🦁 Safari MCP

The browser for your coding agent.

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

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

Quick Start · All 80 Tools · Examples · Why Safari MCP? · Architecture · Changelog

❌ 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. 80 tools. One npx command. macOS only.

📰 Featured on HackerNoon: I Had to Reverse-Engineer React, Shadow DOM, and CSP to Automate Safari Without Chrome

Highlights

• 80 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

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• macOS (any version with Safari)
• Node.js 18+
• Safari → Settings → Advanced → Show features for web developers ✓
• Safari → Develop → 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{
  "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:

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

Tools (80)

Security

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

Safari MCP vs Alternatives

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

Why Safari MCP and Not the Other Safari MCP Projects?

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

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

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 the extension
xcodebuild -project "xcode/Safari MCP/Safari MCP.xcodeproj" \
  -scheme "Safari MCP (macOS)" -configuration Release build

# 3. Ad-hoc sign the built app so Safari will load it
# (xcodebuild without a signing identity produces a bundle Safari silently rejects)
APP_PATH=$(find ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Safari_MCP-*/Build/Products/Release -name "Safari MCP.app" -maxdepth 2 | head -1)
codesign --sign - --force --deep "$APP_PATH"

# 4. Re-sign safari-helper with the Apple Events entitlement
# (helps macOS surface the TCC Automation prompt reliably)
codesign --sign - --force --entitlements safari-helper.entitlements safari-helper

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

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:

1. Safari → Settings → Advanced → enable Show features for web developers
2. Safari → Develop → Allow Unsigned Extensions (required each Safari restart)
3. Safari → Settings → Extensions → enable Safari MCP Bridge

The extension connects automatically to the MCP server on port 9224.

Note: "Allow Unsigned Extensions" resets every time Safari restarts. You'll need to re-enable it in the Develop menu 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:

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.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2. Click + (unlock with your password if needed).
3. 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
4. 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

Works With

Safari MCP works with any MCP-compatible client:

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

Sponsors

Safari MCP is free and open source. If it saves you time or CPU cycles, consider supporting its development:

Your support funds:

• 🧪 Testing across macOS versions and Safari releases
• 🛠️ New tools and features
• 📖 Documentation and examples

Become the first sponsor!

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:

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.

Like it? Give it a ⭐

If Safari MCP saves you from Chrome overhead, a star helps others discover it:

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Listed On

License

MIT — use it however you want.