developer-tools

Desktop Automation

by tanob

Automate desktop tasks using RobotJS for screen capture, keyboard, and mouse control—seamless integration with power aut

Enables desktop automation with RobotJS for screen capture, keyboard input, and mouse control, allowing direct interaction with desktop applications without manual intervention.

github stars

26

Works with any desktop applicationRequires system permissions for screen/input control1MB response limit affects high-res screenshots

best for

  • / Automating repetitive desktop tasks
  • / Testing desktop applications
  • / AI assistants controlling desktop software
  • / Screen-based workflow automation

capabilities

  • / Capture desktop screenshots
  • / Control mouse movement and clicks
  • / Type text and press keyboard keys
  • / Get screen dimensions
  • / Automate interactions with any desktop application

what it does

Controls your desktop programmatically by capturing screenshots, moving the mouse, clicking, and typing text. Lets AI assistants interact directly with any desktop application.

about

Desktop Automation is a community-built MCP server published by tanob that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Automate desktop tasks using RobotJS for screen capture, keyboard, and mouse control—seamless integration with power aut It is categorized under developer tools.

how to install

You can install Desktop Automation in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.

license

MIT

Desktop Automation is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.

readme

MCP Desktop Automation

A Model Context Protocol server that provides desktop automation capabilities using RobotJS and screenshot capabilities. This server enables LLMs to control mouse movements, keyboard inputs, and capture screenshots of the desktop environment.

Configuration to use Desktop Automation Server

Here's how to configure Claude Desktop to use the MCP Desktop Automation server:

NPX

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-automation": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-desktop-automation"]
    }
  }
}

Permissions

This server requires system-level permissions to:

  • Capture screenshots of your screen
  • Control mouse movement and clicks
  • Simulate keyboard input

When first running Claude Desktop with this server, you may need to grant these permissions in your operating system's security settings.

Limitations

While this server works with various MCP clients, it has been primarily tested with Claude Desktop.

Important: The current implementation has a 1MB response size limit. For screen captures, this means:

  • High-resolution screenshots may exceed this limit and fail
  • Testing has shown 800x600 resolution works reliably
  • Consider reducing screen resolution or capturing specific screen areas if you encounter issues

Requirements

  • Node.js (>=14.x)

Components

Tools

  • get_screen_size

    • Gets the screen dimensions
    • No input parameters required
  • screen_capture

    • Captures the current screen content
    • No input parameters required
  • keyboard_press

    • Presses a keyboard key or key combination
    • Inputs:
      • key (string, required): Key to press (e.g., 'enter', 'a', 'control')
      • modifiers (array of strings, optional): Modifier keys to hold while pressing the key. Possible values: "control", "shift", "alt", "command"
  • keyboard_type

    • Types text at the current cursor position
    • Input: text (string, required): Text to type
  • mouse_click

    • Performs a mouse click
    • Inputs:
      • button (string, optional, default: "left"): Mouse button to click. Possible values: "left", "right", "middle"
      • double (boolean, optional, default: false): Whether to perform a double click
  • mouse_move

    • Moves the mouse to specified coordinates
    • Inputs:
      • x (number, required): X coordinate
      • y (number, required): Y coordinate

Resources

The server provides access to screenshots:

  1. Screenshot List (screenshot://list)

    • Lists all available screenshots by name
  2. Screenshot Content (screenshot://{id})

    • PNG images of captured screenshots
    • Accessible via the screenshot ID (timestamp-based naming)

Key Features

  • Desktop mouse control
  • Keyboard input simulation
  • Screen size detection
  • Screenshot capabilities
  • Simple JSON response format

License

This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of the MIT License. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in the project repository.

FAQ

What is the Desktop Automation MCP server?
Desktop Automation is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.
How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?
Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.
How are reviews shown for Desktop Automation?
This profile displays 10 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.5 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.
MCP server reviews

Ratings

4.510 reviews
  • Shikha Mishra· Oct 10, 2024

    Desktop Automation is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.

  • Piyush G· Sep 9, 2024

    We evaluated Desktop Automation against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.

  • Chaitanya Patil· Aug 8, 2024

    Useful MCP listing: Desktop Automation is the kind of server we cite when onboarding engineers to host + tool permissions.

  • Sakshi Patil· Jul 7, 2024

    Desktop Automation reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.

  • Ganesh Mohane· Jun 6, 2024

    I recommend Desktop Automation for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.

  • Oshnikdeep· May 5, 2024

    Strong directory entry: Desktop Automation surfaces stars and publisher context so we could sanity-check maintenance before adopting.

  • Dhruvi Jain· Apr 4, 2024

    Desktop Automation has been reliable for tool-calling workflows; the MCP profile page is a good permalink for internal docs.

  • Rahul Santra· Mar 3, 2024

    According to our notes, Desktop Automation benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.

  • Pratham Ware· Feb 2, 2024

    We wired Desktop Automation into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.

  • Yash Thakker· Jan 1, 2024

    Desktop Automation is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.