macOS Defaults
About
Enables interaction with macOS system preferences via the 'defaults' command for querying and modifying configurations.
Details
- Author
- g0t4
- Repository
- g0t4/mcp-server-macos-defaults
- GitHub stars
- 11
- Downloads
- 6,698
- Categories
- Productivity, Other, Developer Tools, Design, AI, Search, Frontend, Automation, Infrastructure, Project Management
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Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
macOS DefaultsCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)uvArguments-
Argument 1
--directory -
Argument 2
/path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults -
Argument 3
run -
Argument 4
mcp-server-macos-defaults
Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
-
Argument 1
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
Claude Desktop
On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
<details>
<summary>Development/Unpublished Servers Configuration</summary>
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-server-macos-defaults": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults",
"run",
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
]
}
}
</details>
<details>
<summary>Published Servers Configuration</summary>
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-server-macos-defaults": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
]
}
}
</details>
list-domains
Equivalent to running `defaults domains` to list all domains.
find
Equivalent to running `defaults find <word>` to search for a word in the defaults.
defaults-read
Equivalent to running `defaults read <domain> <key>`. If `key` is not provided, the entire domain is read.
defaults-write
Equivalent to running `defaults write <domain> <key> <value>` to write a value to a specific key in a domain.
- list-domains:
- equivalent to running defaults domains
- find:
- equivalent to running defaults find <word>
- defaults-read:
- equivalent to running defaults read <domain> <key>
- if key is not provided, the entire domain is read
- defaults-write:
- equivalent to running defaults write <domain> <key> <value>
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"macos defaults": {
"cwd": "string",
"env": {},
"args": [
"--directory",
"/path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults",
"run",
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
],
"shell": false,
"command": "uv"
}
}
}Linux
{
"cwd": "string",
"env": [],
"args": [
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
],
"shell": false,
"command": "uvx"
}Macos
{
"cwd": "string",
"env": [],
"args": [
"--directory",
"/path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults",
"run",
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
],
"shell": false,
"command": "uv"
}Windows
{
"cwd": "string",
"env": [],
"args": [
"mcp-server-macos-defaults"
],
"shell": false,
"command": "uvx"
}Read and write macOS user defaults and settings.
MCP server for reading/writing macOS defaults (settings)
- list-domains:
- equivalent to runningdefaults domains
- equivalent to runningdefaults find <word>
- equivalent to runningdefaults read <domain> <key>
- ifkeyis not provided, the entire domain is read
- equivalent to runningdefaults write <domain> <key> <value>
On MacOS:~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonOn Windows:%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
To prepare the package for distribution:
This will create source and wheel distributions in thedist/directory.
Note: You'll need to set PyPI credentials via environment variables or command flags:
- Token:--tokenorUV_PUBLISH_TOKEN
- Or username/password:--username/UV_PUBLISH_USERNAMEand--password/UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD
Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using theMCP Inspector.
You can launch the MCP Inspector vianpmwith this command:
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/mcp-server-macos-defaults run mcp-server-macos-defaults
Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can access in your browser to begin debugging.
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