Claude MacOS connectorWhat Claude can do on your Mac.
The Claude MacOS connector, MacOS-MCP, exposes 11 tools: 3 read, 7 write, 1 undocumented. Claude can look at your screen, then click, type, launch apps and run commands on the Mac itself. Here is what each tool does, what macOS must allow first, and the one nobody documents.
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Why give Claude hands on your Mac
Most connectors open one online account to Claude. This one, an open-source extension from CursorTouch, opens the computer itself. Through the macOS accessibility layer, Claude can read what is on screen, move the pointer, type, press shortcuts, switch apps and run shell commands or AppleScript, all from a conversation in Claude Desktop.
Get through a fiddly settings screen. You ask Claude to set up an app you rarely open. Claude takes a Snapshot of the interface, then uses Click and Type on the fields instead of reciting instructions for you to follow.
Run a quick terminal job without the terminal. You want a folder of files renamed without opening a shell; Claude passes the command through Shell, which also accepts AppleScript.
Pull a web page into the conversation. Scrape converts a page to Markdown so Claude can quote or summarise it.
What it will not do: CursorTouch says it cannot interact with system authentication dialogs, some apps expose little or nothing to the accessibility layer, and certain specialised fields ignore simulated keystrokes. Nothing happens on a timer either: Claude acts only while it is answering you. For unattended jobs between apps, the Integrations hub lists the automation platforms we cover.
Five words before you install
The Claude vocabulary around this connector, in one minute.
- Connector
- The link you set up once between Claude and something you already own, here your Mac, so Claude can use it while it answers.
- Tool
- One named thing the connector lets Claude do. Claude picks the ones it needs by itself; the directory sheet lists all eleven.
- Authorization
- The access you grant once so Claude can use what the connector opens. It is given per person and can be taken back.
- Approval
- The confirmation Claude waits for before doing something that changes things, shown in the conversation at that moment.
- MCP
- The shared standard connectors are built on: it is what lets an assistant like Claude talk to an outside program, here one running on your Mac.
Set up the Claude MacOS connector in three steps
- 01
Check the requirements
CursorTouch lists four prerequisites: macOS 12 or later, Python 3.11 or later, the UV package manager, and Accessibility permission for the app that runs the server. UV installs with the one-line command given on the directory sheet.
- 02
Add the extension in Claude Desktop
The directory lists MacOS-MCP as a local extension for Claude Desktop. Neither CursorTouch nor the sheet describes the install screens step by step, so follow what Claude Desktop shows you from the connector's sheet.
- 03
Grant the macOS permissions
In System Settings, grant Accessibility by hand to the app running the server; CursorTouch says this grant is manual. Add Screen Recording if you want Snapshot to capture screenshots. If Snapshot fails, CursorTouch says to check both permissions.
The 11 tools, sorted by what they do
MacOS-MCP gives Claude 11 tools: 3 that read your account, 7 that change something in it, and 1 no official source describes.
Three tools look or wait, seven act on the Mac, and one is described by no source. Names stay exactly as Claude shows them.
- 3 read
- 7 write
- 1 not documented
What Claude reads (3)
3 toolsThree tools that capture the screen, fetch a web page or pause, without changing anything on the Mac.
Snapshot
Reads the current macOS interface, the windows and on-screen elements, and can include a screenshot.
Wait
Pauses execution for a set duration before the next step. CursorTouch says nothing more about it: it is listed with the reads only because CursorTouch describes no effect on your files or apps, not because it reads data.
Scrape
Pulls the content of a web page and turns it into Markdown that Claude can read, quote or summarise inside the conversation.
What Claude does on your Mac (7)
7 toolsSeven tools that click, type, move, launch or run commands. No source describes a confirmation for them: the general rule below applies.
App
Approval: see the ruleOpens an application by name or bundle ID, switches between apps, and resizes or moves their windows.
Shell
Approval: see the ruleExecutes shell commands, or AppleScript in its dedicated mode, directly on the Mac. It is the broadest tool in the set: whatever the command does, it does on your machine.
Click
Approval: see the rulePresses the mouse at given coordinates, with left, right or double click, exactly as your hand would.
Type
Approval: see the ruleEnters text where the cursor sits, and can clear what the field already holds before typing.
Scroll
Approval: see the ruleScrolls vertically or horizontally, in the window that has focus or in a given region, to bring hidden content into view.
Move
Approval: see the ruleMoves the pointer to coordinates, or drags from one point to another. CursorTouch describes nothing beyond the pointer movement itself.
Shortcut
Approval: see the ruleSends keyboard combinations such as Cmd+C or Cmd+Tab, the quickest way to copy, paste, switch app or trigger a menu command.
Not documented (1)
1 toolListed on the directory sheet, but no official source explains what it does. Nothing here is a capability.
Notification
No official source describes this tool. The directory sheet publishes its name only, and the CursorTouch documentation does not mention it, so whether it reads or changes anything is unknown. Claude's general approval rule, described below, is the only reference.
What Claude asks before acting
By default, Claude stops and asks before any action it takes on your behalf. With a connector that drives your Mac, that prompt is your main safeguard.
On Team and Enterprise workspaces, owners decide whether members may let certain actions through without being asked each time, and they can restrict what a connector may do for the whole organisation, keeping reads and closing writes for instance. Claude also works with your rights and nothing more: here, those are the rights macOS gives the app running the extension, through the permissions you granted in System Settings.
Which plans include it
None of the 819 sheets in the official directory shows availability by plan. Connector by connector, the answer is published nowhere.
The general rule is public: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile, while desktop extensions such as MacOS-MCP install on Claude Desktop. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner opens a connector for the organisation first. For this one's current status, check its sheet in the official directory. Only CursorTouch documents it; no Claude help page does.
Where this connector stops
A connector is not an automation. Claude calls these tools while it answers you; nothing clicks or types on its own when you are away.
The directory's badge is not a security audit, and Anthropic says on every sheet that it does not choose a publisher's tools or guarantee they behave as described. CursorTouch publishes it as an open-source Python package under the MIT licence, which lets you read its code before installing. That matters more than usual here, since these tools act on the whole computer. Install only what you have reason to trust. Other apps and their connectors are listed on the Integrations hub.
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