computer-control

This MCP server provides a Python-based computer control interface. It exposes tools to manipulate the mouse, simulate keyboard input, capture screenshots (with optional OCR), and manage windows. The server runs via uvx (Python) and downloads the underlying Python package computer-control-mcp on first run. Once started, you can issue commands through the API exposed by the package to perform actions such as moving or clicking the mouse, typing text, taking screenshots (with optional OCR extraction), listing and activating windows, and performing drag-and-drop operations. The feature set is designed to resemble automated UI control utilities while keeping external dependencies minimal.

To use, install via uvx computer-control-mcp@latest (or install with pip and run the executable name), then interact with the available tools through the provided API. You’ll typically start the server in your environment and call methods like take_screenshot, type_text, click_screen, and activate_window to automate GUI tasks. The server also supports configuration options via environment variables (for screenshot storage and WGC behavior) to tailor behavior to your OS and windowing environment.

Prerequisites:

• Python installed (recommended 3.8+)
• uv (uvx) package manager or pip
• Basic access to install Python packages from PyPI

Option A — Install and run via uvx (recommended):

1. Install or upgrade uvx: pip install uvx --upgrade
2. Start the MCP server (this will download computer-control-mcp on first run): uvx computer-control-mcp@latest

Option B — Install in development and run locally:

1. Ensure Python is installed
2. Install the package in editable mode: pip install -e .
3. Run the server (equivalent to uvx computer-control-mcp@latest): computer-control-mcp

Notes:

• If you want to force usage of the latest local code, use the development route rather than the uvx alias.
• For Windows, you may need additional permissions or firewall rules to allow GUI automation.

Testing:

• You can run tests with: python -m pytest

Tips and common questions:

• The environment variable COMPUTER_CONTROL_MCP_SCREENSHOT_DIR lets you redirect where screenshots are saved. If the directory does not exist, the server will fall back to the default downloads location.
• To avoid black screens on GPU-accelerated Windows apps, enable Windows Graphics Capture (WGC) for specific windows by setting COMPUTER_CONTROL_MCP_WGC_PATTERNS to a comma-separated list of patterns that match window titles (e.g., obs, discord, game, steam).
• If you’re integrating with other automation tools, you can query and control windows using list_windows and activate_window, enabling automation workflows that require foreground focus.
• The note on first-run download time applies to the initial setup; subsequent runs will be faster as dependencies are cached.
• This MCP is Python-based and uses PyAutoGUI and OCR tooling under the hood; ensure you have the necessary system permissions for screen capture and input simulation on your platform.