gnome

This GNOME MCP Server exposes a Model Context Protocol interface for controlling various GNOME desktop features via MCP clients. It is built as a Rust binary installed with cargo and runs as a local server that communicates over stdio with compatible MCP clients. To use it, install the server, ensure the gnome-mcp-server binary is in your PATH, and configure your MCP client to connect via the stdio transport with the command set to gnome-mcp-server and no extra arguments. The server enables a range of tools and resources for calendar, tasks, contacts, audio, media control, quick settings, screenshots, window management, and keyring interactions, which you can selectively enable or customize through a configuration file. Refer to the example configuration to tailor behavior for your environment and security requirements.

Prerequisites:

• Rust and Cargo installed on your system (to build from source or install via cargo).

Installation steps:

1. Build and install the MCP server from source:

   cargo install --path .

2. Ensure the binary is accessible in your PATH. The resulting executable is typically installed at ~/.cargo/bin/gnome-mcp-server.

3. Verify installation:

   which gnome-mcp-server gnome-mcp-server --version

4. Prepare a configuration file if you want to customize behavior (see Configuration section in README). By default, the server will use the built-in defaults unless you provide an override via gnome-mcp-config.json in one of the recognized locations.

Notes:

• The server is a native Rust binary; no additional runtime dependencies are required beyond the Rust toolchain during build and the runtime environment for GNOME.
• If you install system-wide, ensure the binary has appropriate permissions and is accessible by the user running MCP clients.

Tips and notes:

• By default, all tools and resources are enabled. Create a configuration file to customize behavior; empty objects use defaults. See the configuration sections in the README for exact fields and examples.
• Tool availability depends on your GNOME environment and permissions. Some actions, like advanced window management, may require GNOME Shell unsafe mode. If you enable such features, you need to set GNOME Shell unsafe mode to true (Alt+F2 → lg → global.context.unsafe_mode = true).
• The configuration file locations supported are:
  • ./gnome-mcp-config.json (current directory)
  • ~/.config/gnome-mcp/config.json (user config)
  • /etc/gnome-mcp/config.json (system config)
• Typical transport for MCP clients is stdio. When configuring a client, specify transport: stdio and the command as gnome-mcp-server with no additional arguments.
• If you ever need to disable a resource or tool, omit the corresponding section from the config; empty objects enable defaults, while omitting fully disables a feature.