Connect AI agents with the MCP server

SuperCapture includes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. An AI agent connected to it can do much of what you do in the app:

• capture windows, screen regions and web pages, and record the screen or audio
• read and edit what a capture holds: annotations, the stage, a video’s timeline
• search and organize the library
• export and share captures, and run your saved workflows

The server runs inside the app at http://localhost:21516/mcp. It only listens on your Mac (localhost), and every request must carry an access token. Claude Desktop and Claude Code can instead start SuperCapture themselves, so no token is kept in their config.

Connect a client

1. Open Settings → AI MCP Info.
2. Under Connect a Client, pick your agent from the menu.
3. Follow the one-line instruction shown under the menu. It tells you where the snippet goes.
4. Click Copy setup. The access token is already filled in.

Client	Where the setup goes
Claude Code	A claude mcp add command to paste into Terminal
Claude Desktop	claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config), then restart Claude Desktop. Or click Install in Claude Desktop… instead
Claude Code (no token in config)	A claude mcp add command that starts SuperCapture’s bridge; no token is stored
Gemini CLI	A gemini mcp add command to paste into Terminal
OpenAI Codex CLI	~/.codex/config.toml
Cursor	~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json for one project
VS Code (Copilot)	.vscode/mcp.json in your project
Windsurf	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
Zed	Zed’s settings.json
Cline	cline_mcp_settings.json (Cline → MCP Servers → Configure)
JetBrains (Copilot)	Settings → GitHub Copilot → MCP
Pi	~/.pi/agent/mcp.json, or .pi/mcp.json for one project
Mistral Vibe	~/.vibe/config.toml, or ./.vibe/config.toml for one project
Other (standard JSON)	Any client: URL http://localhost:21516/mcp with the header Authorization: Bearer <token>

SuperCapture must be running for agents to reach it over HTTP. The Claude Desktop and no-token Claude Code setups start it when it’s needed.

Install in Claude Desktop

Install in Claude Desktop…, below Copy setup, installs SuperCapture as a Claude Desktop extension: one file with no token inside, which starts SuperCapture when it’s needed. It’s the quickest way to connect Claude Desktop.

Connected Clients

Connected Clients lists each agent that has used the server since SuperCapture started: its name and version, how it connected, which tools it has, its number of tool calls and when it was last active.

The access token

The token is shown, masked, under Access Token in the same Settings tab. It stays the same across launches and updates, so connected clients keep working.

Treat the token like a password

A client with this token gets the full tool set, including file operations and screen capture. If you think the token has been exposed, click Regenerate token. The old token stops working immediately. Reconnect each client with a fresh Copy setup. The Claude Desktop extension and the no-token Claude Code setup don’t store the token, so they keep working.

Access levels

By default, a connected client can use every tool. A client can ask for a smaller set by sending an X-Access-Level header. The header can only reduce access, and the token is always required.

Level	Header	Tools included
Full	none (default)	All tools
Interact	X-Access-Level: interact	Read-only tools plus screen (look at windows and displays), view (what the app shows) and input (the real mouse and keyboard)
Read-only	X-Access-Level: readonly	Tools marked read-only

Fewer tools for one client

To offer a client only part of the server, add ?toolsets= to the URL, or --toolsets to the command, with any of read, docs, library, capture, files, share, browser, app, automation and diagnostics. For example, http://localhost:21516/mcp?toolsets=read,capture. Toolsets and access levels combine: a client gets only the tools both allow.

Read-only changes nothing, but it isn’t private: library_find, doc_read and doc_render can search your whole library and render any item in it. Interact adds a look at whatever is on screen. Check each tool’s access level in the tool reference.

Microphone and camera

When an agent records with your microphone or camera, SuperCapture asks the first time and keeps your answer under Microphone and camera in agents’ recordings: Ask first, Allow or Don’t allow.

Approved Destinations

Agents can only copy, move or export files into folders you approve. Without any, they can only write to SuperCapture’s temp folder.

Under Approved Destinations, click Add Folder… to allow a folder, or click the remove button next to a folder to revoke it. Your own workflows aren’t limited by this list.

What the tools cover

SuperCapture 1.0.445 exposes 24 tools. Most take an action, so one tool covers one part of the app: capture with window, region or page_full, for example. Each tool has a page in the tool reference with its actions, parameters and access level.

Area	Tools
Capture and recording	capture, capture_url, record, screen
Documents	doc_read, doc_edit, doc_render and describe for what a capture holds; editor to drive an open editor; export
Library	library_find, library_add, library_edit, library_delete
Sharing	share, to Slack, Discord, Immich or a web link (set up in Settings)
App and input	state, view, input, settings_get, settings_set
Browser extension	browser
Files and workflows	files, workflows

Start a session with state: it says what’s open, what’s selected and where the next capture will land.

To run tools automatically after every capture, without an agent, see Post-capture workflows.