor can get its own layout — just send items with different 'screen' values; defaults to the screen the window is currently on), 'frame' is {x,y,w,h} as fractions 0..1 of that screen's visible area with origin at TOP-LEFT (left half = {x:0,y:0,w:0.5,h:1}; bottom-right quarter = {x:0.5,y:0.5,w:0.5,h:0.5}; centered 60% = {x:0.2,y:0.15,w:0.6,h:0.7}). Windows are unminimized if needed. Returns per-item success/errors.save_layoutSave the named window arrangement as a workspace. Legacy name kept for older clients — new integrations should call save_workspace, which can also record whether running apps get moved into place. Omit 'items' to snapshot the windows exactly as they are on screen right now; pass 'items' to describe the arrangement explicitly. Saving over an existing name replaces it. Saved workspaces are listed in get_state, with their full contents.apply_saved_layoutLaunch a saved workspace by name. Legacy name kept for older clients — new integrations should call launch_workspace, which adds a 'screen' option to pull the whole workspace onto one monitor. Opens every app that is not running, waits for its windows, and moves them into the saved positions; macOS cannot open an app straight into a position, so windows appear first and jump into place. Returns per-app success and reports apps that never opened a window. Takes up to a minute for a large workspace.snap_windowDrop one window into a zone of the snap-zone set assigned to that monitor, by number or by name. The numbers are the ones Plonk draws on the zones while a window is dragged, so 'the middle zone' of a three-zone set is 2; a name is whatever the set calls a zone ('chat'), listed per zone in get_state.zone_sets, matched ignoring case. Fails with the zones that screen does have, names included, when neither matches. Zone sets and their per-monitor assignment are in get_state; use apply_layout instead when the user describes a size rather than a zone.delete_layoutDelete the saved workspace with that name, whether it was saved with save_layout or save_workspace. Legacy name kept for older clients — new integrations should call delete_workspace, which does the same. Use it to clean up saved workspaces that are no longer wanted; existing names are listed in get_state.save_zone_setCreate or replace a named zone set used for drag snapping. Zones are rectangles {x,y,w,h} as fractions 0..1 of a screen's visible area, origin TOP-LEFT; each zone must stay inside the screen, but zones may overlap each other (the smallest one under the cursor wins). A zone may also carry a 'name' ('chat', 'editor'): it is drawn under the zone's number, the user can say it out loud, and snap_window takes it instead of the number; names must be unique within the set, ignoring case, and cannot be a bare number. Pass 'screen' to also assign the set to that monitor so it becomes active immediately. Pass 'gap' to give this set its own spacing around windows in points, or null to make it follow the default gap again; omitting it keeps whatever the set had. Built-in sets already exist: Halves, Thirds, 60 / 40, Quarters, Priority.assign_zone_setAssign a zone set (built-in or saved) to one monitor, so dragging a window there snaps to that set's zones. Each monitor keeps its own assignment; assigning replaces whatever that monitor used before and takes effect on the next drag. Omit 'name' to restore the default set (Halves); pass 'edge' for plain edge snapping instead of zones. Available set names and current per-monitor assignments are in get_state.delete_zone_setDelete a saved zone set by name. Any monitor currently using it falls back to the default set (Halves), so snapping keeps working. Only sets made with save_zone_set can go: the built-ins (Halves, Thirds, 60 / 40, Quarters, Priority) are refused. Deleting is immediate and cannot be undone — the zones would have to be described again. Saved sets and their per-monitor assignments are listed in get_state; use assign_zone_set instead when a monitor should merely stop using a set that others still need.Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"oswright": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"oswright"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"plonk": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"plonk-mcp"
]
}
}
}