MCP Tools Reference

AXTerminator v0.6.1 exposes up to 30 MCP tools (19 core + optional audio, camera, spaces), 5 resources, 4 guided prompts, and 9 elicitation scenarios.

Core Tools (19)

GUI Interaction

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_connect	Connect to a running application by name, bundle ID, or PID	readOnly
ax_find	Find a UI element by query string	readOnly
ax_click	Click an element (background by default)	destructive
ax_click_at	Click at screen coordinates	destructive
ax_type	Type text into an element (requires focus)	destructive
ax_set_value	Set element value directly via AXValue attribute	destructive
ax_get_value	Read element value	readOnly
ax_scroll	Scroll within an element	destructive
ax_drag	Drag from one element/position to another	destructive
ax_key_press	Press a keyboard key or combination	destructive

Observation

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_is_accessible	Check if accessibility permissions are granted	readOnly
ax_screenshot	Capture a PNG screenshot of an app or element	readOnly
ax_get_tree	Get the accessibility element hierarchy	readOnly
ax_get_attributes	Read all attributes of an element	readOnly
ax_list_windows	List all windows of an application	readOnly
ax_list_apps	List all running accessible applications	readOnly
ax_wait_idle	Wait for application to become idle	readOnly, idempotent

Verification

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_assert	Assert element state (exists, enabled, value, etc.)	readOnly
ax_find_visual	Find element using VLM vision as fallback	readOnly

Audio Tools (3) -- audio feature

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_listen	Capture audio and transcribe via SFSpeechRecognizer (48kHz native)	readOnly
ax_speak	Text-to-speech via NSSpeechSynthesizer	openWorld
ax_audio_devices	List available audio input/output devices	readOnly

Camera Tools (3) -- camera feature

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_camera_capture	Capture a single frame from AVFoundation	readOnly
ax_gesture_detect	Detect hand gestures in a camera frame	readOnly
ax_gesture_listen	Continuous gesture detection (requires watch feature)	readOnly

Spaces Tools (5) -- spaces feature

Tool	Description	Annotations
ax_list_spaces	List all virtual desktops	readOnly
ax_create_space	Create a new virtual desktop	destructive
ax_move_to_space	Move a window to a specific space	destructive
ax_switch_space	Switch active space	destructive
ax_destroy_space	Destroy a virtual desktop	destructive

Resources (5)

URI	Description
axterminator://apps	Running applications
axterminator://app/{name}/tree	Live element hierarchy
axterminator://app/{name}/screenshot	Current screenshot (base64 PNG)
axterminator://app/{name}/state	Focused element, window title
axterminator://system/displays	Monitor layout and Retina scaling

Guided Prompts (4)

Prompt	Description
test-app	Generate a test plan for an application
navigate-to	Navigate to a specific screen or element
extract-data	Extract structured data from a UI
accessibility-audit	Audit an app's accessibility compliance

Elicitation

Destructive and ambiguous operations trigger elicitation dialogs for user confirmation. There are 9 elicitation scenarios covering:

• Destructive clicks (e.g., "Delete", "Remove")
• Text input into sensitive fields
• Drag operations
• Space management (create/destroy)
• Application termination

Tool Annotations

All tools carry MCP tool annotations:

Annotation	Meaning
readOnlyHint	Tool only reads state, no side effects
destructiveHint	Tool modifies state (clicks, types, deletes)
idempotentHint	Calling multiple times has same effect
openWorldHint	Tool interacts with external systems

Security

• Bearer token auth required for HTTP transport (--token flag)
• Localhost-only binding for HTTP transport by default
• Structured MCP logging with progress notifications