Windows MCP — Install & Live Demo

Name: Windows MCP MCP Server
Author: CursorTouch

Why use it

Key features

UI Automation tree access — structured, not pixel-only
Screenshot + click + type + key combos
Window enumeration and focus
Process launch and exit
Clipboard read/write
Works on Windows 10/11; no admin rights needed for most apps

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

windows-mcp-cursortouch.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-mcp-cursortouch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "windows-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-mcp-cursortouch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "windows-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-mcp-cursortouch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "windows-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-mcp-cursortouch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "windows-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "windows-mcp-cursortouch",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "windows-mcp"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "windows-mcp-cursortouch": {
      "command": {
        "path": "uvx",
        "args": [
          "windows-mcp"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add windows-mcp-cursortouch -- uvx windows-mcp

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use Windows MCP

Automate a Windows-only LOB app that has no API

👤 RPA engineers tired of UiPath licenses ⏱ ~60 min advanced

When to use: Internal app vendor won't expose an API; you need Claude to enter daily data.

Prerequisites

Windows 10/11 with the target app installed — Standard install
Python 3.10+ for uvx — winget install Python.Python.3.12

Flow

Inspect the UI tree

Launch the app BookingSystem.exe, then dump the UI tree of the main window. I want to see automation IDs.✓ Copied

→ Tree shows controls with AutomationId — not just nameless buttons
Drive a happy path once

Now: open the New Booking dialog, fill customer 'Acme Inc', date 2026-05-12, save. Take a screenshot at the end.✓ Copied

→ Booking saved; screenshot confirms
Generalize and loop

Read /work/bookings.csv. For each row, repeat the booking flow. Save screenshots into /work/runs/.✓ Copied

→ Each row processed; screenshots per booking

Outcome: Headless automation of a vendor app, replayable from a CSV.

Pitfalls

App uses custom controls (e.g. WinForms ListView with no AutomationId) — Fall back to coordinate clicks on a fixed window position; document the brittleness
Modal dialog steals focus mid-loop — Always check active window before send_keys; abort if unexpected

Combine with: filesystem

Extract data from Excel without an Excel API

👤 Analysts where IT won't enable COM/Office API ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

When to use: You can open Excel but can't programmatically.

Flow

Open the file

Launch Excel, open C:\reports\Q2.xlsx, focus the 'Sales' sheet.✓ Copied

→ Window title shows the file name
Copy the range

Select A1:D200, copy to clipboard, then read clipboard text.✓ Copied

→ Tab-separated table returned
Save as CSV via filesystem

Parse that into rows and save to /tmp/Q2-sales.csv.✓ Copied

→ CSV created

Outcome: Excel data in CSV form without poking at the COM API or installing third-party packages.

Pitfalls

Clipboard formats vary across Excel versions — Try CSV first; fall back to TSV via clipboard variants

Combine with: filesystem

Capture a desktop bug for a teammate while you're heads-down

👤 Devs juggling support ⏱ ~5 min beginner

When to use: A flake reproduces on your Win box and you want a clean screenshot + repro instructions.

Flow

Repro and capture

Take a screenshot of the active app window. Save as bug.png.✓ Copied

→ PNG written
Annotate steps

List the last 5 user-visible UI elements you interacted with — window titles, dialog labels — so I can paste this into the ticket.✓ Copied

→ Concrete element-level repro steps

Outcome: Tightly-scoped bug ticket without alt-tabbing.

Pitfalls

Screenshot includes private info — Crop the active window only, not full desktop

Combine with: github

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

windows-mcp-cursortouch + filesystem

Drive a desktop app from a CSV input

Read /work/orders.csv. For each row, click through the booking app.✓ Copied

windows-mcp-cursortouch + github

Capture a desktop bug and open an issue

Screenshot active window, then create a GitHub issue with the PNG and reproducer steps.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
list_windows	(none)	Find the target app	free
get_ui_tree	window_id?	Discovery before clicking	free
click	automation_id \| x,y	Click a known control	free
type_text	text: str	Enter text into focused field	free
send_keys	keys: str (e.g. 'ctrl+s')	Hotkeys / modifiers	free
screenshot	window_id?, region?	Visual confirmation	free
launch_process	exe: str	Start the target app	free
read_clipboard	(none)	After copy	free

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: None — local automation
Tokens per call: 50–500 (UI tree dumps can be larger)
Monetary: Free OSS
Tip: Avoid dumping the full UI tree on every step — narrow by window_id

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Minimum scopes: control of the local desktop session

Credential storage: None — but Claude can see whatever's on screen

Data egress: Local; nothing leaves the machine unless you also grant a network MCP

Never grant: administrator account auto-launch remote access pairing

Don't run on a dev box with sensitive credentials open in browser tabs — screenshots can capture them
Always preview UI tree before issuing clicks; validate target window before send_keys

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Control not found by automation_id

App uses dynamic IDs or no IDs. Use get_ui_tree and match by name/role hierarchy

Verify: Inspect with Microsoft inspect.exe

Clicks land on wrong window

Always call set_focus on target window before click; check active window after

uvx install fails with 'wheel' error

Install Visual C++ Build Tools; some pywin32 deps need them

Alternatives

Windows MCP vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
Anthropic Computer Use (pixel)	You need cross-platform pixel-based control	Less reliable on Windows than UIA-based; more brittle to layout shifts
AutoIt / PowerShell	You're scripting outside an LLM	No agent layer; manual scripting only
Peekaboo (macOS)	You're on macOS, not Windows	Different OS; not interchangeable

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills