MCP server
by steipete
Peekaboo empowers mac how to screen capture, mac screenshot, and window management with tools for screen snip on mac and
Provides high-fidelity screen capture and GUI automation tools for macOS. Enables AI assistants to see your screen, take screenshots, and control applications through natural language commands.
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is a community-built MCP server published by steipete that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Peekaboo empowers mac how to screen capture, mac screenshot, and window management with tools for screen snip on mac and It is categorized under productivity, ai ml.
You can install Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) 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.
MIT
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
Add new capabilities to Claude beyond text generation
Example
Access external data sources, execute code, interact with tools and services
Transform Claude from chatbot to action-taking agent
Provide Claude with access to relevant context and data
Example
Load project documentation, access knowledge bases, query databases
Get more accurate, context-aware responses
Automate multi-step workflows combining AI and external tools
Example
Research → Summarize → Create document → Send notification
Complete complex tasks end-to-end without manual steps
Share your MCP server with the developer community
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.
According to our notes, Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
Strong directory entry: Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) surfaces stars and publisher context so we could sanity-check maintenance before adopting.
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.
Useful MCP listing: Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) is the kind of server we cite when onboarding engineers to host + tool permissions.
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) has been reliable for tool-calling workflows; the MCP profile page is a good permalink for internal docs.
We evaluated Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.
According to our notes, Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
Peekaboo (macOS Screen Capture) reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
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Peekaboo brings high-fidelity screen capture, AI analysis, and complete GUI automation to macOS. Version 3 adds native agent flows and multi-screen automation across the CLI and MCP server.
Note: v3 is currently in beta (3.0.0-beta4) and has a few known issues; see the changelog for details.
brew install steipete/tap/peekaboo
npx -y @steipete/peekaboo
# Capture full screen at Retina scale and save to Desktop
peekaboo image --mode screen --retina --path ~/Desktop/screen.png
# Click a button by label (captures, resolves, and clicks in one go)
peekaboo see --app Safari --json-output | jq -r '.data.snapshot_id' | read SNAPSHOT
peekaboo click --on "Reload this page" --snapshot "$SNAPSHOT"
# Run a natural-language automation
peekaboo "Open Notes and create a TODO list with three items"
# Run as an MCP server (Claude/Cursor)
npx -y @steipete/peekaboo
# Minimal Claude Desktop config snippet (Developer → Edit Config):
# {
# "mcpServers": {
# "peekaboo": {
# "command": "npx",
# "args": ["-y", "@steipete/peekaboo"],
# "env": {
# "PEEKABOO_AI_PROVIDERS": "openai/gpt-5.1,anthropic/claude-opus-4"
# }
# }
# }
# }
| Command | Key flags / subcommands | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| see | --app, --mode screen/window, --retina, --json-output | Capture and annotate UI, return snapshot + element IDs |
| click | --on <id/query>, --snapshot, --wait, coords | Click by element ID, label, or coordinates |
| type | --text, --clear, --delay-ms | Enter text with pacing options |
| press | key names, --repeat | Special keys and sequences |
| hotkey | combos like cmd,shift,t | Modifier combos (cmd/ctrl/alt/shift) |
| scroll | --on <id>, --direction up/down, --ticks | Scroll views or elements |
| swipe | --from/--to, --duration, --steps | Smooth gesture-style drags |
| drag | --from/--to, modifiers, Dock/Trash targets | Drag-and-drop between elements/coords |
| move | --to <id/coords>, --screen-index | Position the cursor without clicking |
| window | list, move, resize, focus, set-bounds | Move/resize/focus windows and Spaces |
| app | launch, quit, relaunch, switch, list | Launch, quit, relaunch, switch apps |
| space | list, switch, move-window | List or switch macOS Spaces |
| menu | list, list-all, click, click-extra | List/click app menus and extras |
| menubar | list, click | Target status-bar items by name/index |
| dock | launch, right-click, hide, show, list | Interact with Dock items |
| dialog | list, click, input, file, dismiss | Drive system dialogs (open/save/etc.) |
| image | --mode screen/window/menu, --retina, --analyze | Screenshot screen/window/menu bar (+analyze) |
| list | apps, windows, screens, menubar, permissions | Enumerate apps, windows, screens, permissions |
| tools | --verbose, --json-output, --no-sort | Inspect native Peekaboo tools |
| config | init, show, add, login, models | Manage credentials/providers/settings |
| permissions | status, grant | Check/grant required macOS permissions |
| run | .peekaboo.json, --output, --no-fail-fast | Execute .peekaboo.json automation scripts |
| sleep | --duration (ms) | Millisecond delays between steps |
| clean | --all-snapshots, --older-than, --snapshot | Prune snapshots and caches |
| agent | --model, --dry-run, --resume, --max-steps, audio | Natural-language multi-step automation |
| mcp | serve (default) | Run Peekaboo as an MCP server |
Set providers via PEEKABOO_AI_PROVIDERS or peekaboo config add.
pnpm install then pnpm run build:cli or pnpm run test:safe.pnpm run lint && pnpm run format.MIT
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
15-60 minutes depending on server complexity
Steps
Troubleshooting
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
Architecture
Model Context Protocol standardizes how AI hosts (Claude, Cursor) communicate with external tools and data sources through server implementations.
Protocols
Compatibility
✓ Use when
Use when you need Claude to access external data, execute actions, or integrate with tools. Best for extending AI capabilities beyond conversation.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid when native integrations exist (use official APIs directly), for real-time critical systems, or when security/compliance requires zero external dependencies.