erius-phone-mcp

An MCP server that turns your ERIUS PHONE device into native tools for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any other MCP client. An ERIUS PHONE device is a real Android phone or tablet dedicated to your agent. Once this server is connected, your agent can:

• list its devices
• read the screen as an accessibility tree or a screenshot
• tap, long-press, type, swipe and scroll
• launch and stop apps, open URLs and send intents
• install and uninstall APKs
• pull crash logs

The agent drives the device directly. You don't write any glue code.

Early access: this package is pre-1.0 (0.1.0). Tool names and arguments may still change before 1.0.

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• An ERIUS PHONE API key. Sign up at https://eriusphone.com; see "Getting an API key" below.

Install

Option A: uvx (no install step). If you have uv, your MCP client can launch the server with uvx erius-phone-mcp. uv fetches the package and keeps it in its own environment. The client configs below show this form.

Option B: pip, into its own virtual environment so its dependencies don't clash with your other Python projects:

python3 -m venv ~/.venvs/erius-phone-mcp
~/.venvs/erius-phone-mcp/bin/pip install erius-phone-mcp

This installs an erius-phone-mcp command at ~/.venvs/erius-phone-mcp/bin/erius-phone-mcp. Use that absolute path as the command in your client config: GUI apps such as Claude Desktop and Cursor usually don't see your venv's PATH. python -m erius_phone_mcp does the same thing as running the command.

Configuration

The server is configured entirely through environment variables:

Variable	Required	What it is
ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY	yes	Your ERIUS PHONE API key. Every request is authenticated with it and scoped to your account.
ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE	no	The device id to use when a tool call doesn't name one (e.g. vanilla). Without it, the agent passes device on each call; list_devices shows the ids.
ERIUS_PHONE_API_URL	no	API base URL. Default https://api.eriusphone.com; only set it if we gave you a different one.
ERIUS_PHONE_TIMEOUT	no	HTTP timeout per request, in seconds. Default 30.

Getting an API key

Request access at https://eriusphone.com. During early access the ERIUS PHONE team sets up each account by hand. You'll receive your API key and device id(s) directly from us. If you signed up and haven't heard back, email info@eriusphone.com. The same key signs you in to the dashboard at https://eriusphone.com/dashboard/, which shows your devices live.

Treat the key like a password: anyone who has it can control your device.

Important: MCP clients start this server as a subprocess, and they generally do not pass along variables you export in your shell. Put the variables in the client's env block, as shown below.

Add it to your MCP client

In every example, replace the key and device id with your own. If you installed with pip instead of using uvx, replace "command": "uvx", "args": ["erius-phone-mcp"] with "command": "/home/you/.venvs/erius-phone-mcp/bin/erius-phone-mcp".

Claude Code

claude mcp add erius-phone \
  -e ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY=your-api-key \
  -e ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE=your-device-id \
  -- uvx erius-phone-mcp

Add -s user to make the server available in all your projects, or -s project to write it to a shared .mcp.json. Don't commit your key to a shared .mcp.json. Claude Code expands ${VAR} references in that file, so you can keep the key in an environment variable instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "erius-phone": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["erius-phone-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY": "${ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY}",
        "ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE": "your-device-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run /mcp inside Claude Code to check that erius-phone is connected.

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config). On macOS it's in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/; on Windows it's in %APPDATA%\Claude\.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "erius-phone": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["erius-phone-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE": "your-device-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

If Claude Desktop can't find uvx, put its absolute path in command (which uvx). Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop after editing.

Cursor

Put the same mcpServers block in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use it in all projects, or in .cursor/mcp.json for one project. Then enable erius-phone under Cursor Settings → MCP.

Any other MCP client

The server speaks MCP over stdio. Point your client at uvx erius-phone-mcp, or at the erius-phone-mcp executable, and pass the environment variables above.

Tools

Every tool that acts on a device takes an optional device argument. If you leave it out, the tool uses ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE.

Account and devices

Tool	Description
whoami	Which account and key this server is using, and the device ids it can access. A quick way to check the key works.
list_devices	Every device your key can access, with live status (booted, Android version, screen size).
get_device	Full status of one device, including the app currently in the foreground.

Seeing the screen

Tool	Description
snapshot	Accessibility-tree snapshot of the current screen: every visible element with its text, role and a ref you can pass to tap/type/scroll. Refs reset on every snapshot.
screenshot	PNG of the screen at native resolution, returned as MCP image content, so the model sees the screen directly.
foreground	Just the foreground app (package, activity) and whether a crash dialog is showing.
wait_for_text	Wait until some text appears on screen, up to timeout_ms (max 120000). Returns the snapshot it saw.

Acting on the screen

Tool	Description
tap	Tap by ref, by visible text/content_desc, or at raw x,y pixels.
long_press	Long-press by ref, by text/content_desc, or at x,y (optional hold time ms).
type_text	Type into a field. Can tap a ref/text_target first, clear the field, and press Enter after.
press_key	back, home, enter, delete, tab, escape, up, down, left, right, space, power, volup, voldown, recent, menu, wakeup, or a numeric keycode.
swipe	Swipe between two points in device pixels.
scroll	Scroll a container up/down/left/right. Pass the ref of the ScrollView/List itself, not of a row inside it.

Apps

Tool	Description
launch_app	Launch an installed app by package name (e.g. com.android.settings).
open_url	Open an http/https/market URL, optionally in a specific app.
send_intent	Start an activity with any intent action, e.g. android.settings.WIFI_SETTINGS, with optional data, package, component and extras.
stop_app	Force-stop an app.
list_apps	Installed apps; third_party_only=True for user-installed ones only.
install_apk	Upload and install an APK from a file on the machine running this server. Returns package name, version, and whether the install succeeded.
uninstall_app	Uninstall an app by package name.
get_crash_log	The device's crash log buffer (logcat -b crash). Use it after an app crashes to see the real stack trace.

Quick example

Once the server is connected, ask your agent in plain language, e.g. "List my ERIUS devices, go to the home screen, and open Contacts." Here's what happens under the hood. The outputs below are real, lightly trimmed.

1. Find your device. The agent calls list_devices:

{"devices": [
  {"id": "vanilla", "description": "redroid Android 13, no Google services", "state": "device",
   "bootCompleted": true, "android": "13", "sdk": 33, "screen": {"width": 720, "height": 1280}},
  {"id": "tablet1", "form": "tablet", "description": "redroid Android 13 (vanilla, tablet)", "state": "device",
   "bootCompleted": true, "android": "13", "sdk": 33, "screen": {"width": 1600, "height": 2560}}
]}

2. Go home and look at the screen. press_key(key="home", device="vanilla") returns {"ok": true}, then snapshot(device="vanilla") returns the foreground app plus this tree:

- Group
  - ScrollView [ref=1]
    - Group
      - AppWidgetHostView (Search)
        ...
      - Text [ref=4] "Gallery" (Gallery)
  - View (Home)
  - Group
    - Text [ref=5] "Contacts" (Contacts)
    - Text [ref=6] "WebView Browser Tester" (WebView Browser Tester)
    - Text [ref=7] "Camera" (Camera)

3. Tap something. tap(device="vanilla", ref="5"), tap(device="vanilla", text="Contacts") and tap(device="vanilla", x=102, y=1116) all open Contacts and return {"ok": true}. After any action, take a fresh snapshot, because refs are only valid until the next one.

4. Check the result. foreground(device="vanilla") now reports the Contacts app, and screenshot(device="vanilla") returns the screen as an image your agent sees directly.

Installing an APK for QA works the same way:

install_apk(device="vanilla", apk_path="/path/to/app.apk")
→ {"ok": true, "package": "com.erius.dashtest", "versionName": "1.0", "label": "ERIUS Dash Test",
   "adbOutput": "Performing Streamed Install\nSuccess", "ms": 94, ...}

Tips and limits

• Errors are passed through. If the API refuses an action, the tool call fails with the API's error code and message, e.g. HTTP 404: SelectorNotFound ... nothing on screen matches {"text": "..."} or HTTP 422: no_launcher_activity. The agent can read the message and adjust.
• Typing needs a ready field. Keystrokes sent while a field is still opening are lost. If tapping a field opens a new screen (as Android Settings' search does), tap it, wait with snapshot/wait_for_text, then call type_text without a target. Check the result with snapshot.
• ASCII-only typing. type_text supports printable ASCII only (an adb limitation): no emoji, accented characters or non-Latin scripts.
• Scroll by container. scroll needs the ref of the scrollable container (a ScrollView/List line in the snapshot). If the container has no ref, use swipe.
• Screenshots cost context. A phone screenshot (720×1280) is ~50–700 KB; a tablet screenshot (1600×2560) can be several MB. Prefer snapshot (text, much smaller) and take screenshots only when you need pixels.
• install_apk reads a local file. The path is on the machine running erius-phone-mcp, not on the phone. The APK is streamed from disk and uploaded in full on each call.
• One server process = one API key. To use several accounts, add several server entries with different names and keys.
• Rate limits. The API allows about 30 requests per second per IP and queues at most 8 requests per device; beyond that you get HTTP 429.

Troubleshooting

• ERIUS_PHONE_API_KEY is not set: the variable didn't reach the server process. Put it in the client's env block, not just your shell. The server also prints a warning about this on stderr at startup, which shows up in your client's MCP logs.
• no device id given and ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE is not set: pass device= in the tool call or set ERIUS_PHONE_DEFAULT_DEVICE. list_devices shows your ids.
• HTTP 401: the key is wrong or revoked. HTTP 403: the device id doesn't exist or isn't on your account. Run whoami to see which devices your key can use.
• HTTP 503 device_offline: the device is restarting. Retry shortly.
• could not reach the ERIUS PHONE API at ...: the URL is wrong, or the API is unreachable from your machine. Check ERIUS_PHONE_API_URL, and raise ERIUS_PHONE_TIMEOUT if you're on a slow link.

License

MIT. The full license text is in the LICENSE file shipped with the package.