precision-desktop

mcp-name: io.github.ikoskela/precision-desktop

A companion MCP server that fixes DPI coordinate scaling for Windows desktop automation.

Windows DPI scaling silently breaks every MCP tool that clicks, types, or hovers on the desktop. precision-desktop detects and corrects the coordinate mismatch so your AI agent's clicks actually land where they should.

The Problem

Windows has two coordinate systems and doesn't tell you which one you're using.

When Windows DPI scaling is set above 100% (which it is on most modern laptops and monitors), different Windows APIs return coordinates in different systems:

* UI Automation returns physical on DPI-aware processes, logical on others — yet another inconsistency.

The ratio between them is your DPI scale factor (e.g., 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2.0x).

The problem isn't just "some APIs return logical." It's that different APIs return different coordinate systems with no indication of which one you're getting. There's no flag, no header, no type annotation — just numbers that look identical but mean completely different things.

Three ways this breaks AI agents

1. API mismatch — Click tools accept physical coordinates, but common Windows APIs return logical:

What the AI wants to click: [Button at physical (1920, 1080)]
What GetWindowRect says:    [Button at logical  (1097, 617)]
Where the click lands:                          (1097, 617) in physical space
                                                 ^^^^^^^^^ WRONG - completely different spot

2. Screenshot mismatch — Screen captures are taken at logical resolution, but click tools expect physical coordinates. On a 3840x2400 display at 175% scaling, screenshots are 2194x1371 pixels. When a vision model (GPT-4o, Claude, CogAgent) looks at a screenshot and estimates "the button is at pixel (500, 300)," that's a logical coordinate. Clicking there in physical space misses by hundreds of pixels:

Vision model sees:    [Button at (500, 300) in screenshot]
Screenshot space:     Logical (2194x1371)
Click-Tool expects:   Physical (3840x2400)
Correct click:        (875, 525)  ← needs 1.75x conversion

3. Mixed sources within the same tool — Even a single tool can return both systems. For example, windows-mcp's State-Tool reports element coordinates in physical space (correct for clicking), but its screenshots are captured at logical resolution. An agent combining both — reading element positions from the accessibility tree and estimating positions from screenshots — will silently mix coordinate systems.

This isn't an edge case

• ~1 billion active Windows devices worldwide
• ~30-50% have DPI scaling above 100% — that's 300-500 million machines
• Windows auto-enables scaling >100% on most modern laptops (13-16" screens at 1080p+ get 125-150% by default)
• 47% of PC users now run resolutions above 1080p (Steam Hardware Survey) — 21% at 1440p, 5% at 2560x1600, 4.2% at 4K — and climbing
• The MCP ecosystem has 5,800+ servers and 97M+ monthly SDK downloads — every Windows desktop automation server will hit this

If you've ever watched an AI agent click confidently at exactly the wrong spot, DPI scaling is probably why.

The Solution

precision-desktop is a companion MCP server that sits alongside your desktop automation MCP (like windows-mcp) and provides:

1. Calibration — Measure the actual DPI scale factor on this specific machine using known screen landmarks
2. Coordinate conversion — Convert between physical and logical systems on demand
3. UI element finding — Locate elements by name via Windows UI Automation, returning physical coordinates ready for clicking
4. Health checks — Detect stale calibration, verify UI Automation availability, check companion MCP status
5. Patch awareness — Track which DPI-aware patches have been applied to the companion MCP

Tools

Quick Start

1. Install

Clone this repo and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/ikoskela/precision-desktop.git
cd precision-desktop
pip install -e .

2. Configure MCP

Add to your Claude Code MCP configuration (.mcp.json or settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "precision-desktop": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/precision-desktop/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Or if using Claude Desktop, add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "precision-desktop": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\precision-desktop\\server.py"]
    }
  }
}

3. Calibrate

The AI agent calibrates itself on first use. The flow:

1. Agent calls health_check — discovers calibration is missing
2. Agent gathers reference points — uses a coordinate reading tool (like MPos) or Move-Tool + Cursor.Position to get both physical and logical coordinates at 2+ known screen landmarks
3. Agent calls calibrate with the reference points — computes scale factors
4. Agent verifies — moves cursor to a known element, confirms it landed correctly, calls calibrate_verify

Calibration persists in state/calibration.json and only needs to be redone if DPI settings change or the display configuration changes.

Calibration Guide

What you need

Two coordinate readings for the same point:

• Physical coordinates — from Move-Tool, Click-Tool, or State-Tool (these operate in physical space)
• Logical coordinates — from [System.Windows.Forms.Cursor]::Position in PowerShell, or GetWindowRect API calls

Good calibration landmarks

• Start button (bottom-left of taskbar) — easy to locate precisely
• Date/time (bottom-right of taskbar) — anchors the opposite corner
• Minimize button of any maximized window — well-defined clickable target

Example calibration call

{
  "points": [
    {
      "physical_x": 38,
      "physical_y": 2365,
      "logical_x": 21,
      "logical_y": 1351,
      "label": "start_button"
    },
    {
      "physical_x": 3691,
      "physical_y": 2332,
      "logical_x": 2109,
      "logical_y": 1332,
      "label": "datetime"
    }
  ]
}

This computes a scale factor (here, ~1.75x) and persists it for future coordinate conversions.

Verification

After calibration, the agent should:

1. Use convert_coordinates to convert a known logical position to physical
2. Use Move-Tool to move the cursor there
3. Confirm the cursor is on the expected target
4. Call calibrate_verify with success: true

UI Element Finding

Beyond coordinate conversion, precision-desktop can locate elements directly by name using Windows UI Automation — no coordinates needed.

Agent: find_ui_element(element_name="Save", window_title="Notepad")
→ { "name": "Save", "center_x": 450, "center_y": 32, "control_type": "button", ... }
   (coordinates are physical, ready for Click-Tool)

This works for:

• Native Windows application controls (buttons, text fields, menus)
• Chrome extension popups and dialogs
• Overlay windows that State-Tool may not see
• Any UI element exposed via Windows UI Automation

Scoped search

You can scope searches to a specific window to avoid finding elements in the wrong application:

find_ui_element(element_name="Submit", window_title="My App")
find_ui_element(element_name="Close", window_handle=12345)

Discovery

Don't know the element name? Use list_ui_elements to see what's available:

list_ui_elements(window_title="Settings")
→ [{ "name": "General", "control_type": "tab item", ... },
   { "name": "Apply", "control_type": "button", ... }, ...]

Integration with windows-mcp

precision-desktop is designed to work alongside windows-mcp (or any MCP that provides desktop click/type/scroll tools).

The patching concept

Rather than forking windows-mcp, precision-desktop describes patch intents — what should change in the companion MCP and why. The AI agent reads these intents and applies version-appropriate patches itself.

Current patch intents:

• dpi_awareness — Add an optional coordinate_system parameter to Click-Tool and Move-Tool that auto-converts logical coordinates to physical
• find_and_click — Add an optional element_name parameter to Click-Tool that finds and clicks an element by name (no coordinates needed)

Use patch_status to check which patches are applied.

Environment variable