Tauri Plugin: Model Context Protocol (MCP)

A Tauri plugin and MCP server that allow AI agents such as Cursor and Claude Code to interact with and debug your Tauri application through screenshots, DOM access, input simulation, and more.

Install

npm (guest-js bindings)

npm install tauri-plugin-mcp

MCP Server CLI

npm install -g tauri-plugin-mcp-server
# or run directly
npx tauri-plugin-mcp-server

Rust (Cargo)

Coming soon to crates.io. For now, use a git dependency:

[dependencies]
tauri-plugin-mcp = { git = "https://github.com/P3GLEG/tauri-plugin-mcp" }

Tools

The MCP server exposes 10 high-level tools to AI agents:

Tool	Description
take_screenshot	Captures a screenshot of an application window. Saves full image to disk with small thumbnail inline (optimized for token efficiency).
query_page	Inspects the current page. Modes: map (structured element refs), html (raw DOM), state (URL/title/scroll/viewport), find_element (CSS pixel coordinates for clicking), app_info (app metadata, windows, monitors).
click	Clicks at x/y coordinates or via selector (ref, id, class, tag, text). Selector-based clicks auto-resolve element position.
type_text	Types text into the page. Supports a fields array for bulk form fill, selector targeting, or typing into the focused element. Works with inputs, textareas, contentEditable, React, Lexical, and Slate.
mouse_action	Non-click mouse actions: hover, scroll (by direction/amount/to element/to top/bottom), drag (start to end coordinates).
navigate	Webview navigation: goto (URL), back/forward (with optional delta), reload.
execute_js	Runs arbitrary JavaScript in the webview. Returns the result of the last statement or promise.
manage_storage	localStorage operations (get/set/remove/clear/keys) and cookie management (get/clear).
manage_window	Window control (list/focus/minimize/maximize/close/position/size/fullscreen), zoom, devtools, and webview state management.
wait_for	Waits for a condition: text appearing/disappearing, element visible/hidden/attached/detached. Useful after async content loads.

Setup

1. Register the plugin in your Tauri app

Only include the MCP plugin in development builds:

#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
{
    builder = builder.plugin(tauri_plugin_mcp::init_with_config(
        tauri_plugin_mcp::PluginConfig::new("APPLICATION_NAME".to_string())
            .start_socket_server(true)
            // IPC socket (default — recommended)
            .socket_path("/tmp/tauri-mcp.sock")
            // Or TCP socket
            // .tcp_localhost(4000)
            // For multi-webview apps where the webview label differs from the window label
            // .default_webview_label("preview".to_string())
            // Optional auth token for TCP connections
            // .auth_token("my-secret-token".to_string())
    ));
}

2. Configure your AI agent

IPC Mode (default, recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["tauri-plugin-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

With a custom socket path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["tauri-plugin-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_MCP_IPC_PATH": "/custom/path/to/socket"
      }
    }
  }
}

TCP Mode

For Docker, remote debugging, or when IPC doesn't work:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["tauri-plugin-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_MCP_CONNECTION_TYPE": "tcp",
        "TAURI_MCP_TCP_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "TAURI_MCP_TCP_PORT": "4000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Make sure your Tauri app uses the same connection mode:

.plugin(tauri_plugin_mcp::init_with_config(
    tauri_plugin_mcp::PluginConfig::new("MyApp".to_string())
        .tcp_localhost(4000)
))

Building from source

pnpm install
pnpm run build          # JS guest bindings
cargo build --release   # Rust plugin

# MCP server
cd mcp-server-ts
pnpm install && pnpm build

Architecture

AI Agent (Claude, Cursor, etc.)
    ↕ MCP protocol (stdio)
MCP Server (tauri-plugin-mcp-server)
    ↕ IPC socket or TCP
Tauri Plugin (Rust)
    ↕ Tauri events with correlation IDs
Guest JS (webview)
    ↕ DOM APIs
Your Application

• Rust plugin (src/) — Async socket server, command routing, native input injection (macOS), screenshot capture
• Guest JS (guest-js/) — DOM interaction, element resolution, form filling, event handling
• MCP Server (mcp-server-ts/) — Translates MCP tool calls into socket commands

Security

• Auth token support for TCP connections (constant-time comparison)
• Token file written with 0o600 permissions, deleted on shutdown
• Non-loopback TCP without auth token is rejected
• Stale socket cleanup on startup

Platform notes

• macOS: Native NSEvent injection — no Accessibility permissions needed
• Windows/Linux: JS-based input fallback (isTrusted=false, ~80% coverage)
• Screenshots: macOS/Windows use native capture; Linux uses xcap

Troubleshooting

1. "Connection refused" — Ensure your Tauri app is running and the socket server started. Check that both sides use the same connection mode (IPC or TCP).

2. "Socket file not found" (IPC) — Check that the socket path exists (look in /tmp on macOS/Linux). Try TCP mode as an alternative.

3. "Permission denied" — On Unix, check file permissions for the socket. TCP mode avoids file permission issues.

4. Testing your setup:

   npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx tauri-plugin-mcp-server

License

MIT