Windows MCP Overview

Windows MCP Overview

The Windows-MCP server (by CursorTouch) provides 16 tools for comprehensive Windows desktop automation. This skill covers tool selection, capabilities, and high-level usage patterns.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+ installed
• UV package manager (pip install uv)
• Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11
• English as the default Windows display language (or disable the App tool for other languages)

Tool Categories at a Glance

Screen Interaction

Tool	Purpose
Click	Click at screen coordinates (left/right/double)
Type	Input text into focused elements with optional clear
Scroll	Vertical/horizontal scrolling at specific coordinates
Move	Mouse movement with optional drag support
Shortcut	Execute keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+C, Alt+Tab, etc.)
Wait	Pause execution for a specified duration

Visual Capture

Tool	Purpose
Screenshot	Fast desktop capture with cursor and active window info
Snapshot	Full state capture with interactive element IDs and DOM extraction

Application Management

Tool	Purpose
App	Launch, resize, move, switch, minimize, maximize, close windows

System Operations

Tool	Purpose
Shell	Execute PowerShell commands
Process	List running processes or terminate by PID/name
Registry	Read, write, delete, or list Windows Registry keys/values
Notification	Send Windows toast notifications

Data Operations

Tool	Purpose
Scrape	Extract information from web pages
Clipboard	Read or write Windows clipboard content
MultiSelect	Select multiple items (files, folders, checkboxes)
MultiEdit	Input text into multiple form fields simultaneously

Tool Selection Decision Tree

Need to see the screen?

• Quick visual check -> Screenshot
• Need interactive element IDs -> Snapshot
• Need web page DOM content -> Snapshot with use_dom=True

Need to interact with GUI elements?

• Click something -> Snapshot first to locate, then Click
• Enter text -> Type (with clear: true to replace existing text)
• Scroll a page/list -> Scroll with target coordinates
• Use a keyboard combo -> Shortcut
• Drag an item -> Move with drag: true

Need to manage applications?

• Open a program -> App (launch)
• Arrange windows -> App (resize/move)
• Switch focus -> App (switch) or Shortcut (Alt+Tab)
• Close a program -> App (close) or Shortcut (Alt+F4)

Need system-level operations?

• Run a command -> Shell
• Monitor/kill processes -> Process
• Modify system settings -> Registry
• Alert the user -> Notification

Need data operations?

• Extract web content -> Scrape
• Transfer data via clipboard -> Clipboard
• Select multiple items -> MultiSelect
• Fill multiple fields -> MultiEdit

Core Automation Workflow

Most Windows automation follows this cycle:

1. Observe — Capture screen state with Screenshot or Snapshot
2. Identify — Locate target elements using Snapshot element IDs or coordinates
3. Act — Perform the action (Click, Type, Shortcut, etc.)
4. Verify — Capture screen again to confirm the action succeeded
5. Wait — Use Wait between steps if the UI needs time to update

Performance Notes

• Typical action latency: 0.2-0.9 seconds
• Screenshot is significantly faster than Snapshot
• Snapshot with use_dom=True is the slowest but provides the most data
• Batch tools (MultiSelect, MultiEdit) outperform sequential individual actions
• Prefer Shell over GUI interaction for any task that can be scripted

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For complete parameter documentation and examples for every tool:

• references/tool-reference.md — Detailed parameter reference for all 16 Windows MCP tools with usage examples and tips