MacOS Screen View & Control MCP Server

MCP Server to screenshot and control macOS windows (made for Cursor)

Local serverstdioPython

What is the MacOS Screen View & Control MCP server?

MCP Server to screenshot and control macOS windows (made for Cursor). That is what the macos screen view & control mcp server brings to an AI assistant: the same capability, reachable through the Model Context Protocol rather than a separate app or dashboard.

The short version

A Model Context Protocol server that provides window screenshot capabilities. This server enables LLMs to capture screenshots of specific windows on macOS, either by window title or window ID.

Getting it running

Installation goes through your MCP client rather than a global install: point it at @modelcontextprotocol/inspector on npm and it is fetched when the client starts. The copy-paste blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are further down this page.

The tools it exposes

The server publishes 7 tools. What each one is for:

  • capture_window_screenshot — Captures a screenshot of a specific window by its title or ID
  • list_windows — Lists all visible windows
  • find_window — Finds a window by title or owner name
  • send_key — Sends a keyboard key press event to the active window
  • type_text — Types a sequence of text characters
  • Examples — The Examples tool exposed by this server
  • Configure — The Configure tool exposed by this server

Things to watch

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

How it compares

Plenty of browser automation servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. MacOS Screen View & Control's toolset — capture_window_screenshot, list_windows, find_window and 4 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by jhead; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
capture_window_screenshotCaptures a screenshot of a specific window by its title or ID
list_windowsLists all visible windows
find_windowFinds a window by title or owner name
send_keySends a keyboard key press event to the active window
type_textTypes a sequence of text characters
ExamplesThe Examples tool exposed by this server.
ConfigureThe Configure tool exposed by this server.

How to install the MacOS Screen View & Control MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "macos-screen": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/inspector"]
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Example prompts to try

  • Use MacOS Screen View & Control to capture window screenshot.
  • Use MacOS Screen View & Control to list windows.
  • Use MacOS Screen View & Control to find window.

Frequently asked questions

It provides `capture_window_screenshot`, `list_windows`, `find_window`, `send_key`, and `type_text`.