ai-os-mcp

A native macOS MCP server that gives AI assistants direct, semantic access to any running application's UI through the Accessibility API.

No screenshots. No coordinate math. No vision models. Pure structured data.

Traditional AI control:  Screenshot → Vision Model → Guess coordinates → Click → Miss
ai-os-mcp:               AX Tree → AI reads semantics → Acts by element reference → Perfect

What It Does

ai-os-mcp exposes the macOS Accessibility tree — the same structured data screen readers use — as MCP tools. Any MCP-compatible AI assistant (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.) can read the live UI of any running app and interact with it semantically.

Instead of: "There's a green rectangle at roughly x:450, y:320... maybe it's a button?"

The AI sees:

{
  "role": "AXButton",
  "title": "Play",
  "identifier": "play-button",
  "actions": ["AXPress"],
  "enabled": true
}

Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_running_apps | List all running GUI applications with name, PID, and bundle ID | | get_frontmost_app | Get the currently focused application | | get_ax_tree | Read the full semantic UI tree of any app — every button, label, text field, list item | | click_element | Find an element by title/ID/description and click it — no coordinates needed | | type_text | Type text into the focused element or a specific element found by search | | press_key | Send keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+C, Cmd+V, Return, Escape, etc.) |

Quick Start

Prerequisites

macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
Xcode 16.0+ (Swift 6.0)

Install

git clone https://github.com/charantejmandali18/ai-os-mcp.git
cd ai-os-mcp
./scripts/install.sh

This builds the binary, installs it to ~/.local/bin/ai-os-mcp, and configures Claude Desktop.

Manual Setup

Build:

swift build -c release

Add to Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ai-os-mcp": {
      "command": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/bin/ai-os-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Grant Accessibility Permission:

Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
Click + and navigate to the binary at ~/.local/bin/ai-os-mcp
Toggle it ON
Restart Claude Desktop

Usage Examples

Once configured, open Claude Desktop and try:

"What apps are running on my Mac?" → Calls get_running_apps, returns structured list

"Read the Spotify UI" → Calls get_ax_tree(app_name: "Spotify"), returns the full sidebar, player controls, playlists

"Click the 'Good Music' playlist in Spotify" → Calls click_element(app_name: "Spotify", search: "Good Music"), finds and clicks it

"Type 'hello world' in Notes" → Calls type_text(text: "hello world", app_name: "Notes")

"Copy the selected text" → Calls press_key(key: "c", modifiers: ["command"])

Tool Reference

get_ax_tree

Read an app's accessibility tree.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | app_name | string | yes | — | App name (case-insensitive, partial match) | | max_depth | int | no | 5 | Max tree depth | | max_children | int | no | 50 | Max children per node | | filter | string | no | — | Only return subtrees matching this text |

click_element

Find and click a UI element semantically.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | app_name | string | yes | — | Target app | | search | string | yes | — | Text to match against title, ID, or description | | role | string | no | — | Filter by AX role (e.g., AXButton) | | index | int | no | 0 | Which match to click if multiple found |

type_text

Type text into a UI element.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | text | string | yes | — | Text to type | | app_name | string | no | — | Bring this app to front first | | element_search | string | no | — | Find and focus this element first |

press_key

Send a keyboard shortcut.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | key | string | yes | — | Key name or single character | | modifiers | string[] | no | [] | command, shift, option, control | | app_name | string | no | — | Bring this app to front first |

Named keys: return, escape, tab, space, delete, up, down, left, right, f1–f12, home, end, pageup, pagedown

How It Works

Every macOS application maintains an Accessibility Tree — a live, structured representation of its entire UI. This tree was originally built for screen readers (VoiceOver), but it contains everything an AI needs to understand and interact with any application:

AXApplication "Spotify"
  └─ AXWindow "Spotify"
       ├─ AXGroup (sidebar)
       │    ├─ AXStaticText "Home"
       │    ├─ AXStaticText "Search"
       │    └─ AXStaticText "Good Music"    ← clickable
       ├─ AXGroup (now playing)
       │    ├─ AXStaticText "Song Title"
       │    ├─ AXButton "Play"              ← clickable
       │    └─ AXSlider "Volume"            ← adjustable
       └─ ...

ai-os-mcp reads this tree via the native AXUIElement C API (ApplicationServices framework) and exposes it over MCP. The AI reads the tree, understands the semantic structure, and acts on elements by reference — never by pixel coordinates.

Architecture

Claude Desktop / Code ←──stdio (JSON-RPC)──→ ai-os-mcp (Swift binary)
                                                    │
                                              ApplicationServices
                                                    │
                                              macOS AX API
                                                    │
                                              Any running app

Swift 6.0 with strict concurrency
MCP Swift SDK (modelcontextprotocol/swift-sdk v0.11.0)
stdio transport — Claude launches the binary as a subprocess
Non-sandboxed — required to inspect other apps' accessibility trees

vs. Screenshot-Based Approaches

| | ai-os-mcp | Screenshot + Vision | |---|---|---| | Speed | < 200ms | 1–3 seconds | | Accuracy | Exact (node reference) | Approximate (coordinate guess) | | Cost | Zero (no vision model) | Expensive (vision API call) | | Reliability | Deterministic | Probabilistic | | Data | Structured JSON | Raw pixels | | Works with | Any app with AX tree | Only visible UI |

Development

swift build          # Debug build
swift build -c release  # Release build
swift test           # Run tests

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Roadmap

[ ] scroll_element — Scroll within scroll areas
[ ] get_element_at_position — Reverse lookup from screen coordinates
[ ] watch_element — Subscribe to UI change notifications
[ ] drag_element — Drag and drop support
[ ] Tree caching for repeated reads
[ ] WebSocket transport for remote access

License

MIT — see LICENSE

MCP Servers