marlow-mcp 0.16.0

AI that works beside you, not instead of you. Windows desktop automation MCP server with background mode, security-first design, and zero telemetry.

Marlow

AI that works beside you, not instead of you.

Quick Start • Features • Security • vs Competition • Español

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The Problem

Existing Windows automation MCP servers take over your mouse and keyboard. You stop working so the AI can work.

The Solution

Marlow works in parallel with you. Background mode on a second monitor. Real-time audio. CDP automation for Electron apps. Security from commit #1. And yes, it speaks Spanish.

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Quick Start

pip install marlow-mcp

Add to your MCP client config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "marlow": {
      "command": "marlow"
    }
  }
}

Restart your MCP client. Done.

Voice Control: Press Ctrl+Shift+M to talk to Marlow. Ask "What can you do?" to get started. No typing needed.

Optional extras

# Voice features (mic capture, Whisper transcription, system audio)
pip install marlow-mcp[audio]

# OCR via Tesseract (requires Tesseract binary installed separately)
pip install marlow-mcp[ocr]

# Everything
pip install marlow-mcp[audio,ocr]

Note: The keyboard library requires administrator privileges on Windows for global hotkeys (kill switch, voice hotkey). Run your MCP client as admin, or the kill switch (Ctrl+Shift+Escape) and voice hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+M) won't register.

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Features

88 MCP Tools

Category	Tools	Description
Vision	get_ui_tree	Read any window's UI structure — 0 tokens, adaptive depth per framework
Capture	take_screenshot	Screen, window, or region capture
Mouse	click	Click by element name (silent invoke) or coordinates
Keyboard	type_text, press_key, hotkey	Type and shortcuts — silent mode for Notepad Win11
Windows	list_windows, focus_window, manage_window	Full window management
System	run_command, open_application, clipboard, system_info	Shell, apps, clipboard
Safety	kill_switch	Emergency stop — halt everything instantly
OCR	ocr_region, smart_find	Extract text from images; UIA -> OCR -> screenshot escalation
Background	setup_background_mode, move_to_agent_screen, move_to_user_screen, get_agent_screen_state, set_agent_screen_only	Dual-monitor agent workspace
Audio	capture_system_audio, capture_mic_audio, transcribe_audio, download_whisper_model	WASAPI loopback + mic + Whisper CPU
Voice	listen_for_command, speak, speak_and_listen, get_voice_hotkey_status, toggle_voice_overlay	Voice control with edge-tts neural voices
COM	run_app_script	Script Office, Photoshop, Adobe — sandboxed, invisible by default
Visual Diff	visual_diff, visual_diff_compare	Before/after pixel comparison
Memory	memory_save, memory_recall, memory_delete, memory_list	Persistent key-value store across sessions
Clipboard	clipboard_history	Clipboard monitoring with search
Scraper	scrape_url	Web scraping (httpx + BeautifulSoup), private IPs blocked
Extensions	extensions_list, extensions_install, extensions_uninstall, extensions_audit	Plugin system with sandboxed permissions
Watcher	watch_folder, unwatch_folder, get_watch_events, list_watchers	File system monitoring (watchdog)
Scheduler	schedule_task, list_scheduled_tasks, remove_task, get_task_history	Recurring tasks with safety checks
Adaptive	get_suggestions, accept_suggestion, dismiss_suggestion	Detects repetitive patterns, suggests automation
Workflows	workflow_record, workflow_stop, workflow_run, workflow_list, workflow_delete	Record and replay tool sequences
Self-Improve	get_error_journal, clear_error_journal	Learns from failures per tool + app
Smart Wait	wait_for_element, wait_for_text, wait_for_window, wait_for_idle	Intelligent polling with timeout
CDP	cdp_discover, cdp_connect, cdp_disconnect, cdp_list, cdp_send, cdp_click, cdp_type, cdp_key_combo, cdp_screenshot, cdp_evaluate, cdp_get_dom, cdp_click_selector, cdp_ensure, cdp_restart_confirmed, cdp_get_knowledge_base	Chrome DevTools Protocol for Electron/CEF apps — 100% invisible
Focus	restore_user_focus	Manually restore focus if lost
Help	get_capabilities, get_version, get_inspiration	Tool catalog, version info, and tips to get started

Background Mode (Silent Methods)

Marlow tries silent methods first — clicking, typing, and interacting with apps without taking your mouse or keyboard:

invoke()        -> Click buttons without moving mouse
SetValue()      -> Type without keyboard simulation
select()        -> Pick menu items silently
toggle()        -> Check/uncheck boxes silently

If silent methods don't work for an app, Marlow falls back to real input automatically.

CDP Manager (Electron/CEF Apps)

100% invisible automation for Electron apps (VS Code, Discord, Slack, Figma, etc.) via Chrome DevTools Protocol:

• Auto-discovery of CDP ports across running apps
• Invisible input — clicks and typing via JavaScript injection, not mouse/keyboard
• Auto-restart with user confirmation — proposes restart with --remote-debugging-port
• Knowledge base — remembers successful CDP configurations per app

Adaptive UIA Tree

get_ui_tree auto-detects the UI framework per window and adjusts tree depth:

Framework	Depth	Examples
WinUI3, UWP, Win32, WPF	15	Notepad, Explorer, Settings
WinForms	12	Legacy .NET apps
Chromium, Edge WebView2	8	Chrome, Edge, Teams
Electron, CEF	5	VS Code, Discord, Slack

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Security — Our #1 Differentiator

Built from commit #1. Not 34 patches later.

Layer	What it does
Kill Switch	Ctrl+Shift+Escape stops ALL automation instantly
Confirmation Mode	Every action requires approval (default for new users)
Blocked Apps	Banking, password managers, auth apps — never accessed
Blocked Commands	format, del /f, rm -rf, shutdown — always blocked
Data Sanitization	Credit cards, SSNs, passwords — redacted before sending to AI
Zero Telemetry	No data ever leaves your machine. Ever.
Encrypted Logs	Full audit trail with AES-256 encryption
Focus Guard	Never steals your active window — save/restore on every tool call
Rate Limiter	Max 30 actions/minute, thread-safe
Extension Sandbox	Extensions declare permissions in manifest, enforced at runtime

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vs Competition

Feature	Windows-MCP	MCPControl	sbroenne	Marlow
Desktop control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tools	~10	~8	~12	88
Silent/background methods	No	No	No	Yes
CDP (Electron apps)	No	No	No	Yes
Kill switch	No	No	No	Yes
Data sanitization	No	No	No	Yes
Confirmation mode	No	No	No	Yes
Blocked apps list	No	No	No	Yes
Voice control + TTS	No	No	No	Yes
Workflow record/replay	No	No	No	Yes
Extension system	No	No	No	Yes
Telemetry	Unclear	No	No	Never
Encrypted logs	No	No	No	Yes
Spanish docs	No	No	No	Yes

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Configuration

Marlow creates ~/.marlow/config.json on first run:

{
  "security": {
    "confirmation_mode": "all",
    "kill_switch_enabled": true,
    "max_actions_per_minute": 30
  },
  "automation": {
    "default_backend": "uia",
    "prefer_silent_methods": true,
    "agent_screen_only": true
  },
  "language": "auto"
}

Confirmation Modes

Mode	Behavior	Recommended for
all	Every action needs approval	New users (default)
sensitive	Only destructive/sensitive actions	Regular users
autonomous	No confirmation needed	Power users

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Development

git clone https://github.com/jarb02/marlow.git
cd marlow
pip install -e ".[audio,ocr]"
python -m pytest tests/ -v

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License

MIT — Free and open source. See LICENSE.

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Security Policy

Found a vulnerability? Please report it responsibly. See SECURITY.md.

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Español

Marlow — AI que trabaja a tu lado, no en tu lugar.

Los servidores MCP de automatizacion para Windows existentes toman control de tu mouse y teclado. Tu dejas de trabajar para que el AI trabaje.

Marlow trabaja en paralelo contigo. Modo background en segundo monitor. Audio en tiempo real. Automatizacion CDP para apps Electron. Seguridad desde el primer commit. Y si, habla español.

Instalacion rapida

pip install marlow-mcp

# Voice features (captura de audio, transcripcion Whisper)
pip install marlow-mcp[audio]

Control por voz: Presiona Ctrl+Shift+M para hablar con Marlow. Pregunta "Que puedes hacer?" para empezar.

88 Herramientas MCP

Vision, captura, mouse, teclado, ventanas, sistema, seguridad, OCR, background dual-monitor, audio, voz, COM automation, visual diff, memoria persistente, clipboard, scraper, extensiones, watcher, scheduler, patrones adaptativos, workflows, auto-mejora, esperas inteligentes, CDP para apps Electron, y mas.

Seguridad — Nuestro Diferenciador #1

• Kill Switch: Ctrl+Shift+Escape detiene TODO inmediatamente
• Modo Confirmacion: Cada accion requiere aprobacion (por defecto)
• Apps Bloqueadas: Bancos, gestores de contraseñas — nunca se acceden
• Comandos Bloqueados: Comandos destructivos siempre bloqueados
• Sanitizacion de Datos: Tarjetas de credito, SSN, contraseñas — redactados antes de enviar al AI
• Cero Telemetria: Tus datos nunca salen de tu maquina. Nunca.

Issues en español?

Si! Los issues en español son bienvenidos. Usa la etiqueta español al crear tu issue.

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Marlow — Your friendly ghost in the machine