Device Screenshot MCP

MCP server for taking screenshots from a physical iOS device connected via USB. Works with Claude Code across all projects.

Prerequisites

• pymobiledevice3 — Python tool for communicating with iOS devices
• pymobiledevice3 tunneld — must be running as root for iOS 17+

Install pymobiledevice3

pip3 install pymobiledevice3

Start tunneld

The tunnel daemon must run as root. You can either start it manually:

sudo pymobiledevice3 remote tunneld

Or install it as a LaunchDaemon for auto-start on boot. Create /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pymobiledevice3.tunneld.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.pymobiledevice3.tunneld</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/path/to/pymobiledevice3</string>
        <string>remote</string>
        <string>tunneld</string>
    </array>
    <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
    <dict>
        <key>PYTHONPATH</key>
        <string>/path/to/python/site-packages</string>
    </dict>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/pymobiledevice3-tunneld.log</string>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/pymobiledevice3-tunneld.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Then load it:

sudo cp com.pymobiledevice3.tunneld.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pymobiledevice3.tunneld.plist

iOS device requirements

• Developer Mode enabled (Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode)
• Connected via USB and trusted

Setup

Add to ~/.claude/.mcp.json for global access, or to a project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "device": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@magentaesolutions/device-screenshot-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "PYMOBILEDEVICE3_PATH": "/path/to/pymobiledevice3",
        "SCREENSHOT_DIR": "/path/to/project/screenshots"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | PYMOBILEDEVICE3_PATH | No | pymobiledevice3 | Path to the pymobiledevice3 binary | | SCREENSHOT_DIR | No | cwd | Default directory for saved screenshots. save_to paths are resolved relative to this. |

Tools

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | take_screenshot | Capture a PNG screenshot from the connected iOS device |

take_screenshot

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | save_to | string | No | Filename or path for saving a copy (e.g. screenshot.png). Resolved relative to SCREENSHOT_DIR if set, otherwise relative to cwd. Creates directories if needed. |

Returns the screenshot as an inline image. If save_to is provided, also saves a copy to that path.