Windows Computer Use

Language: English | 简体中文

Control Windows desktop apps with Codex and other MCP agents via UI Automation, screenshots, and keyboard/mouse input.

Windows Computer Use is a local Windows desktop automation plugin for Codex and other MCP-capable agent clients. It exposes a stdio MCP server that can inspect and operate Windows GUI applications.

Use it when an agent needs to work with a real Windows desktop app, such as a settings dialog, installer, legacy Win32 app, WPF/WinForms app, or another GUI workflow that does not have a better structured API.

Requirements

• Windows desktop session.
• Node.js 18 or newer.
• Windows PowerShell 5.1.

The MCP server has no npm install step.

Installation

1. Agent Prompt (Recommended)

If you are already using an agent on a Windows machine, give it this prompt and let it install and verify the plugin for you:

Install Windows Computer Use from https://github.com/cgissing/windows-computer-use on this Windows machine.

If Codex CLI is available, install it as a Codex plugin:
1. Clone the repository.
2. From the repository root, run:
   codex plugin marketplace add .
   codex plugin add windows-computer-use@computeruse-workspace
3. Verify:
   codex plugin list --marketplace computeruse-workspace
   codex mcp list

If this is not a Codex environment, configure it as a stdio MCP server with:
node <repo>\plugins\windows-computer-use\mcp\server.mjs

Run:
node <repo>\plugins\windows-computer-use\scripts\verify-plugin.mjs

Report the exact files or client settings you changed, and include the final
verification output.

2. Codex Plugin

Clone this repository, then add the repository root as a Codex plugin marketplace:

git clone https://github.com/cgissing/windows-computer-use.git
cd windows-computer-use
codex plugin marketplace add .
codex plugin add windows-computer-use@computeruse-workspace

Check that Codex sees the plugin and its MCP server:

codex plugin list --marketplace computeruse-workspace
codex mcp list

The plugin entry is defined by:

.agents/plugins/marketplace.json
plugins/windows-computer-use/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
plugins/windows-computer-use/.mcp.json

Depending on the Codex app version, start a new thread or restart Codex after installing so the MCP tools are loaded into new sessions.

3. MCP Server

This is the most widely compatible option. Any MCP-capable agent client can run the same server as a stdio MCP server. Use an absolute path to mcp/server.mjs in the plugin directory:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-computer-use": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "D:\\path\\to\\windows-computer-use\\plugins\\windows-computer-use\\mcp\\server.mjs"
      ],
      "env": {
        "WINDOWS_COMPUTER_USE_SCOPE": "active_window"
      }
    }
  }
}

If your MCP client supports a working-directory field, this equivalent form is also valid:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-computer-use": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        ".\\mcp\\server.mjs"
      ],
      "cwd": "D:\\path\\to\\windows-computer-use\\plugins\\windows-computer-use",
      "env": {
        "WINDOWS_COMPUTER_USE_SCOPE": "active_window"
      }
    }
  }
}

You can smoke-test the server from the repository root:

node .\plugins\windows-computer-use\scripts\verify-plugin.mjs
node .\plugins\windows-computer-use\mcp\server.mjs --self-test

Exposed MCP Tools

Observation:

• windows_computer_use_health
• windows_computer_use_snapshot
• windows_computer_use_accessibility_tree
• windows_computer_use_list_windows
• windows_computer_use_find
• windows_computer_use_element_info
• windows_computer_use_activate_window

Pointer actions:

• windows_computer_use_move
• windows_computer_use_click
• windows_computer_use_double_click
• windows_computer_use_drag
• windows_computer_use_scroll

Keyboard and text:

• windows_computer_use_type_text
• windows_computer_use_keypress

Structured UI Automation actions:

• windows_computer_use_focus
• windows_computer_use_invoke
• windows_computer_use_set_value

Timing:

• windows_computer_use_wait

Full tool details are in plugins/windows-computer-use/docs/wiki/mcp-tools.md.

Friendly Links

• linux.do