Drew's Mac Control MCP Server

An MCP server that lets an LLM inspect and drive macOS apps and the iOS Simulator through the Accessibility API — click, type, read the element hierarchy, capture screenshots, pick menu items, drive the Simulator.

This package is a thin wrapper. The server itself is a signed, notarized macOS app; the wheel carries that bundle and installs it to ~/Applications on first run, then hands off to the MacControlRelay binary inside it. Later releases replace the installed app automatically, so uvx upgrades keep the app in step with the wrapper.

Install

uvx drews-mac-control-mcp --setup

That installs the app, opens it so macOS prompts for permissions, and prints the client registration command.

Two approvals are needed, and both are easy to miss:

1. A new background item. Registering the host creates a login item, and macOS asks about it. Dismissing that prompt leaves the agent unapproved, so the host never starts and every tool call fails with nothing to explain why. If you dismissed it, enable MacControlMCP under System Settings ▸ General ▸ Login Items & Extensions.
2. Accessibility — and Screen Recording if you want screenshots — in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security.

Then register this wrapper as the MCP server command:

claude mcp add --scope user maccontrol -- "$(command -v uvx)" drews-mac-control-mcp
codex  mcp add maccontrol -- "$(command -v uvx)" drews-mac-control-mcp

That is what keeps it current. On every launch the wrapper checks the app installed in ~/Applications against the version this wheel carries and replaces it if they differ. uvx supplies the other half: it caches PyPI's index for the ten minutes PyPI asks for and re-resolves once that lapses, so a new release arrives on its own — within minutes, not necessarily on the very next call. uvx --refresh drews-mac-control-mcp forces it immediately.

Pointing a client straight at ~/Applications/MacControlMCP.app/Contents/Helpers/MacControlRelay also works, but it pins you to whatever is installed today and silently forfeits every future update.

Uninstall

uvx drews-mac-control-mcp --uninstall

Removes the host agent's registration first, then the app. That order is the point: deleting the bundle on its own does not clear its registration, which leaves a login item pointing at an app that is gone and only findable by hand in System Settings. If the registration cannot be removed, nothing is deleted — pressing on is exactly what strands it.

Requirements

macOS 14 or later. The wheel is tagged macosx_14_0_universal2, so pip and uv decline to install it anywhere else.

Source

https://github.com/drewster99/drews-mac-control-mcp — including how to build and install from a checkout instead, which needs Xcode and your own Developer ID.

License

Apache License 2.0.