TL;DR: Use your real Safari with all your logins, cookies, and sessions. No headless browsers, no Chrome, no Puppeteer. Just pure AppleScript + JavaScript running natively on macOS — 60% less CPU/heat on Apple Silicon.

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 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

Option A — npm (recommended):

npm install -g safari-mcp

Option B — Homebrew:

brew install achiya-automation/tap/safari-mcp

Option C — from source:

git clone https://github.com/achiya-automation/safari-mcp.git
cd safari-mcp
npm install

Configure

Add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/safari-mcp/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/safari-mcp/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/safari-mcp/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "safari": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/safari-mcp/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

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)

Navigation (4)

Page Reading (3)

Click & Interaction (5)

Form Input (7)

Screenshots & PDF (3)

Scroll (3)

Tab Management (4)

Wait (2)

JavaScript (1)

Element Inspection (4)

Accessibility (1)

Drag & Drop (1)

File Operations (2)

Dialog & Window (2)

Device Emulation (2)

Cookies & Storage (10)

Clipboard (2)

Network (6)

Console (4)

Performance (2)

Data Extraction (4)

Advanced (5)

Automation (1)

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.

Safari MCP Servers Comparison

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):

Prerequisites: Xcode (install from App Store — free)

# 1. Build the extension app
cd safari-mcp
xcodebuild -project "xcode/Safari MCP/Safari MCP.xcodeproj" \
  -scheme "Safari MCP (macOS)" -configuration Release build

# 2. Find and open the built app
open ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Safari_MCP-*/Build/Products/Release/Safari\ MCP.app

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:

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

Star History

If Safari MCP saved you from Chrome overhead, consider giving it a ⭐

License

MIT — use it however you want.