How do I install Safari?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Safari need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Safari use?

Safari runs locally over stdio.

When was Safari last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-12. Safari browser automation for AI agents — native macOS, zero Chrome overhead. 98 tools via AppleScript + JavaScript.

Máy chủ MCP Safari

🦁 Safari MCP

The browser for your coding agent.

Your real Safari, logged in — no Chrome, no heat, no headless.

Install in VS Code · VS Code Insiders · Install in Cursor

98 tools · No Chrome/Puppeteer/Playwright needed · ~5ms per command · 60% less CPU than Chrome

Quick Start · All 98 Tools · Examples · Why Safari MCP? · Architecture · Changelog

Safari MCP Demo

❌ Without Safari MCP

Your AI agent needs to browse. So it either:

Spins up Chromium via Playwright — with no logins, no cookies, no sessions
Uses Chrome DevTools MCP — and melts your fan running a second browser
Relies on headless scrapers — blocked by Cloudflare, reCAPTCHA, and bot detection

✅ With Safari MCP

Your AI drives the Safari you're already logged into — Gmail, GitHub, Ahrefs, Slack, banking.

Native WebKit. ~60% less CPU. Background operation. 98 tools. One npx command. macOS only.

📰 Featured on freeCodeCamp: How to Connect Your AI Coding Agent to a Browser on macOS · HackerNoon: Reverse-Engineering React, Shadow DOM, and CSP

🍎 Apple ships an official Safari MCP — safaridriver --mcp, first in Safari Technology Preview 247 (July 2026) and in stable Safari since 27.0. It drives an isolated automation session for debugging. safari-mcp drives the real Safari you're already logged into — your cookies and sessions, in the background, with 98 tools. See the full comparison below.

Highlights

98 tools — navigation, clicks, forms, screenshots, network, storage, accessibility, and more
Zero heat — native WebKit on Apple Silicon, ~60% less CPU than Chrome
Your real browser — keeps all logins, cookies, sessions (Gmail, GitHub, Ahrefs, etc.)
Background operation — Safari stays in the background, no window stealing
No browser dependencies — no Puppeteer, no Playwright, no WebDriver, no Chrome
Persistent process — reuses a single osascript process (~5ms per command vs ~80ms)
Framework-compatible — React, Vue, Angular, Svelte form filling via native setters

In users' own words

Not solicited testimonials — quotes lifted from the public issue tracker, each linked to the thread it came from.

"I run multiple Pi sessions/subagents against my normal Safari profile in parallel. Sharing its cookies and logins is intentional." — @maxim, on running concurrent agents against a real browser

"The server has a deliberate tab-ownership model … the code is careful about this, and for the default case that's the right safety posture." — @turner-moore, on why the guards refuse to touch your tabs

"Direct local validation from the package: Safari MCP doctor 6/6." — @jrepp, who found and fixed a queue-alignment bug in the focus helper

Quick Start

Prerequisites

macOS (any version with Safari)
Node.js 20+
Safari → Settings → Advanced → Show features for web developers ✓
Safari → Settings → Developer → Allow JavaScript from Apple Events ✓

Install (one command)

npx safari-mcp

That's it — no global install needed. Or install permanently:

npm install -g safari-mcp

Configure your MCP client

All clients run Safari MCP the same way — npx safari-mcp. Pick your editor:

claude mcp add safari -- npx safari-mcp

Or edit ~/.mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

One-click: Install in Cursor

Or edit .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

One-click: Install in VS Code

Or edit .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "safari": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Edit .windsurf/mcp.json in your project (or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json globally):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Open Cline in VS Code → click the MCP icon → Edit MCP Settings → add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["safari-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Edit ~/.continue/config.yaml (or .continue/config.yaml in workspace):

mcpServers:
  - name: safari
    command: npx
    args:
      - safari-mcp

Edit ~/.config/goose/config.yaml:

extensions:
  safari:
    name: safari
    type: stdio
    cmd: npx
    args:
      - safari-mcp
    enabled: true

Open LM Studio → Settings → MCP Servers → Add Server:

Name: safari
Command: npx
Args: safari-mcp

Open Zed → Settings → search for "Context Servers" and add:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["safari-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

brew install achiya-automation/tap/safari-mcp

git clone https://github.com/achiya-automation/safari-mcp.git
cd safari-mcp && npm install

Usage Workflow

The recommended pattern for AI agents using Safari MCP:

1. safari_snapshot        → Get page state (accessibility tree)
2. safari_click/fill/...  → Interact with elements by ref
3. safari_snapshot        → Verify the result

Element targeting — tools accept multiple targeting strategies:

Strategy	Example	Best for
CSS selector	`#login-btn`, `.submit`	Unique elements
Visible text	`"Sign In"`, `"Submit"`	Buttons, links
Coordinates	`x: 100, y: 200`	Canvas, custom widgets
Ref from snapshot	`ref: "e42"`	Any element from accessibility tree

Tip: Start with safari_snapshot to get element refs, then use refs for precise targeting. This is faster and more reliable than CSS selectors.

After a click or a fill, safari_snapshot with diff: true returns only the lines that changed since that tab's previous snapshot: + lines are new and carry fresh refs, - lines are gone. The first call for a tab returns the full snapshot.

Running several agents at once

Multiple agents or subagents driving one Safari at the same time will fight over the active tab — unless you run them against a shared HTTP daemon instead of one process per client:

SAFARI_MCP_HTTP=1 SAFARI_MCP_HTTP_PORT=9225 npx safari-mcp

Then point every client at it:

{ "mcpServers": { "safari-mcp": { "type": "http", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9225/mcp" } } }

One daemon, many sessions — and each session gets its own tab state. The server keys activeTabIndex, the ownership flag and a unique tab marker off the MCP session id, so session A physically cannot read or steer session B's tab.

Two properties make this safe rather than merely tidy:

Tab identity is a marker, not an index. Each session stamps a unique id into the page it opens, so ownership survives navigation and survives the user reordering or closing other tabs. An index alone would silently drift onto the wrong tab.
It fails closed. If a session's marked tab can't be re-found, every tool refuses instead of falling back to whatever tab is in front — because that tab is usually yours:
```
Tab tracking lost — refusing to fall back to "current tab of window"
(would target the user's active tab). Call safari_new_tab to reopen.
```

This also drops process count sharply: ~17 node processes for 17 concurrent sessions becomes 1.

SAFARI_PROFILE stays optional — leave it unset and sessions bind to your ordinary Safari windows, cookies and logins intact. Details in docs/http-transport-design.md.

Prefer stdio (one process per agent) over a persistent daemon? That works too — isolation then comes from the process boundary itself. One caveat: if your client multiplexes agents through mcporter, mcporter caches a single MCP client for all of them — whichever transport you pick — so the server never sees distinct sessions and per-session isolation can't engage. mcporter-lanes (a pi extension by @maxim, born out of #76) fixes this upstream: each agent session gets its own daemon dir — and therefore its own safari-mcp — with an idle timeout so processes don't pile up.

Acting on a tab you already have open

By default the server touches only tabs it opened itself. Point it at one of yours and it refuses:

Tab safety: refusing "click" — current tab (https://mail.example.com/inbox) was not
opened by this MCP session. Use safari_new_tab or safari_switch_tab to target your own tab.

That default exists because early versions did click into and close people's tabs. But "read the article I'm looking at" and "fill in the form on my screen" are real, and reopening the page loses the session state that made your tab worth using. Set SAFARI_MCP_ALLOW_USER_TABS=1 and an explicit safari_switch_tab adopts the tab instead of refusing it; from then on the session works in it like one of its own, and says so:

{ "tabIndex": 3, "safeUrl": "https://mail.example.com/inbox", "note": "(user tab, opted-in)" }

What the flag deliberately does not do:

It unlocks adoption, not the guards. Only safari_switch_tab adopts, and only the tab you named. An ordinary click or navigate still never lands on whatever tab happens to be in front — the server acts on the tab you pointed it at, not the one you wandered to.
safari_close_tab still refuses. Closing is the one action whose cost you cannot undo, so an adopted tab is writable, never disposable. Close it yourself.
Adoption is session-local. Nothing is written to the shared ownership file, so it ends with the session rather than leaking to the next process on the machine.

safari_doctor prints the flag's state, and every operation on an adopted tab logs (user tab, opted-in) — so "why did it touch my tab" has an answer instead of being a mystery. Default off; set it only for agents you want working inside your own browsing session. Designed in #92.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	What it does
`SAFARI_MCP_HTTP`	off	Run one shared HTTP daemon instead of a process per client (see above).
`SAFARI_MCP_HTTP_PORT`	`9225`	Port for that daemon.
`SAFARI_PROFILE`	unset	Bind sessions to a named Safari profile. Unset = your ordinary windows.
`SAFARI_MCP_ALLOW_USER_TABS`	off	Let `safari_switch_tab` adopt a tab you already had open, instead of refusing it (see below).
`MCP_MAX_TABS`	`6`	Tabs one session may keep open. Opening one more closes that session's oldest tab, and `safari_new_tab` names it in `evictedTab` (its receipt).
`SAFARI_MCP_RAISE_ON_NAVIGATE`	off	Let navigation bring Safari to the front, and stop the focus guard from putting your previous app back.
`SAFARI_MCP_TOOLS`	all	`core` registers only the everyday tools (tabs, navigation, snapshot, reading, clicks, forms, evaluate, console, network, doctor), or give a comma list of tool names. For clients that load every tool definition up front.
`SAFARI_MCP_SCREENSHOT_MAX_WIDTH`	unset	Downscale every `safari_screenshot` to this pixel width (Retina captures are 2× the viewport). Per-call `maxWidth` overrides it.
`SAFARI_MCP_KEEPALIVE_TAB`	off	Keep one daemon-served page open in the profile window so Safari never parks the extension worker between commands.
`SAFARI_MCP_OPEN_WINDOW_CMD`	unset	Command run with the profile name when the profile window is absent (e.g. after a reboot). Must open the window without focusing Safari.

SAFARI_MCP_RAISE_ON_NAVIGATE=1 is for agents whose whole point is showing you a page — a voice assistant answering "open YouTube", a demo driver. Everything else should leave it off: by default Safari MCP works in the background and hands focus back to whatever app you were using, so an agent can drive a page while you keep typing somewhere else.

Tools (98)

Navigation (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_navigate`	Navigate to URL (auto HTTPS, wait for load)
`safari_go_back`	Go back in history
`safari_go_forward`	Go forward in history
`safari_reload`	Reload page (optional hard reload)

Page Reading (3)

Tool	Description
`safari_read_page`	Get title, URL, and text content
`safari_get_source`	Get full HTML source
`safari_navigate_and_read`	Navigate + read in one call

Click & Interaction (6)

Tool	Description
`safari_click`	Click by CSS selector, visible text, or coordinates
`safari_double_click`	Double-click (select word, etc.)
`safari_right_click`	Right-click (context menu)
`safari_hover`	Hover over element
`safari_click_and_wait`	Click + wait for navigation
`safari_click_and_read`	Click then return the updated page — saves a round-trip (React Router + full loads)

Form Input (11)

Tool	Description
`safari_fill`	Fill input (React/Vue/Angular compatible)
`safari_clear_field`	Clear input field
`safari_select_option`	Select dropdown option
`safari_fill_form`	Batch fill multiple fields
`safari_fill_and_submit`	Fill form + submit in one call
`safari_type_text`	Type real keystrokes (JS-based, no System Events)
`safari_press_key`	Press key with modifiers
`safari_react_select_set`	Set a react-select v5 value via React fiber — bypasses the menu UI
`safari_react_select_list_options`	List a react-select v5 dropdown's options without opening it
`safari_replace_editor`	Replace all content in a code editor (Monaco, CodeMirror, Ace, ProseMirror)
`safari_verify_state`	Verify an editor's framework-level state matches expected — catch stale DOM before Submit

Screenshots & PDF (3)

Tool	Description
`safari_screenshot`	Screenshot as PNG (viewport or full page)
`safari_screenshot_element`	Screenshot a specific element
`safari_save_pdf`	Export page as PDF

Scroll (3)

Tool	Description
`safari_scroll`	Scroll up/down by pixels
`safari_scroll_to`	Scroll to exact position
`safari_scroll_to_element`	Smooth scroll to element

Tab Management (5)

Tool	Description
`safari_list_tabs`	List all tabs (index, title, URL)
`safari_new_tab`	Open new tab (background, no focus steal)
`safari_close_tab`	Close tab
`safari_switch_tab`	Switch to tab by index
`safari_wait_for_new_tab`	Wait for a new tab (e.g. OAuth popup) and auto-switch to it

Wait (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_wait_for`	Wait for element, text, or URL change
`safari_wait`	Wait for specified milliseconds

JavaScript (3)

Tool	Description
`safari_evaluate`	Execute arbitrary JavaScript, return result
`safari_eval_file`	Execute JavaScript read from a file path (avoids huge inline scripts)
`safari_list_frames`	List every document in the tab (main page + each iframe) with frameId, URL and text length — pass a frameId to `safari_evaluate`'s `frame` to run inside a cross-origin iframe

Element Inspection (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_get_element`	Element details (tag, rect, attrs, visibility)
`safari_query_all`	Find all matching elements
`safari_get_computed_style`	Computed CSS styles
`safari_detect_forms`	Auto-detect all forms with field selectors

Accessibility (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_accessibility_snapshot`	Full a11y tree: roles, ARIA, focusable elements
`safari_snapshot`	Accessibility tree with ref IDs for every interactive element — preferred way to see page state

Drag & Drop (1)

Tool	Description
`safari_drag`	Drag between elements or coordinates

File Operations (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_upload_file`	Upload file via JS DataTransfer (no file dialog!)
`safari_paste_image`	Paste image into editor (no clipboard touch!)

Dialog & Window (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_handle_dialog`	Handle alert/confirm/prompt
`safari_resize`	Resize browser window

Device Emulation (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_emulate`	Emulate device (iPhone, iPad, Pixel, Galaxy)
`safari_reset_emulation`	Reset to desktop

Cookies & Storage (11)

Tool	Description
`safari_get_cookies`	Get all cookies
`safari_set_cookie`	Set cookie with all options
`safari_delete_cookies`	Delete one or all cookies
`safari_local_storage`	Read localStorage
`safari_set_local_storage`	Write localStorage
`safari_delete_local_storage`	Delete/clear localStorage
`safari_session_storage`	Read sessionStorage
`safari_set_session_storage`	Write sessionStorage
`safari_delete_session_storage`	Delete/clear sessionStorage
`safari_export_storage`	Export all storage as JSON (backup/restore sessions)
`safari_import_storage`	Import storage state from JSON

Clipboard (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_clipboard_read`	Read clipboard text
`safari_clipboard_write`	Write text to clipboard

Network (6)

Tool	Description
`safari_network`	Quick network requests via Performance API
`safari_start_network_capture`	Start detailed capture (fetch + XHR)
`safari_network_details`	Get captured requests with headers/timing
`safari_clear_network`	Clear captured requests
`safari_mock_route`	Mock network responses (intercept fetch/XHR)
`safari_clear_mocks`	Remove all network mocks

Console (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_start_console`	Start capturing console messages
`safari_get_console`	Get all captured messages
`safari_clear_console`	Clear captured messages
`safari_console_filter`	Filter by level (log/warn/error)

Performance (2)

Tool	Description
`safari_performance_metrics`	Navigation timing, Web Vitals, memory
`safari_throttle_network`	Simulate slow-3g/fast-3g/4g/offline

Data Extraction (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_extract_tables`	Tables as structured JSON
`safari_extract_meta`	All meta: OG, Twitter, JSON-LD, canonical
`safari_extract_images`	Images with dimensions and loading info
`safari_extract_links`	Links with rel, external/nofollow detection

Advanced (7)

Tool	Description
`safari_override_geolocation`	Override browser geolocation
`safari_list_indexed_dbs`	List IndexedDB databases
`safari_get_indexed_db`	Read IndexedDB records
`safari_css_coverage`	Find unused CSS rules
`safari_analyze_page`	Full page analysis in one call
`safari_doctor`	Diagnose the macOS permission + daemon chain (Apple Events, Accessibility, Screen Recording, codesign) with per-failure fixes
`safari_reload_extension`	Hot-reload the Safari MCP Bridge extension without a manual toggle

Automation (1)

Tool	Description
`safari_run_script`	Run multiple actions in a single call (batch)

Native Input — CGEvent (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_native_click`	OS-level mouse click (CGEvent, `isTrusted: true`) — bypasses WAF/bot detection when `safari_click` is blocked (405/403)
`safari_native_hover`	OS-level cursor hover — triggers real `:hover`/`mouseenter` for tooltips and obfuscated UIs
`safari_native_type`	Insert text via the real paste pipeline — ProseMirror/Slate/Draft.js process it natively so Submit sends real data
`safari_native_keyboard`	OS-level keypress + modifiers to Safari, no focus steal — reaches React trust-gated handlers (Discord/Slack send)

iOS & WebKit Validation (4)

Tool	Description
`safari_inspect_viewport`	Validate the `<meta name=viewport>` tag for iOS Safari (device-width, zoom/WCAG, viewport-fit)
`safari_safe_area_insets`	Read live safe-area-inset values + viewport-fit / `env()` usage (notch / Dynamic Island)
`safari_check_pwa`	Audit iOS "Add to Home Screen" / PWA readiness (apple-touch-icon, manifest, theme-color, splash)
`safari_webkit_compat`	Check page CSS against this Safari via `CSS.supports()` — unsupported props, missing `-webkit-` prefixes, known quirks

Security

Safari MCP runs locally on your Mac with minimal attack surface:

Aspect	Detail
Network	No remote connections — all communication is local (stdio + localhost)
Permissions	macOS system permissions required (Screen Recording for screenshots)
Data	No telemetry, no analytics, no data sent anywhere
Extension	Communicates only with the local profile bridges (`localhost:9224/9228/9232/9236`), validated by Safari
Code	Fully open source (MIT) — audit every line

Safari MCP vs Alternatives

Feature	Safari MCP	Chrome DevTools MCP	Playwright MCP
CPU/Heat	🟢 Minimal	🔴 High	🟡 Medium
Your logins	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
macOS native	✅ WebKit	❌ Chromium	❌ Chromium/WebKit
Browser dependencies	None	Chrome + debug port	Playwright runtime
Tools	98	~30	~25
File upload	JS (no dialog)	CDP	Playwright API
Image paste	JS (no clipboard)	CDP	Playwright API
Focus steal	❌ Background	❌ Background	❌ Headless
Network mocking	✅	❌	✅
Lighthouse	❌	✅	❌
Performance trace	❌	✅	❌

Tip: Use Safari MCP for daily browsing tasks (95% of work) and Chrome DevTools MCP only for Lighthouse/Performance audits.

vs Apple's Official Safari MCP (safaridriver)

In July 2026 Apple shipped an official Safari MCP server built on safaridriver — first in Safari Technology Preview 247, and in stable Safari since 27.0. That's great validation for the category — and it's built for a different job. Apple's server drives an isolated WebDriver automation session for debugging; safari-mcp drives the real Safari you're already logged into.

On macOS 27.0 with Safari 27.0, safaridriver --help lists --mcp and its tools/list answers with 17 entries (verified 2026-09-15); Safari 26.5.2 had no --mcp (verified 2026-07-23). Check your own machine with safaridriver --help | grep mcp.

Running both? Apple's setup guide registers its server under the name safari-mcp (claude mcp add safari-mcp -- /usr/bin/safaridriver --mcp) — the same name as this package. Give one of them a different name, e.g. claude mcp add safari-webdriver -- /usr/bin/safaridriver --mcp, so your client doesn't overwrite one with the other or leave you guessing which server answered.

	🦁 safari-mcp (this repo)	Apple `safaridriver --mcp`
Your real logins / cookies	✅ Your actual Safari	⚠️ Isolated automation session — no access to AutoFill or browsing activity
Runs on	✅ Stable Safari, every Mac	⚠️ Safari 27 or later, or Safari Technology Preview 247+
Background (no focus steal)	✅ Yes	❌ Dedicated window with a "controlled by automation" banner
Page sees `navigator.webdriver`	✅ `false` — an ordinary tab	⚠️ `true` — required of every WebDriver session
Tools	98	17
Storage (cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB)	✅ 10 tools	❌
Network mocking + throttling	✅ Yes	❌ Read-only network inspection
Device emulation (iPhone, iPad)	✅ Yes	⚠️ Viewport + media type only
Setup	`npx safari-mcp`	Enable "Allow remote automation and external agents" in Safari's Developer settings, then point your client at `safaridriver --mcp`
Official Apple support	❌ Community (MIT)	✅ Apple, WebDriver-standard

About that navigator.webdriver row: the WebDriver standard requires every remote-controlled session to report true, so Apple's server does. safari-mcp evaluates JavaScript in an ordinary tab, so it reads false (checked on Safari 27.0, 2026-09-17). That is the difference if a site refuses WebDriver traffic. It is not an anti-detection feature — nothing else about the browser is disguised, and your real logins are in use, so treat every page as if it knows exactly who you are.

When Apple's server is the right pick: you specifically want a clean-room, WebDriver-standard session for compatibility debugging on Safari 27 or later. For everything else — daily automation on the browser you're already signed into, in the background — safari-mcp is built for exactly that.

Why Safari MCP and Not the Other Safari MCP Projects?

There are several "safari-mcp" projects floating around. Here's how they compare:

Feature	🦁 safari-mcp (this repo)	lxman/safari-mcp-server	Epistates/MCPSafari	HayoDev/safari-devtools-mcp
Tools	98	~10	23	~15
Install	`npx safari-mcp`	Manual	Binary	`npx`
Engine	Dual (Extension + AppleScript)	WebDriver	Extension only	DevTools Protocol
Keeps your real Safari logins	✅ Yes	⚠️ Limited	✅ Yes	❌ Debug session
Background (no focus steal)	✅ Yes	❌ No	⚠️ Sometimes	✅ Yes
Storage tools (cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB)	10	0	0	2
Data extraction (tables, meta, images, links)	4	0	0	0
Network mocking	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Device emulation (iPhone, iPad, Pixel)

TL;DR — if you want the most complete Safari MCP with the smoothest install, the most tools, and active maintenance, this is the one.

Architecture

Safari MCP uses a dual-engine architecture — the Extension is preferred for speed and advanced capabilities, with AppleScript as an always-available fallback:

Claude/Cursor/AI Agent
        ↓ MCP Protocol (stdio)
   Safari MCP Server (Node.js)
        ↓                    ↓
   Extension (HTTP)     AppleScript + Swift daemon
   (~5-20ms/cmd)        (~5ms/cmd, always available)
        ↓                    ↓
   Content Script       do JavaScript in tab N
        ↓                    ↓
   Page DOM ←←←←←←←←←← Page DOM

Key design decisions:

Dual engine with automatic fallback — Extension is preferred; if not connected, AppleScript handles everything seamlessly
Persistent Swift helper — one long-running process instead of spawning per command (16x faster)
Tab-indexed operations — all JS runs on a specific tab by index, never steals visual focus
JS-first approach — typing, clicking, file upload all use JavaScript events (no System Events keyboard conflicts)
No activate — Safari is never brought to foreground

Safari Extension (Optional)

The Safari MCP Extension is optional but recommended. Without it, ~80% of functionality works via AppleScript alone. The extension adds capabilities that AppleScript cannot provide:

What the Extension Adds

Capability	With Extension	AppleScript Only
Closed Shadow DOM (Reddit, Web Components)	✅ Full access	❌ Invisible
Strict CSP sites	✅ Bypasses via MAIN world	❌ Often blocked
React/Vue/Angular state manipulation	✅ Deep (Fiber, ProseMirror)	⚠️ Basic
Loading state detection (spinners, skeletons)	✅ Smart detection	❌ No
Dialog handling (alert/confirm)	❌	✅ Only AppleScript
Native OS-level click (CGEvent)	❌	✅ Only AppleScript
PDF export	❌	✅ Only AppleScript

When do you need the extension? If you're automating modern SPAs with closed shadow DOM (e.g., Reddit), sites with strict Content Security Policy, or framework-heavy editors (Draft.js, ProseMirror, Slate).

Installing the Extension

The extension requires a one-time build with Xcode (free, included with macOS).

Note for npm users: The xcode/ directory is not included in the npm package. Clone the GitHub repository to build from source.

Prerequisites: Xcode (install from App Store — free)

# 1. Clone the repo (the npm package does not include the Xcode project)
git clone https://github.com/achiya-automation/safari-mcp.git
cd safari-mcp

# 2. Build a clean, Apple Development-signed app
# If needed, first choose your Team in Xcode → Signing & Capabilities.
xcodebuild -project "xcode/Safari MCP/Safari MCP.xcodeproj" \
  -scheme "Safari MCP (macOS)" -configuration Release \
  -allowProvisioningUpdates clean build

# 3. Locate the signed app
APP_PATH=$(find ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Safari_MCP-*/Build/Products/Release -name "Safari MCP.app" -maxdepth 2 | head -1)

# 4. Re-sign safari-helper with the Apple Events entitlement
# (helps macOS surface the TCC Automation prompt reliably).
# Keep the stable identifier: macOS keys the Accessibility grant to it.
codesign --sign - --force --identifier com.achiya-automation.safari-mcp \
  --entitlements safari-helper.entitlements safari-helper

# 5. Open the app (needed once so Safari registers the extension)
open "$APP_PATH"

Do not ad-hoc re-sign Safari MCP.app with codesign --deep --sign -. That replaces the Apple Development identity on the wrapper and embedded extension; current Safari can then silently disable or mark the extension as removed. If a previous build was ad-hoc signed, run the clean build command above again.

Alternatively, open xcode/Safari MCP/Safari MCP.xcodeproj directly in Xcode, select your Apple ID under Signing & Capabilities, and click Run. A free personal Apple Developer account is sufficient for local use.

Then in Safari:

Safari → Settings → Advanced → enable Show features for web developers
Safari → Settings → Developer → Allow unsigned extensions (required each Safari restart)
Safari → Settings → Extensions → enable Safari MCP Bridge

The extension connects automatically to the first local bridge whose declared Safari profile matches its own. The default bridge ports are 9224, 9228, 9232, and 9236; a single-profile setup normally uses 9224.

Note: "Allow unsigned extensions" resets every time Safari restarts. You'll need to re-enable it in Safari → Settings → Developer after each restart. The extension itself stays installed.

Toolbar icon status:

ON — connected to MCP server
OFF — manually disabled via popup
(no badge) — server not running, will auto-reconnect

macOS Permissions

Safari MCP needs these one-time permissions:

Permission	Where	Why
JavaScript from Apple Events	Safari → Settings → Developer	Required for `do JavaScript`
Automation → Safari	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation	Required for all AppleScript-backed tools
Screen Recording	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording	Required for `safari_screenshot` without the extension, and for `safari_save_pdf`
Accessibility (safari-helper)	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility (named Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27)	Required for `safari_native_click`, `safari_native_keyboard`, `safari_native_hover` and `safari_save_pdf`

Granting Accessibility to safari-helper (required for `safari_native_*`)

The safari_native_click, safari_native_keyboard and safari_native_hover tools inject OS-level CGEvent events into Safari without stealing focus. macOS requires the underlying helper binary to be approved in Accessibility before those events can reach a non-frontmost window.

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility (on macOS 27 the pane is named Device Control and Data Access).
Click + (unlock with your password if needed).
Navigate to the helper binary and add it:
- npm global install: $(npm root -g)/safari-mcp/safari-helper
- npx / project install: ./node_modules/safari-mcp/safari-helper
- From source clone: /path/to/safari-mcp/safari-helper
Make sure the toggle next to it is ON.

The postinstall script re-signs the helper with a stable identifier (com.achiya-automation.safari-mcp) so this permission survives future upgrades — without that step, every npm update would silently revoke approval because the binary's adhoc-signed identifier changes per build.

If safari_native_click reports success but the page doesn't react (no isTrusted: true click events fire), the helper is most likely missing this approval. The safari_* (non-native_) tools don't need it.

Granting Automation → Safari (important for IDE users)

macOS TCC grants Automation permission to the parent process that spawns the MCP server, not to safari-mcp itself. So you need to grant Automation → Safari to the app that runs Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf — typically Visual Studio Code or Terminal.

If the permission dialog never appears automatically, run this command once from a Terminal that already has Automation permission:

osascript -e 'tell application "Safari" to get URL of current tab of window 1'

That call registers the Terminal app in the Automation database and then triggers the prompt for Safari. After you approve it, subsequent MCP calls from any child process chain will work.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
"AppleScript error"	Enable "Allow JavaScript from Apple Events" in Safari → Settings → Developer
"Not authorized to send Apple events to Safari"	Grant Automation → Safari to your IDE (see above)
"Not authorized" after `npm update`	Updating changes the binary's cdhash — macOS silently revokes Automation permission. Re-run the `osascript` one-liner above to re-grant it
`safari_native_click` reports success but page doesn't react	Add `safari-helper` to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility (see Granting Accessibility above). Confirm by attaching a `click` listener with `{capture:true}` in the page console — without the grant, no `isTrusted: true` event fires
Screenshots empty	Grant Screen & System Audio Recording to Terminal/VS Code — or, when safari-mcp runs as a LaunchAgent, to the `node` binary itself (a Homebrew node upgrade changes its path, so re-grant after upgrading). `safari_doctor` names the exact binary
Extension missing after enabling "Allow unsigned extensions" (macOS 27)	Known macOS 27.0 issue (183044008): with the setting on, rebuild the extension app (see Installing the Extension) and it appears
Tab not found	Call `safari_list_tabs` to refresh tab indices
Hebrew keyboard issues	All typing uses JS events — immune to keyboard layout
HTTPS blocked	`safari_navigate` auto-tries HTTPS first, falls back to HTTP
Safari steals focus	Ensure you're on latest version — `newTab` restores your active tab

FAQ

No. Every AppleScript path targets application "Safari" and the native helper looks for the bundle id com.apple.Safari, so STP (com.apple.SafariTechnologyPreview) is a different application that safari-mcp never addresses. Run it against stable Safari.

Note that Apple's own safaridriver --mcp server is the one that needs STP 247+ (or Safari 27+) — see Safari MCP vs Alternatives. The two are unrelated.

Not as a supported mode, and it is untested. No tool opens a private window, and Safari disables extensions in Private Browsing unless you turn each one on explicitly, so the extension bridge — and everything in the "With Extension" column of Safari Extension (Optional) — is off there by default.

If you want an isolated identity, use a separate Safari profile instead: profile windows are a first-class concept here (see Running several agents at once).

Yes. Tab lookups walk every window rather than assuming window 1, and a tab is pinned by its window's (index, tabCount) pair, because an index on its own is ambiguous once two windows are open. Profile windows are recognised by Safari's ProfileName — Tab Title window naming.

The reliable handle is still the receipt that safari_new_tab returns: pass it to every later call and the tab is addressed directly, no matter how many windows move around it.

Any macOS with Safari — the package declares "os": ["darwin"] and no minimum OS, and there is no version gate in the code. Node.js 20+ is the hard requirement ("engines": { "node": ">=20" }).

Two places where the OS does matter in practice:

On macOS 27 the Accessibility pane is renamed Device Control and Data Access — same grant, new name (see macOS Permissions).
Safari 26 and 27 changed several web-platform behaviours that specific tools account for; those are handled, not blocked.

Yes — that is what Running several agents at once covers. Each session owns its own tabs, and ownership is tracked per session rather than by tab index, so one agent cannot act on (or close) a tab another agent owns.

One process binds the extension bridge port; the others proxy through it and take the port over if that process exits.

No. safari_new_tab opens a background tab and never steals focus, and the few commands macOS forces an implicit activate on restore your previous frontmost app afterwards — with a guard that leaves focus alone if you were typing in Safari yourself a moment earlier.

The two exceptions are the deliberately native tools — safari_native_click, safari_native_keyboard, safari_native_hover — which post real OS events and therefore land wherever the frontmost window is. Do not use those while you are working in another Safari tab.

Your existing extensions keep running normally; safari-mcp drives the same Safari you use, so content blockers and password managers behave exactly as they do for you.

safari-mcp also ships its own optional extension. Without it roughly 80% of the tools still work over AppleScript alone; with it you additionally get closed shadow DOM, strict-CSP sites, deep framework state and loading-state detection. Dialog handling, native clicks and PDF export go the other way — those are AppleScript-only. The full split is in Safari Extension (Optional).

Anything that evaluates JavaScript fails — safari_evaluate, safari_read_page, form filling, extraction — while pure AppleScript actions such as opening or switching tabs still work. That is the usual cause of "it opens the tab but reads nothing".

Turn it on in Safari → Settings → Advanced → Show features for web developers, then Safari → Settings → Developer → Allow JavaScript from Apple Events. Both are listed under Prerequisites. safari_doctor walks the rest of the chain (Automation, native helper, Accessibility, Screen Recording) and names this setting in its fix hint — but its Apple Events check only counts windows, which Automation permission alone satisfies, so it will not fail on this one for you.

Works With

Safari MCP works with any MCP-compatible client:

Client	Status
Claude Code	✅ Tested daily
Claude Desktop	✅ Tested
Cursor	✅ Tested
Windsurf	✅ Compatible
VS Code + Continue	✅ Compatible

Contributing

PRs welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions.

The codebase is two files:

safari.js — Safari automation layer (AppleScript + JavaScript)
index.js — MCP server with tool definitions

Commercial Support

Need Safari MCP integrated into your product or agent stack? Achiya Automation offers:

Priority bug fixes and custom tool development for your use case
Integration consulting — wiring Safari MCP into production agent systems (Claude, Cursor, n8n, custom)
Private deployment support — multi-user Safari MCP, non-standard macOS environments, CI/CD
Training workshops for engineering teams adopting MCP-based automation

Built by the author of Safari MCP. Start a conversation →

What agents unlock with Safari MCP

When an AI agent drives Safari MCP, it gets things a headless browser can't:

Real authenticated sessions — Gmail, GitHub, Ahrefs, Slack, banking dashboards are all already logged in
Framework-aware form filling — safari_fill_and_submit calls React/Vue/Angular setters natively, no guessing whether input events fired
Background operation — the agent works in parallel while you keep using your Mac
One MCP call per workflow — safari_run_script batches navigation + clicks + extraction into a single roundtrip

The pattern holds across models: drive the browser the human already trusts — you inherit logins, cookies, extensions, and the user's exact environment in one step.

Community

6,000+ monthly npm downloads — developers are building AI agents on macOS with Safari MCP.

GitHub Discussions — ask questions, share use cases
Issues — bug reports and feature requests
— start contributing

Ecosystem

Other macOS MCP servers that complement Safari MCP:

Project	What it does	When to use
mcp-server-macos-use	OS-level macOS automation (accessibility, screen control)	System-wide interactions beyond Safari
chrome-devtools-mcp	Chrome DevTools Protocol	Lighthouse audits, Chrome-specific performance traces

Using Safari MCP alongside Chrome DevTools MCP? Safari handles 95% of daily browsing (zero overhead), Chrome handles the 5% that needs Lighthouse or Chrome-specific traces.

Listed On

License

MIT — use it however you want.

Built by Achiya Automation — automation & AI agents for business.

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