MCP Tauri Automation

Automate Tauri desktop apps with AI. An MCP server that lets Claude Code test, debug, and interact with your Tauri applications through natural language.

What is this?

Testing Tauri apps usually means:

• ❌ Manually clicking through UIs for every change
• ❌ Writing complex test scripts for simple interactions
• ❌ Taking screenshots manually to debug visual issues
• ❌ Switching between code editor and running app constantly

With this MCP server:

• ✅ Ask Claude to "click the submit button and check the result"
• ✅ Get instant screenshots of your app state
• ✅ Test UI flows through natural language
• ✅ Automate repetitive testing while you code

Quick Start

1. Install tauri-driver

cargo install tauri-driver

2. Install this MCP server

git clone <repo-url>
cd mcp-tauri-automation
npm install && npm run build

3. Add to your MCP config

<details> <summary><b>Claude Desktop</b></summary>

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-automation": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-tauri-automation/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_APP_PATH": "/path/to/your/tauri/app/target/debug/your-app"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><b>Claude Code CLI</b></summary>

Edit ~/.config/claude-code/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-automation": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-tauri-automation/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TAURI_APP_PATH": "/path/to/your/tauri/app/target/debug/your-app"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><b>Other MCP Clients</b></summary>

Any MCP client that supports stdio transport can use this server. Pass the environment variables via the client's configuration mechanism.

</details>

4. Start tauri-driver

# In a separate terminal, keep this running
tauri-driver

5. Use with Claude

Launch my Tauri app, click the "Start" button, and take a screenshot

Available Tools

Tool	Description
launch_app	Launch your Tauri application
close_app	Close the running application
capture_screenshot	Take a screenshot (returns base64 PNG)
click_element	Click UI elements by CSS selector
type_text	Type into input fields
wait_for_element	Wait for elements to appear
get_element_text	Read text from elements
execute_tauri_command	Call your Tauri IPC commands
get_app_state	Check if app is running and get session info

Configuration

Configure the server using environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
TAURI_APP_PATH	Path to your Tauri app binary	None (required in tool call or env)
TAURI_SCREENSHOT_DIR	Where to save screenshots	./screenshots
TAURI_WEBDRIVER_PORT	Port where tauri-driver runs	4444
TAURI_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT	Element wait timeout in ms	5000
TAURI_DRIVER_PATH	Path to tauri-driver binary	tauri-driver

Finding Your Tauri App Binary

After building your Tauri app, the binary is located at:

• Development build: your-tauri-project/src-tauri/target/debug/your-app-name
• Release build: your-tauri-project/src-tauri/target/release/your-app-name
• macOS apps: Add .app extension (e.g., your-app-name.app)
• Windows apps: Add .exe extension

Build your app first:

cd your-tauri-project
cargo build  # or: cargo build --release

Usage Examples

Basic Testing Workflow

You: Launch my calculator app and test the addition feature

Claude will:
1. Launch the app using launch_app
2. Wait for the UI to load with wait_for_element
3. Click buttons and type numbers
4. Capture screenshots to verify results
5. Report back with findings

Debugging UI Issues

You: Take a screenshot of my app's settings page

Claude will:
1. Check if app is running (or launch it)
2. Navigate to settings (if needed)
3. Capture and display the screenshot

Testing Tauri Commands

You: Call the save_preferences command with theme='dark' and verify it worked

Claude will:
1. Use execute_tauri_command to call your Rust backend
2. Verify the response
3. Optionally check the UI updated correctly

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐
│   Claude Code   │  Ask in natural language
└────────┬────────┘
         │ MCP Protocol (stdio)
┌────────▼────────────────┐
│  MCP Tauri Automation   │  Translate to automation commands
│       Server            │
└────────┬────────────────┘
         │ WebDriver Protocol
┌────────▼────────┐
│   tauri-driver  │  Control the application
└────────┬────────┘
         │
┌────────▼────────┐
│   Your Tauri    │  Desktop app being tested
│      App        │
└─────────────────┘

Troubleshooting

"Failed to launch application: connect ECONNREFUSED"

Solution: Make sure tauri-driver is running before using the MCP server.

# In a separate terminal
tauri-driver

"Element not found: #my-button"

Solutions:

1. Use wait_for_element first for dynamically loaded content
2. Verify the selector in your browser DevTools (Tauri apps use web technologies)
3. Increase timeout for slow-loading UIs

"Application path not found"

Solutions:

1. Build your Tauri app first: cargo build
2. Use absolute path to the binary
3. Make sure the binary is executable: chmod +x /path/to/app
4. On macOS, use the .app bundle path

Port conflicts (Port 4444 already in use)

Solution: Use a custom port:

# Start tauri-driver on different port
tauri-driver --port 4445

Then update your MCP config:

{
  "env": {
    "TAURI_WEBDRIVER_PORT": "4445"
  }
}

Screenshots not appearing

Solutions:

1. Ensure the app is actually running: ask Claude to check with get_app_state
2. Check that the screenshots directory exists and is writable
3. For base64 screenshots (default), ensure your MCP client supports image display

How It Works

This server uses the WebDriver protocol to control Tauri applications. Here's what happens:

1. tauri-driver acts as a WebDriver server for Tauri apps
2. This MCP server translates Claude's requests into WebDriver commands
3. WebDriverIO handles the low-level WebDriver communication
4. Your Tauri app responds to automation commands

The server maintains a single active session and ensures proper cleanup when closing apps or on shutdown.

Advanced Usage

Calling Custom Tauri Commands

First, expose commands in your src-tauri/src/main.rs:

#[tauri::command]
fn get_user_data(user_id: i32) -> Result<String, String> {
    Ok(format!("User {}", user_id))
}

fn main() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![get_user_data])
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}

Then ask Claude:

Execute the get_user_data command with user_id 123

Multiple Test Runs

The server can launch and close apps multiple times in a session:

Launch the app, test feature A, close it.
Launch again, test feature B, close it.

Development

# Build
npm run build

# Watch mode
npm run watch

# Project structure
src/
├── index.ts          # MCP server entry point
├── tauri-driver.ts   # WebDriver wrapper
├── types.ts          # TypeScript types
└── tools/
    ├── launch.ts     # App lifecycle
    ├── screenshot.ts # Screenshot capture
    ├── interact.ts   # UI interaction
    └── state.ts      # State & IPC commands

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Rust/Cargo (for tauri-driver)
• tauri-driver installed and running
• A built Tauri application to test

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

• Built with @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
• Powered by WebDriverIO
• Made for Tauri applications