Desktop Commander MCP Server

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI assistants like Claude full control over your desktop — monitor system resources, manage windows, capture screenshots, control the clipboard, launch applications, and more.

23 tools across 4 categories, turning Claude into a true desktop assistant.

Why Desktop Commander?

Claude is powerful, but blind and handless on your desktop. Desktop Commander fixes that:

• "What's eating my CPU?" — instantly see top resource consumers
• "Take a screenshot" — Claude can actually see your screen
• "Arrange my windows side by side" — window management by natural language
• "Copy this to clipboard" — seamless data transfer
• "Is port 3000 in use?" — debug development issues
• "Open VS Code in my project folder" — launch apps with context

Tools

System Monitoring (10 tools)

Tool	Description
get_system_overview	CPU, RAM, disk, swap usage and uptime in one call
list_processes	List processes sorted by CPU/memory with optional filtering
get_process_details	Deep-dive into a specific process (connections, threads, IO)
get_top_consumers	Top N processes by CPU or memory
get_network_stats	Network interfaces, bytes sent/received, connection summary
get_cpu_per_core	Per-core CPU usage and frequency
kill_process	Gracefully terminate or force-kill a process (with safety guards)
get_battery_status	Battery level, charging status, time remaining
find_process_by_port	Find which process is using a specific port
get_temperatures	Hardware temperature sensors

Window Management (5 tools)

Tool	Description
list_windows	List all visible windows with title, position, size, PID, and state
focus_window	Bring a window to the foreground by title or handle
arrange_window	Move and/or resize a window to exact pixel coordinates
set_window_state	Minimize, maximize, or restore a window
close_window	Gracefully close a window

Desktop Control (5 tools)

Tool	Description
capture_screenshot	Screenshot full screen or a specific window (returns file path or base64)
read_clipboard	Read text content from the system clipboard
write_clipboard	Write text to the system clipboard
send_notification	Show a desktop toast notification
get_display_info	Monitor info: resolution, DPI, scaling, multi-monitor layout

Application Management (3 tools)

Tool	Description
launch_application	Start a program, open a file, or open a URL
search_installed_apps	Search installed software (from Windows registry)
get_startup_programs	List programs configured to run at startup

Installation

git clone https://github.com/19miha99/system-monitor-mcp.git
cd system-monitor-mcp
pip install -e .

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-commander": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "system_monitor_mcp.server"]
    }
  }
}

Usage with Claude Code

claude mcp add desktop-commander -- python -m system_monitor_mcp.server

Example Workflows

System Health Check

"Give me a complete system health check"

Claude calls get_system_overview, get_top_consumers, get_network_stats and gives you a comprehensive report.

Debug a Slow Computer

"My computer is slow, what's going on?"

Claude checks get_top_consumers for CPU and memory, identifies the culprit, and offers to kill_process if needed.

Window Arrangement

"Put Chrome on the left half and VS Code on the right half of my screen"

Claude uses list_windows to find them, get_display_info to know the screen size, then arrange_window to position each one.

Port Conflict Resolution

"Something is using port 8080, find and kill it"

Claude calls find_process_by_port(8080), shows you what's there, and kill_process to free the port.

Visual Debugging

"Take a screenshot and tell me what you see"

Claude uses capture_screenshot, then reads the image to analyze what's on screen.

App Launcher

"Open my project in VS Code"

Claude calls launch_application("code", args=["C:/Users/you/project"]).

Architecture

src/system_monitor_mcp/
├── app.py          # FastMCP instance (shared across modules)
├── server.py       # Entry point — imports all tool modules
├── helpers.py      # Shared utilities (format_bytes, format_uptime)
├── monitor.py      # 10 system monitoring tools
├── windows.py      # 5 window management tools
├── desktop.py      # 5 desktop control tools (screenshots, clipboard, etc.)
└── apps.py         # 3 application management tools

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• psutil — cross-platform system monitoring
• mcp — Model Context Protocol SDK
• Pillow — screenshot capture
• pywin32 — Windows API access (auto-installed on Windows)

Platform Support

Category	Windows	Linux	macOS
System Monitoring	Full	Full	Full
Window Management	Full	Planned	Planned
Screenshots	Full	Planned	Planned
Clipboard	Full	Planned	Planned
Notifications	Full	Planned	Planned
App Management	Full	Planned	Planned

Primary platform: Windows. Cross-platform support for desktop features is planned.

Safety

• System-critical processes (PID 0, 1, 4) cannot be killed
• The server refuses to kill its own process
• Windows are closed gracefully via WM_CLOSE (not force-terminated)
• All operations provide clear error messages on failure

License

MIT