Tauri Plugin: Model Context Protocol (MCP)

A Tauri plugin and MCP server that allow AI Agents such as Cursor and Claude Code to debug within your tauri application.

Features

The Tauri MCP Plugin provides a comprehensive set of tools that allow AI models and external applications to interact with Tauri applications:

Window Interaction

• Take Screenshot: Capture images of any Tauri window with configurable quality and size
• Window Management: Control window position, size, focus, minimize/maximize state
• DOM Access: Retrieve the HTML DOM content from webviews windows

User Input Simulation

• Mouse Movement: Simulate mouse clicks, movements, and scrolling
• Text Input: Programmatically input text into focused elements
• Execute JavaScript: Run arbitrary JavaScript code in the application context

Data & Storage

• Local Storage Management: Get, set, remove, and clear localStorage entries
• Ping: Simple connectivity testing to verify the plugin is responsive

How to build

pnpm i 
pnpm run build && pnpm run build-plugin

Follow instructions at https://v2.tauri.app/start/create-project/

in src-tauri/cargo.toml add

tauri-plugin-mcp = { path = "../../tauri-plugin-mcp" }

In package.json

    "tauri-plugin-mcp": "file:../tauri-mcp",

Then, register the plugin in your Tauri application:

Only include the MCP plugin in development builds

Take care to set the Application name correctly, this is how it identifies the window to screenshot

    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
    {
        info!("Development build detected, enabling MCP plugin");
        tauri::Builder::default()
        .plugin(tauri_mcp::init_with_config(
         tauri_mcp::PluginConfig::new(String::new("APPLICATION_NAME")) 
                .start_socket_server(true)
                // For IPC socket (default)
                .socket_path("/tmp/tauri-mcp.sock")
                // Or for TCP socket
                // .tcp("127.0.0.1", 9999)
        ));
    }

Setting up MCP Server

First, build the MCP server:

cd mcp-server-ts
pnpm i
pnpm build

Configuration Examples

IPC Mode (Default)

This is the default mode using platform-specific local sockets:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\Pegleg\\workspace\\tauri-plugin-mcp\\mcp-server-ts\\build\\index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or with a custom socket path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\Pegleg\\workspace\\tauri-plugin-mcp\\mcp-server-ts\\build\\index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_MCP_IPC_PATH": "/custom/path/to/socket"
      }
    }
  }
}

TCP Mode

For TCP connections (useful for Docker, remote debugging, or when IPC doesn't work):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\Pegleg\\workspace\\tauri-plugin-mcp\\mcp-server-ts\\build\\index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_MCP_CONNECTION_TYPE": "tcp",
        "TAURI_MCP_TCP_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "TAURI_MCP_TCP_PORT": "4000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important: Make sure your Tauri app is configured to use the same connection mode and settings:

// For TCP mode in your Tauri app
.plugin(tauri_mcp::init_with_config(
    PluginConfig::new("MyApp".to_string())
        .tcp("127.0.0.1".to_string(), 4000)
))

Communication Between Tauri Plugin MCP Components

The Tauri MCP plugin supports both IPC and TCP socket communication to expose Tauri application functionality to external clients:

Socket Server (Rust)

The socket_server.rs component:

• Creates either an IPC socket (Unix socket on macOS/Linux, named pipe on Windows) or TCP socket
• Listens for client connections on the configured socket
• Processes incoming JSON commands
• Executes Tauri API calls based on the commands
• Returns results as JSON responses

Socket Client (TypeScript)

The client.ts component:

• Connects to either IPC or TCP socket based on environment configuration
• Provides a Promise-based API for sending commands
• Handles reconnection logic and error management
• Parses JSON responses from the server

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Connection refused" error

   • Ensure your Tauri app is running and the socket server started successfully
   • Check that both sides are using the same connection mode (IPC or TCP)
   • For TCP, verify the port number matches on both sides

2. "Socket file not found" (IPC mode)

   • Check the socket path exists (look in /tmp on macOS/Linux)
   • Ensure proper permissions to create/access the socket file
   • Try using TCP mode as an alternative

3. "Permission denied" errors

   • On Windows, ensure the named pipe path is correct
   • On Unix systems, check file permissions for the socket
   • Consider using TCP mode which avoids file permission issues

4. Connection drops after each request

   • Update to the latest version which includes persistent connection support
   • Check for any errors in the Tauri app console

Testing Your Setup

You can test your MCP server configuration using the MCP Inspector:

# For IPC mode (default)
cd mcp-server-ts
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js

# For TCP mode
cd mcp-server-ts
set TAURI_MCP_CONNECTION_TYPE=tcp&& set TAURI_MCP_TCP_HOST=127.0.0.1&& set TAURI_MCP_TCP_PORT=4000&& npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build\index.js